WELCOME & ABOUT
Welcome to Ink & Space (墨空), formerly known as “Taoism Reimagined.”
This change marks a pivotal moment in my journey. It reflects my ongoing investigation of early cultural traditions, specifically Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism, and signals a broader vision for how my writing will unfold.
Most importantly, you can now navigate the site more easily, depending on your interests, preferences, and state of mind.
A Roadmap
This publication originated from studying Taoist literature in my early years and later research on this subject. Now some of the archived writings have been organized into several series:
The foundations
Glimpses into Chuang Tzu’s World: an ongoing investigation into the connection between the recluse tradition and early Taoism, and how Chuang Tzu diverged from his contemporaries
Conversations between Chuang Tzu and Hui Tzu: a window into Chuang Tzu’s thought through dialogues. Not comprehensive, but a start
Stories of Lao Tzu: reimagining the philosophy and style of Lao Tzu through a series of reflective essays
Essential Taoism for Life: ongoing reflections on applying ancient wisdom to the complexities of modern living
The second stage of Taoism & beyond
Wei-Jin Metaphysics (Weijin xuanxue 魏晉玄學): a preliminary introduction to the representative thinkers of the Wei-Jin 魏晉 period (220-420 AD)
The Wei-Jin Individuals: short biographies of figures like Xie Lingyun 謝靈運 and Tao Yuanming 陶淵明
Wang Wei 王維: long-term writing about the “poet-Buddha”
I believe there’s still much to be learned from intellectual history, a part of the enormous past. And I do think the good parts of ancient wisdom should be preserved, especially when they speak to us, and surprisingly, find us in unexpected ways.
Reader Community
Free subscribers will continue to get:
access to all public posts and updates
selected theme-based posts
Paid readers will enjoy:
access to the full archived series
the “Inner Circle” discussion space
There is this saying that writing a book is like going on an unknown journey, sometimes not even knowing where one is heading.
To some extent, this publication, with the passage of time, is probably also evolving into its own “unknown” destination.
About “Ink & Space”
In this light, a few words on the name change are needed.
“Ink”(mo 墨) represents the traces we leave. When ink is mixed with water, it can create endless possibilities on white paper. This is where, borrowing the Taoist terms, being and nonbeing interact.
“Space” (kong 空) takes the literal meaning of emptiness, embodying the precondition for everything to exist. In Taoism, this is vacuity (xu 虛), a cultivated state of intuitive awareness and open receptivity, a returning to the utmost state of silence.
Ink & Space is the interaction between the two: navigating everyday life with inner spaciousness and lucidity, without distinction between emptiness and form, between being and non-being. Of course, it is a constant, perhaps never-ending practice.
Writing here is like reaching into the unfathomable realm of nonbeing. So it’s not just my writings, it’s also your “ink”: your comments, thoughts, sharing, and silent reading.
No matter what it is we do in life, we are leaving traces on the world, professional work, craft, and simple existence.
And it is within our spontaneous freedom to write our own versions of natural living.
About me
They say that these days, people need to know the person behind a name to form a strong, sustainable bond.
I’m not so sure about this, particularly related to writing. I think words are powerful, and they carry a frequency, a resonance between readers and writers.
And I’m obviously not eligible to judge this. What I do know is that who I am does not really matter, as the messages in the writings are much more important than I am.
It’s also perhaps due to the nature of Taoism and Zen/Ch’an 禪: what they offer is not the type of knowledge in the conventional sense, but an experience of liberation. One simply observes ideas and notions coming and going in the mind as such, like seeing water flowing through fingers, without fixating or grasping.
In this sense, I’m just a messenger. Wang Wei best expressed my sentiment this way:
Late did I know the clean and pure doctrine, 晚知清淨理
Daily more removed from the crowd of men. 日與人群疏
Now awaiting the distant mountain’s monks, 將候遠山僧
Ahead of time I sweep my poor thatched hut. 先期掃弊廬
And truly from within cloudy peaks 果從雲峯裏
They come to my humble home of weeds. 顧我蓬蒿居
On grass mats we dine on pine nuts, 藉草飯松屑
Burn incense, and read books of the Tao. 焚香看道書
Light the lamp: daylight’s almost gone. 燃燈晝欲盡
Ring stone chimes: night has just begun. 鳴磬夜方初
I have already realized solitude is a joy; 已悟寂爲樂
This life is more than serene. 此生閒有餘
Why think seriously of return? 思歸何必深
A lifetime is like the empty void. 身世猶空虛
Pauline Yu, The Poetry of Wang Wei (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980), 141.
And if you do wish to see the path that led me here, you can read this interview piece about me by Peck Gee Chua.
As for the future, I resign myself to the forces of change, patiently waiting to see where this path of independent writing will lead me.