Cai Gen Tan(My Crude Philosophy of Life)

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Cai Gen Tan (My Crude Philosophy of Life) is a collection of life principles written by Hong Yingming of the Ming Dynasty. Amid the social turbulence at that time, the author summarized a range of life principles covering self cultivation, officials' behavior, family management, political policies, academic work and social conducts etc based on his life experiences from the aspect of an onlooker. The book is regarded as a classic work on life principles.

The book contains a total of 360 adages, which are concise and meaningful in beautiful words that match both sound and sense in two sentences. The adages combine the golden mean of Confucianism, quiet and inaction of Taoism and detachment of Buddhism, forming a system of life principles and ways people deal with the world. The work is aimed at pursuing nobility and purity, advocating active attitude toward life and stressing not intentionally seeking detachment.

Cai Gen Tan is the essence of traditional culture of the Chinese nation. The work embodies profound significance and contains unique views on how to understand oneself in the right way, how to handle interpersonal relations and how to deal with success and failure in life. These views provide insights for today's city dwellers that live a fast-pace life, helping them find principles in self cultivation and social conducts. Currently, Cai Gen Tan has been widely read among the Chinese people and introduced overseas, with several versions being brought to Japan.