The wisdom of dumplings....
7 days before our adventure cycling in China, my random thoughts:
In a remote fishing village in China, on the edge of the China Sea, there is a small house made of wood and bamboo.
In the kitchen, a mother is teaching her daughter, how to make dumplings.
She is putting her heart into the task, for she knows that children learn better about life, while believing that they are just hearing a story.... Or while they are busy doing something else...
This is why the ancient Masters always spoke in parables....
When you speak the Truth in simple and direct words, people do not care to listen... This is why you have to weave the truth into stories.... Like a fine fishing net...
She knows that one day, her daughter will grow up to be a mother herself....... And maybe she can recreate this exact scene...and teach her own daughter how to make dumplings..... And how to understand some secrets to life and living.....
"Jiaozi (dumplings) dates back to ancient times," she tells the girl.
"Dumplings were mentioned in found literature from the the Sung dynasty."
Dumplings are eaten all year now, but in ancient times, they were the food of the Spring Festival, which marks the start of a new year.
In fact, dumplings, are the most important food in the Chinese New Year's celebration.
The popular shape of the Chinese dumplings, is similar to ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots, which symbolizes wealth.
Traditionally, all the members of a family used to get together to make dumplings during the New Year's Eve.
They may hide some coins in some of the dumplings....
The person who finds the coin, (if he manages not to break a tooth....) will likely to have a very good fortune in the coming Year.
People also eat Jiaozi / Dumplings, as a good omen, because
The pocket shape and the assortments of mysterious fillings, is a symbolism of hidden wishes, and good fortune requests."
The mother explains about the fillings....
"There are no strict rules about what makes a dumping filling.
The filling may be sweet or savory, vegetarian or filled with meat, seafood and vegetables.
Whatever the fillings, it needs to be delicious and the the wrapping needs to be exquisite to make jiaozi look attractive."
This, she explains to her daughter, is what a good person should be concerned with....
"It does NOT matter what exact ideas you hold in your mind today........
Ideas come and then they go.... They form shapes, and later they reform themselves....and expands....
It is however important, that your whole being, just like the dumplings, be exquisite, and filled with love, heart tenderness and tolerance.....
These qualities will make you attractive..... Inside and out."
The mother wipes the sweat from her brow, she makes sure the girl is paying attention, and she continues...
"Now let me explain about SHAPE & VARIETY...
Dumplings may be round, triangle, square or crescent-shaped."
Shape, said the mother, does not really matter....
All shapes and all sizes are wonderful...
But they are different...
And differences can be GOOD and delicious.
Like the world, explaines the mother, China is a country with a vast territory...... and there are great differences and varieties of tribes and ethnics groups, living in various regions of the country.
Each one makes dumplings in different ways..... and eat them in a different ways.
In some places, dumplings skins, (or wrappers,) are made with a rolling pin/ stick, (in areas like Beijing and Hebei Provinces,) while in some parts of Shanxi Province and inner Mongolia, wrappers are always pressed by hand."
The mother pours a cup of tea, and continues.....
"Making dumplings is really a team work.
Everything good in life, is achieved by learning how to work with others.... And one cannot really understand her own Nature, without the mirror of others around her....
If you look ONLY inside yourself, you will NOT find yourself.... For this is NOT who you are....
You are ONE with the world....
ONE with the Universe....
And only by knowing and understanding this ONENESS with ALL.......
Will you be able to understand your own true Nature..."
The girl raises her soft eyes...
She look at her mother and asks in her sweet voice, who does the mother uses as a mirror now, that father had been lost at sea....
The mother, wipes an escaped tear.... And explains to the girl, that it does not have to be another adult... It can be a passing stranger.... Or a child.... Or an elderly fisherman....
When you see ALL creatures as powerful Spiritual Beings...
As ONE with the Great Spirit.......
You get to experience and to know your own true Nature...
"There are many ways of serving dumplings, which also varies from place to place." She says.
"Generally, Chinese dumplings are steamed or boiled in clear water and served dry with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic or pepper oil
They can be pan fried or deep fried.... Or boiled in a broth.... Baked or wrapped in taro leaves...
The important thing, is to shape them by hand, with your fingers....
You imprint your fingerprints into each one.... And you embed it with your soul... Your love.... Your caring....
Remember girl, making dumplings is like frying a small fish...
You spoil it with too much poking...
Do your part, and then let it rest in the steamer....
Do not keep checking it, by removing the lid too often....
Food that is stirred or bothered too much... Carries nervous energies..."
The mother puts her hand on the soft hair of her daughter.
She has so much to teach her.....so much to share...
Yet the girl keeps looking out the window.... She probably wants to play outside...
The mother takes a towel, and rubs her daughter's hands clean....
She does not know what her little girl will become one day...
She may be a fisherman's wife... Happy living in a remote village...
Or she may become a wealthy foreigner.... Writing books as wise as Lao Tzu....
Before she lets her out to play, she quote Lao Tzu to her:
"Men are born soft and supple.
Dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant.
Dead, they are brittle and die.
Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible,
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.
The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail...."
The girl looks at her, uncomprehending...
The mother simplifies it:
"Think of the tender bamboo, the harsh winds will only bend it.....
And it will survive.........while the stiff trees will break their brunches or get uprooted......
When you go through the turmoils of life, be like the tender bamboo...
Keep a flexible heart and mind...
Be yielding......
