2) X refers to Jing Ke who is known for his failed assassination of King Ying Zheng in the city of Zhao.
3) Li Si convinced Emperor Qin Shi Huang to suppress intellectual dissent by burning all political books. The Emperor employed the services of magicians who claimed that they can search for rare herbs that would give the Emperor immortal life.
4) Zhao Gao is a powerful eunuch who conspired to seize power on the death of the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty. His actions eventually led to the downfall of the Qin dynasty.
5) Lao Ai performed vulgar entertainment by walking around with his outsized penis thrust through a wooden wheel. He entered the palace by pretending to be a eunuch so he could carry on an affair with the Empress Dowager. When the Emperor discovered this, Lao Ai and his relatives were exterminated.
6) The author admired how skillfully Cook Ting carves the ox, with rhythmic precision and taking care not to commit a mistake, which the author uses as a metaphor for skillful living.
7) This passage implies that language is an important tool in expressing knowledge but it can also become a trap so in order to avoid being trapped, we must carefully choose our words when expressing our ideas.
8) Humans can draw different emotions when placed in the same situation. Whether or not a person chooses to be happy or sad about a situation is entirely up to him or her.
9) In the story of the useless tree, the author conveys that useless things may not be totally useless after all. The tree in this story becomes useful because it provides shade.
10) In this passage, the author demonstrates that one must be open to various points of view and be able to transform himself from one viewpoint to another in order to see the whole picture.
11) Liu Chang-sheng spiritual problem is that he is having trouble letting go of his sexual desires and they are hindering him from attaining the Tao.
12) The man in the story is Wang Chung-yang. He was tasked to look for people who are willing to accept the Tao and teach them the Taoist ways in order for them to achieve Immortality.
13) Ma Tan-yang and Sun Pu-erh are husband and wife. Sun Pu-erh says that the reason Ma Tan-yang have not made much progress in his training is because Ma Tan-yang lived a comfortable life which became a distraction in his search for the Tao or enlightenment.
14) Sun Pu-erh was so attached in her intellect that it became a hindrance to her spiritual learning. Upon realizing her mistake, she decided to go to Loyang to complete her training and in order to avoid being molested she disfigured her face with hot cooking oil.
15) The old man answered that the lines in Chiu Chang-chuns face indicate that he will never attain Tao and his destiny is to die from hunger. The old man was wrong because Chiu Chang-chun later realized that destiny is actually determined by what is in ones heart.
16) Her in this story refers to the Hindu deity Sita. The scene takes place in Ashok grove where the demon Ravana is keeping Sita in captivity after abducting her from her husband Rama.
17) Manthara, the aged maidservant of Queen Kaikeyi, is the person speaking here. Because she is fiercly loyal to her mistress, she is displeased to hear that Rama is going to be crowned as king instead of her mistress son Bharata.
18) Vali is speaking here. Rama killed Vali because according to him, Vali failed to protect his younger brother. Vali also stole his younger brothers wife and in order for this sin to be absolved, Rama says Vali must be punished with death.
19) When Rama heard that his people does not approve of his decision to accept Sita after her abduction, he banishes Sita from his kingdom, ordering Lakshmana to take Sita to Valmikis ashram.
20) Maricha the magician is talking to the demon Ravana in this scene. Maricha was killed by Rama and Rama soon waged a war against Ravana after learning that the demon abducted his wife. Rama eventually rescues his wife and kills the Ravana.
21) When you dont relinquish attachments then you become bound to the fruits of your own desire and will not be able to achieve nirvana.
22) Arjuna is speaking here and is clearly in awe of his power. He acknowledgers Krishnas power as the creator and destroyer of everything on Earth.
23) According to Krishna, everyone born to this earth is destined to die so there is no cause to kill anyone.
24) The three qualities are lucidity, passion and dark inertia. Lucidity is pure energy which helps us find knowledge and happiness, passion is characterized by desire and leads us to anger and attachment to action, dark inertia leads us to negligence, laziness and sleep.
25) Arjun is in the midst of a battle against Dhitarashtra. He despairs when he realizes that on both sides of the battlefield are his kinsmen or his relatives and he had no wish to go to battle if it meant killing his kin.
Part II
Records of the Grand Historian, also known in Chinese as the Shiji is the masterpiece of Sima Qian. These records recount the history of China from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time. The book Chuang Tzu Basic Writings contains the writings of the philosopher Chuang Tzu. He uses parables and anecdotes, allegory and paradox to teach about the Tao. These stories became the platform for the Taoist school. We come to know the stories of the teacher Wang Chung-yang and his seven students in the book Seven Taoist Masters. The novel, written by an unknown writer, is set during the Southern Sung and the Yuan Dynasty. The novel is an entertaining account of Wangs seven students in their attainment of the Tao. The Seven Taoist Masters consist of 6 males and a female namely Ma-Tanyang, Sun Pu-erh, Chiu Chang-chun, Liu Chang-sheng, Tan Chang-chen, Hao Tai-ku and Wang Yu-yang, We get to know about the Indian culture through the pages of the books Ramayana and The Bhagavad-Gita. Ramayana is a Sanskrit verse epic written by a poet named Valmiki. It tells the heroic Prince Rama, his courtship with Sita, his battles, and his triumph of good over evil. The Bhagavad-Gita imparts the teachings of Hinduism as the god Krishna guides Arjuna through spiritual enlightenment.
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