The roots of wisdom Saikontan

The Caigentan (Chinese: 菜根譚; pinyin: Càigēntán; Wade–Giles: Ts’ai-ken t’an; literally: “Vegetable Root Discourse”) is circa 1590 text written by the Ming Dynasty scholar and philosopher Hong Zicheng (Chinese: 洪自誠; pinyin: Hóng Zì-Chéng). 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.