Stay soft.....
And nothing will break you."
In a remote fishing village in China, on the edge of the China Sea, there is a small house made of wood and bamboo.
In the kitchen, a mother is teaching her daughter, how to make dumplings.
She is putting her heart into the task, for she knows that children learn better about life, while believing that they are just hearing a story.... Or while they are busy doing something else...
This is why the ancient Masters always spoke in parables....
When you speak the Truth in simple and direct words, people do not care to listen... This is why you have to weave the truth into stories.... Like a fine fishing net...
She knows that one day, her daughter will grow up to be a mother herself....... And maybe she can recreate this exact scene...and teach her own daughter how to make dumplings..... And how to understand some secrets to life and living.....
"Jiaozi (dumplings) dates back to ancient times," she tells the girl.
"Dumplings were mentioned in found literature from the the Sung dynasty."
Dumplings are eaten all year now, but in ancient times, they were the food of the Spring Festival, which marks the start of a new year.
In fact, dumplings, are the most important food in the Chinese New Year's celebration.
The popular shape of the Chinese dumplings, is similar to ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots, which symbolizes wealth.
Traditionally, all the members of a family used to get together to make dumplings during the New Year's Eve.
They may hide some coins in some of the dumplings....
The person who finds the coin, (if he manages not to break a tooth....) will likely to have a very good fortune in the coming Year.
People also eat Jiaozi / Dumplings, as a good omen, because
The pocket shape and the assortments of mysterious fillings, is a symbolism of hidden wishes, and good fortune requests."
The mother explains about the fillings....
"There are no strict rules about what makes a dumping filling.
The filling may be sweet or savory, vegetarian or filled with meat, seafood and vegetables.
Whatever the fillings, it needs to be delicious and the the wrapping needs to be exquisite to make jiaozi look attractive."
This, she explains to her daughter, is what a good person should be concerned with....
"It does NOT matter what exact ideas you hold in your mind today........
Ideas come and then they go.... They form shapes, and later they reform themselves....and expands....
It is however important, that your whole being, just like the dumplings, be exquisite, and filled with love, heart tenderness and tolerance.....
These qualities will make you attractive..... Inside and out."
The mother wipes the sweat from her brow, she makes sure the girl is paying attention, and she continues...
"Now let me explain about SHAPE & VARIETY...
Dumplings may be round, triangle, square or crescent-shaped."
Shape, said the mother, does not really matter....
All shapes and all sizes are wonderful...
But they are different...
And differences can be GOOD and delicious.
Like the world, explaines the mother, China is a country with a vast territory...... and there are great differences and varieties of tribes and ethnics groups, living in various regions of the country.
Each one makes dumplings in different ways..... and eat them in a different ways.
In some places, dumplings skins, (or wrappers,) are made with a rolling pin/ stick, (in areas like Beijing and Hebei Provinces,) while in some parts of Shanxi Province and inner Mongolia, wrappers are always pressed by hand."
The mother pours a cup of tea, and continues.....
"Making dumplings is really a team work.
Everything good in life, is achieved by learning how to work with others.... And one cannot really understand her own Nature, without the mirror of others around her....
If you look ONLY inside yourself, you will NOT find yourself.... For this is NOT who you are....
You are ONE with the world....
ONE with the Universe....
And only by knowing and understanding this ONENESS with ALL.......
Will you be able to understand your own true Nature..."
The girl raises her soft eyes...
She look at her mother and asks in her sweet voice, who does the mother uses as a mirror now, that father had been lost at sea....
The mother, wipes an escaped tear.... And explains to the girl, that it does not have to be another adult... It can be a passing stranger.... Or a child.... Or an elderly fisherman....
When you see ALL creatures as powerful Spiritual Beings...
As ONE with the Great Spirit.......
You get to experience and to know your own true Nature...
"There are many ways of serving dumplings, which also varies from place to place." She says.
"Generally, Chinese dumplings are steamed or boiled in clear water and served dry with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic or pepper oil
They can be pan fried or deep fried.... Or boiled in a broth.... Baked or wrapped in taro leaves...
The important thing, is to shape them by hand, with your fingers....
You imprint your fingerprints into each one.... And you embed it with your soul... Your love.... Your caring....
Remember girl, making dumplings is like frying a small fish...
You spoil it with too much poking...
Do your part, and then let it rest in the steamer....
Do not keep checking it, by removing the lid too often....
Food that is stirred or bothered too much... Carries nervous energies..."
The mother puts her hand on the soft hair of her daughter.
She has so much to teach her.....so much to share...
Yet the girl keeps looking out the window.... She probably wants to play outside...
The mother takes a towel, and rubs her daughter's hands clean....
She does not know what her little girl will become one day...
She may be a fisherman's wife... Happy living in a remote village...
Or she may become a wealthy foreigner.... Writing books as wise as Lao Tzu....
Before she lets her out to play, she quote Lao Tzu to her:
"Men are born soft and supple.
Dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant.
Dead, they are brittle and die.
Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible,
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.
The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail...."
The girl looks at her, uncomprehending...
The mother simplifies it:
"Think of the tender bamboo, the harsh winds will only bend it.....
And it will survive.........while the stiff trees will break their brunches or get uprooted......
When you go through the turmoils of life, be like the tender bamboo...
Keep a flexible heart and mind...
Be yielding......
Stay soft.....
And nothing will break you."
