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The ''Caigentan'' () is circa 1590 text written by the Ming Dynasty scholar and philosopher Hong Zicheng (). This compilation of aphorisms eclectically combines elements from the Three teachings (Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism), and is comparable (Goodrich and Fang 1976:678) with Marcus Aurelius' ''Meditations'' or La Rouchefoucauld's ''Maximes''. ==Title== Chinese ''Caigentan'' combines ''cai'' 菜 "vegetables; greens; (non-staple) food; dish; course (in menu)", ''gen'' 根 "roots (of plants); bottom (of mountains)", and 譚 "talk; conversation; discourse". This compound ''caigen'' 菜根 "inedible root of a vegetable; cabbage stalk" is a literary metaphor meaning "bare subsistence" (originating in Zhu Xi's ''Xiaoxue'' 小學 "Minor Learning"). The Chinese proverb ''Jiao de caigen, baishi ke zuo'' 嚼得菜根, 百事可做 (Rohsenow 2002:66) literally means "(who has ) chewed vegetable roots (lack of anything better to eat ) can accomplish anything", or figuratively "One who has gone through hardships can do anything". "By vegetable roots, food such as turnips, radish, carrots and sweet potatoes is meant", says Vos (1993:172). English translations of the ''Caigentan'' title range from literal to figurative: *"Musings of a Chinese Vegetarian" (Isobe 1926) *"Discourses on Vegetable Roots" (Chao 1959) *"The Roots of Wisdom" (Wilson 1985) *"Discourses on a Simple Life" (Vos 1993) *"Tending the Roots of Wisdom" (White 2000) *"Zen of Vegetable Roots" (Li and Fu 2002) *"Vegetable Roots Discourse" (Aitken and Kwok 2006) Isobe clarifies the title as meaning "Talks by a man who lives on vegetable roots", or more freely "Talks by a man who lives a plain and humble life". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Caigentan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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