The Chinese Character 是 is/am/are

The story on how the Chinese Character 是 (read as shi with the 4th tone) which means "is/am/are" symbolizes a journey in finding the purpose in life.

In a bustling capital in ancient China, there lived a weaver called Xiao Yun, who spends her days working to transform strands of threads into various beautiful patterns of cloths, until one day she suddenly stops, as she’s getting tired of the monotony of the life she live.

Despite of the city’s vibrant energy, Xiao Yun often found herself longing for something more, a sense of purpose to break free from the tiring day to day life.

On one morning, as the sun rose higher to the sky, she finally made a decision and spontaneously packed the things she might going to need in her journey. A bottle of water, clothing, food, are among the essentials she packed before setting out on a journey under the sun, to seek for the meaning in the vast world beyond.

As she wandered through the fields and winding forest trails, she marveled at the beauty of nature unfolding around her. With each step she took, Xiao Yun felt as if a sense of liberation wash over her, a feeling of freedom that she had never experienced in the city before.

Along the way of her journey, Xiao Yun also encountered several fellow travelers from all walks of life, the kindred spirits on their own quests for enlightenment. From the wise old ones to the spirited young adventurers, each person she met has left an indelible mark on her soul.

Xiao Yun was so enjoying her journey, that she didn’t realize that the day had turned into weeks, while the weeks had turned into months. Xiao Yun’s journey had took her to the far corners of the earth that she had only dreamed of visiting before.

She climbed rugged mountain ranges, crossed vast deserts on the peak of its heats, and sailed across the blue oceans under the blazing sun. With each new destination, Xiao Yun found herself growing more attuned to the rhythms of the natural world. She learned to navigate by reading the stars at night, to collect her food in the wilderness, and to find shelters to protect her in the most unlikely places.

Amidst the beauty and wonder of her journey, Xiao Yun also encountered some moments of doubt and uncertainty. Sometimes she felt lonely, missing her comfortable home, while questioning whether the journey had any real purpose or meaning at all.

Just when she found herself on the brink of despair, Xiao Yun would be thinking of the previous connections she had along the way. Whether by sharing stories around a campfire beneath the starlit sky, or lending a helping hand to a stranger in need, she realized that the true essence of her journey lay not in the places she visited, but in the people she met along the way.

As Xiao Yun continued her journey under the sun, she began to uncover a deeper truth about herself, the truth that had been buried by the crowded and distractions of city life. With her journey, Xiao Yun discovered her passion for adventure, a thirst for knowledge, and a profound sense of gratitude for the beauty of the natural world.

As the sun dipped below the horizon on the final night of her journey, Xiao Yun found herself standing on a cliff, overlooking the vast expanse of the greens below. With a heart full of gratitude and a soul full of purpose, she made a silent vow to always keep the lessons of her journey, to live each day with courage, curiosity, and an unwavering appreciation for the journey.

The Chinese Character 是 (shì) in terms of linguistic is a copula, or a word or phrase that connect the subject of a sentence to its complement, which on meaning wise can be translated as to be or is/am/are. This character consist of two radicals or components, which are 日 (rì) which means “sun” or “day”, and 疋 (pǐ) which usually translated as foot, but some would translate it as “to match”, “standard”, “straight or proper” or a bolt of cloths. When both of the radicals are combined we can see that the 是 character is representing the step (foot), match, standard, or properness under the sun.

Just as the adventure taken by Xiao Yun, the Chinese Character 是 reminds us to go on with journey of life that filled with experiences and learning, for us to realize that our existence on this earth is a gift to appreciate, and that we should embrace the opportunity to live, by truthfully living to the best we can to align with the natural order of the universe.