10. “Zhuangzi Gave Me Strength To Deal With All My Traumas." The Poet Of Transcendence (with Vivienne Lo)

In this episode of Elixir, Helen is talking to Vivienne Lo about 2 Daoist poems: Chapter 8 of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching and Zhangzi's (Chuang-Tzu's) Butterfly Dream Parable.

They discuss:

• Learning about Chinese philosophy from European hippies (as a Chinese person).
• Feminism in Chinese Daoist poetry and philosophy. 
• Violence, sexism & racism: ‘growing up fighting’ being drawn to martial arts.
• Mortality,  Zhuangzi’s parable of emotional detachment, acceptance and transcending life.
• Death rituals and processing death in modern Britain & China. 
• The value brought by Asian philosophies to the West. 

The producer adds music when the two poems are read in Chinese.


Discover poetry through the heart of another…

Find out more about the poems on Elixir and read them here!

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The Elixir Poetry Podcast website: https://www.helenwing.com/the-elixir-poetry-podcast

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The Podcast is Produced by Tom Platts at Sound Sapien
All Music Composed by Tom Platts
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