2023-05-06 #2

(The entire book is brilliant)

This journey is clearly the long road of a young person’s growth: in early childhood, we see parents and elders as omnipotent; in adolescence, we think we are the chosen ones; then, with failures—one after another—we gradually refine our understanding of life. This is the process of disenchantment.

It’s a neutral process, and perhaps the difference between people lies in the kind of life belief they hold: is it nihilism? Religion? Grand narratives? Dialectical materialism?

Or perhaps fate truly exists, but it isn’t predestination. Instead, we struggle to grasp the rope of fate, welcoming the storms and beauty along the way. Holding onto the rope may be exhausting, but we have a choice—and the only choice is whether to let go.

Well, as the years pass, the youth will eventually fade, but who remains is unknown.

Life is toil; death is rest.

The picture shows my favorite Xi’an meatball and pepper soup shop—no tables, just large and small stools, dining by the street. Across from it, the little dirt mound is the tomb of King Zhuangxiang of Qin (the father of Qin Shi Huang).

• 🔖This passage is brilliant