This poem was written when Su Shi was exiled to Huangzhou. Su Shi reflected on himself in the frustration of being demoted, and tried to find himself in a quiet environment, making efforts not to be swallowed by the surroundings. Tao Yuanming also experienced the bitterness of the officialdom and wrote "Returning to the Countryside". "Dogs barking in the deep alley, chickens crowing on the top of mulberry trees." Tao Yuanming built a spiritual fortress for scholars. When their hearts are restless and depressed, they can think about themselves in a quiet place. After communicating with Chinese language teachers, it was discovered that a quiet place can help us think better, more objectively, and more calmly. Perhaps we advise others to stay in a quiet place for this reason.
A person is like a traveler. I often hear that others arrange their sightseeing trips to be full and packed, and they can only spend a few hours at each attraction, but in the end, they forget why they are traveling. Playing "Genshin Impact" is the same. In the game, besides monsters, rewards, and quests, there are also scenery and music. Playing games to level up is too tiring, and traveling just for the sake of taking photos is also exhausting, isn't it?
When traveling, it is better to immerse oneself in one attraction than to visit multiple attractions. Visiting multiple attractions tends to be superficial and fleeting, while focusing on one attraction can lead to a deeper understanding, more rewards, and a more relaxed body and mind. I once watched a video like this: the video creator described his journey with a series of pictures. "Ate frozen bamboo shoots, went to Xiaoxicheng, went to Kaiyuan Temple, ate fried oysters..." This kind of list-like answer made many locals in the comments feel emotional, as if this kind of travel was just for the sake of taking photos. In recent years, there is also a kind of "special forces-style tourism", which strictly limits the time spent in each scenic spot and rushes from one place to another. This kind of travel will only exhaust us. It is the same in our journey of life. In addition to the gains and losses in honor and money, there are also human relationships and emotional experiences along the way. We are not here to level up or make money. Shouldn't we pay attention to things beyond fame and fortune?
When others hear this kind of talk, they mock me for not understanding the ways of the world and not knowing what it means to be forced by life. They are right, but in a chaotic environment, Xunzi's proposition of "learning should never cease" is also a transcendence of reality, isn't it?