PureInsight | January 16, 2008
[PureInsight.org] A professor
named Chang Zaisheng from Yuangzhou University of Jiangsu province in
China hid his identity last year and polished shoes on the street. In
the face of hundreds of dusty shoes, the professor claimed that he had
found the happiness of purification and the dignity of being a human
being.
The Guangzhou Daily reported that Chang Zaisheng is a successful
scholar holding a number of important positions, including Director of
the Design Department of the Art School at Yangzhou University,
Associate Researcher of the Buddhism Research Institute at Yangzhou
University, and Senior Visiting Scholar of the Art School at Qinghua
University. In addition, he is a renowned sculptor with a car and a
nice home, leading a well-off lifestyle.
However, Chang Zaisheng has long been seeking the source of dignity. He
said: "As a professor, I have to be obedient to the chancellor. In
front of students, I have to maintain absolute authority as a teacher.
There are two Chang Zaishengs, is one a real human Chang Zaisheng, or a
social machine?" He was not able to answer himself with the questions
"who am I?" and "where is my dignity?"
On the eve of Chinese New Year in 2002, he rented a three-wheel cart
for 100 RMB and did one day's work as a pedicab driver to look for
"truth and dignity." At noon, one of his students passed by him on a
bicycle and turned back: "Are you professor Chang?" The student could
not believe his eyes.
He said that he made more than 70 RMB by the end of that afternoon. He
rewarded himself a bowl of beef noodles in a small restaurant, which
gave him a feeling of happiness and "had an insight into true meaning
of happiness."
Chang Zaisheng claimed that living with dignity means giving up the
materialistic pursuits and leading an enthusiastic and honest life,
like a shoe polisher. He learned from shoe polishing that if one wants
to live with dignity, more "deductions" have to be done in one's life,
such as giving up a little bit of greediness, luxury and even a bit of
self-determination.
Translated from:
http://www.xinsheng.net/xs/gb/da4print.asp?ID=42184
