The Chinese Rendition of Milne’s Winnie the Pooh
Taoism was founded in Shundi around 126-144 AD. Before the Communist Revolution, Taoism was one of the strongest religions in China. Aristotle once said, “Happiness is the chief good and that is the end towards which all other things aim”. In The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff utilizes the characters from “Winnie the Pooh” to teach the basics of Taoism and to demonstrate how things can be ruined and furthermore work out.
Hoff reveals Rabbit as to how he likes to be thought clever and believes he is happy in his cleverness. His knowledge could be described as to someone who learned from reading books and never went outside. However, his wisdom is not the same as his cleverness. “But isn’t the knowledge that comes from experience more valuable than the knowledge that doesn’t? It seems fairly obvious to some of us that a lot of scholars need to go outside and sniff around – walk through the grass, talk to the animals. That sort of thing” (Hoff Ch. 1). This can be seen when people are tested and show good results meaning that they can apply the concept after studying from experience. He utilizes Owl to demonstrate that when someone is trying too hard to find something or get away with themselves, it gets confusing. “The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard – one that thinks too much” (Hoff Ch. 1). In life, many times it is about managing your time wisely and taking risks because you will miss 100% the shots you don’t take. Hoff utilizes Piglet as in Piglet is always thinking about it too much. “The main problem with this great obsession for saving time is very simple: you can’t save time. You can only spend it. But you can spend it wisely or foolishly” (Hoff Ch. 3). The importance here is that when you overthink somethings, you could end up failing because you did not hop on the train.
Lastly, there is Pooh. Hoff demonstrates how Pooh does not contemplate things; he simply does them. Things dependably work out for Pooh along these lines because there is no imitation or going around the straight line. “We don’t need to shift our responsibilities onto the shoulders of some deified Spiritual Superman or sit around and wait for Fate to come knocking at the door. We simply need to believe in the power that’s within us and use it. When we do that, and stop imitating others and competing against them, things begin to work for us” (Hoff Ch. 8). Pooh works alongside nature and he doesn’t attempt to meddle. Pooh has a straightforward existence. Those who fail to rely on intuition often find themselves discontent in their careers and unhappy in their relationships.
Pooh gets into a great deal of scratches and troublesome circumstances yet they generally work out well for him. This is on the grounds that he accepts that his is what will occur. Taoism instructs that an individual makes their own existence as Pooh’s frame of mind of continually accepting the best will happen is run of the thematic topics of the book.
