Every Treasure Tells a Story: Stone Carving of Confucius Meeting Laozi

There is a message from National Treasures. Please check it. This Han Dynasty stone relief carving depicts one of the fondest myths of Chinese culture. A meeting between the historical personage of Confucius and Lao Tzu, the legendary author of the Tao Te Ching. The figure with a wild goose is Confucius. The wild goose is a gift presented to Lao Tzu by Confucius. A figure facing Confucius with his hand resting on a stick is Lao Tzu. Confucius meeting Lao Tzu is a common theme in Han Dynasty carvings. It's a type of artwork often used in burial chambers, tombs and coffins during the Han Dynasty. It expresses the way the Han Dynasty sought to integrate differing schools of Chinese philosophy. When the meeting took place, neither Confucianism nor Taoism would have existed. It's modeled instead on the visit of a filial junior to a respected senior. In the records of the grand historian, Su Ma Qian makes a detailed description of one of their conversations. Confucius went to Lou Yong to ask Lao Tzu about the study of rituals. Lao Tzu said, as for the ritual you mentioned, the bones of the people who invented it have decayed, and only their remarks remain. A gentleman will make contributions when fortune comes, and if his life is unfortunate, he will drag out an ignoble existence like a grass. Remove your arrogance and excessive desires. Remove the glowing look and expression from your face and untouchable ambitions. These are the things that have no benefit for body or mind. After Confucius returned home, he didn't speak for three days. Then he said to his disciples, the meeting with Lao Tzu was far beyond my imagination. He is like an unpredictable dragon. No one can perceive him completely. After Emperor Wu of Han banished a hundred schools of thought in favor of Confucianism, there was still a move to incorporate other schools of philosophy, including those of yin-yang and five element theories. The Han sought to encapsulate this syncretic inclusivism in stone for time immemorial. Gentlemen seek harmony, but not uniformity. It is such a delight to have friends coming from afar. Everything comes from being, and being comes from not being. Good fortune follows up on disaster. Disaster lurks within good fortune. From 600 BC to 300 BC, the so-called Axial Age, Ancient Greece, Ancient India, and China all produced great thinkers. The wisdom of Socrates, Plato, Sakyamuni, Confucius, Lao Tzu has influenced human civilization down to this day. Confucius and Lao Tzu are the fonts of Confucianism and Daoism. Their philosophies are like two rivers which meet the blood of the Chinese people. It's often observed that they are Confucian in public life and Daoist in their inner hearts. It is a judgment that each can only make for themselves.