Xue Yang Quotes

I want you to be better than me. Xue looked at our father. Xue said, What if you are the best man I know how to be?

All we had was Xue, who was bullied at school, who had struggled to fight for himself. But we had told him to stop fighting, and so he had done as we had asked. Xue was now hiding from the world. We had become a part of the world that he was hiding from.

Sometimes our father asked us questions: “Do you have any ideas on what might help Xue survive in this country?” We could not offer good answers. We could not stop the white boys at school from hurting Xue or change the rules and protocol of the school district to take bullying and racism into account; we could not undo a system that was as old as this country we were told to call home. It all felt much too late. The newspaper articles about the culture of fear and the suicide epidemic that would break the silence of the Anoka-Hennepin School District hadn’t yet been written. It was only 2003. It wasn’t until 2012 that Dawb and I read Rolling Stone magazine’s piece about the bullying that was killing kids in Andover and other cities in Anoka County and shared it with our mother and father.

He said, “I want you to have a life that is better than mine. I don’t want you to become a machinist like me. I don’t want you to live your life with men and boys far stupider than you telling you that you don’t belong here, that you are no good for this country, telling you to return to a country you do not have. I want you to have a better life than me. I want you to be better than me.” Xue looked at our father. Xue said, “What if you are the best man I know how to be?” Our father shook his head. He didn’t want to accept Xue’s words. For the first time in his life, he heard the words of a son to his father. He knew what it was like to yearn for a father, to raise a son and burn to make him better than you, and Xue had tried to keep him safe in his fantasies of fathers and sons, but Xue could no longer save our father from himself. Our father said, “You cannot be me and survive in this country.” Xue said, “Then I cannot survive in this country.

The Root of Chinese Qigong — The Secrets of Qigong Training 2. Muscle/Tendon Changing and Marrow/Brain Washing Qigong — The Secret of Youth (Yi Jin Jing and Xi Sui Jing)() 3. Chinese Qigong Massage — Qigong Tui Na and Cavity Press for Healing (Qigong An Mo and Qigong Dian Xue)() 4. Qigong and Health — For Healing and Maintaining Health 5. Qigong and Martial Arts — The Key to Advanced Martial Arts Skill (Shaolin, Wudang, Emei, and others) 6. Buddhist Qigong — Chan, The Root of Zen() 7. Daoist Qigong (Dan Ding Dao Gong)() 8. Tibetan Qigong (Mi Zang Shen Gong)()

The organs and elements either generate or destroy each other in a particular pattern. This idea is a reflection of the Chinese principle of restoring equilibrium through balancing opposites (yin-yang) or of wuxing, which refers to the interlocking nature of the five elements. The idea of wuxing explains that each element exerts a generative and subjugative influence on one another. Wood will generate (or feed) fire and fire will generate new earth. Elements also subjugate or destroy each other. A practitioner diagnoses which elements might need to be generated or decreased and will figure treatment accordingly. Understanding this cycle is the key to creating balance within the system. GENERATIVE INTERACTIONS wood feeds fire fire creates earth earth bears metal metal collects water water nourishes wood DESTRUCTIVE INTERACTIONS These are often called “overcoming” interactions, as they involve one element being destroyed or changed by another: wood parts earth earth takes in water water quenches fire fire melts metal metal chops wood The ancient Chinese had a different idea of anatomy than Western physicians. Instead of being characterized by their position in the body, the organs were understood by the role they played within the overall system. They were therefore described by their interdependent relationships and connection to the skin via the blood (xue), fluids, meridians, and the three vital treasures described below. Just as organs flow in five phases, so do the seasons and points on the compass. There are four directions, with China representing the fifth (at the center). Unlike the Western compass, the Chinese compass emphasizes the south. This is summer, the hottest time of the year. It is appropriately linked to fire. West is the setting of the sun and is associated with autumn and metal, while north is winter and water (the opposite of the south). East, the rising sun, is linked with spring and wood. Earth is related to the center of the compass and late summer. If any of these phases are out of balance, the entire system is unbalanced. Blocks or stagnation anywhere can result in problems, as can excess or lack. A proper diagnosis will integrate all of these factors. FIGURE 4.20 THE FIVE CHINESE ELEMENTS THE THREE VITAL TREASURES The Three Treasures, sometimes called the Three Jewels, are keystones in traditional Chinese medicine. From the Taoist perspective, these three treasures constitute the essential forces of life, which are considered to be three forms of the same substance. These three treasures are: •​Jing, basic or nutritive essence, seen as represented in sperm, among other substances. •​Chi, life force connected with air, vapor, breath, and spirit. •​Shen, spiritual essence linked with the soul and supernaturalism. Most often, jing is related to body energy, chi to mind energy, and shen to spiritual energy. These three energies cycle, with jing serving as the foundation for life and procreation, chi animating the body’s performance, and shen mirroring the state of the soul.