PureInsight | June 16, 2003
It used to trouble me greatly during the Chinese-to-English translation process that Chinese Dafa practitioners often just suggest or imply their points with several analogies and fail to state their points clearly. As a result, I often have to add a lot of editor's notes to explain or complement their viewpoints so that western readers will be able to understand the points the authors are trying to make.
But my inquiring mind still wanted to know why the Chinese people as a whole "imply" rather than "describe" in their verbal expressions? After all, Teacher did say, "You should also be clear that "natural" does not exist." (From "Expounding on the Fa" in Essentials for Further Advancement I.)
It was not until some Chinese practitioners pointed out that Chinese culture is a cultivation culture that a word suddenly hit me: enlightenment.
I might be wrong about this but I do believe it is very likely that the ancient Chinese culture, being a cultivation culture, greatly valued one's enlightenment quality and being able to grasp the Tao or the Fa. This may be a reason why many great ancient Chinese writers, as well as cultivators, implied their points in their literary works pertaining to the Tao or the Fa. They may have done it with the best intention of allowing readers to enlighten on the precious Tao or Fa. Only a small circle of readers with a cultivator's mind and a good enlightenment quality would understand their valuable points.
However, history became legend and legend became myth. In today's degenerate culture the Chinese people may have lost their understanding behind the reason for this Chinese method of implying their ideas, and write with far-fetched metaphors and poor grammar. Now, at least, I can now read Chinese practitioners' articles in a more understanding way.
