Grigori Perelman

Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman turned down the highest recognition in mathematics, the Fields Medal and US$1 million award. He said, "I'm not interested in money or fame." He also mentioned that the knowledge gained is worth more than the financial reward.

Obviously he gets more famous because he declined the Fields Medal which is the dream of every mathematician. According to his birth data (with hour missing):

Day      Month     Year
Gui 癸   Jia 甲   Bing 丙
Mao卯   Wu午   Wu  午

wealth is strongest and most abundant in his chart. The flow from the Day Master Gui to Jia wood and then to Bing fire indicates that he is capable of using his talents to generate wealth. However, the weak body does not allow him to enjoy the worldly wealth. He can only enjoy the knowledge he gained through his work. This is an excellent illustration of:

名可名  非常名

JY

Dao 道

There are many different translations of the Dao De Jing 道德經. In one of these translations, the first chapter reads:

The truth that may be told is not the everlasting Truth.
The name given to a thing is not the everlasting Name.

道可道  非常道
名可名  非常名

Dao was translated as "truth".

I am thinking, "Dao can be translated but the translation is not the original meaning of Dao."

As for the second line, there is a close relative in English:
A rose by another name smells as sweet.

JY

Another ugly building

This one is in Siquan Province. It is weird advertisement.

JY

Ugly Building

When an architect wants to add Feng Shui flavour to his design, the result could be disastrous. No wonder this was voted one of the top 10 ugliest buildings in the world.

Working with architects

I am happy to be invited to be the Feng Shui consultant of a project that consists of what will be the largest Asian theme mall in North America, two residential high rise and a public plaza. When I discussed the project with the architects, they explicitly expressed their intention of taking Feng Shui ideas seriously and not just for marketing purposes. I will be happy to share more later in my blog.

JY

To know or not to know

What astrology can tell you is what you will encounter in the future so that you can be better prepared. Some people take it with a positive attitude. Some others blame astrology for planting the seed of fear in their minds creating self-fulfilling profecy.

Once I told a client to be careful with her health particularly towards a certain part of her body. Well, she blamed me after one year that my advice made her thinking of the possibility of getting sick and finally she was diagnosed to have a tumor in that particular area of her body.

To know or not to know, that is her question.

To tell or not to tell, that beomes my question.

JY

Happy Lunar New Year

This year, Lunar New Year is just one day ahead of Li Chun 立春 which marks the beginning of the solar year. Normally they are not as close but once in a blue moon, they can even be on the same day.

It is interesting to note that customarily, Chinese people celebrate only the Lunar New Year and not Li Chun. Of course nowadays Chinese people also celebrate New Year according to the Western Calendar.

There is another important day Chinese people consider even more important than Lunar New Year. This is Dong Zhi 冬至 which is the shortest day in the northern hemisphere. We say 冬大過年. That is why in recent years, some Chinese astrologers consider this the beginning of a year and change the stem and branch of the year on Dong Zhi instead of on Li Chun.

JY