Why? Because I want to learn to read, that's why.
Moscow burning under drone attacks, Crimea burning, submarine and landing ship sunk, Ukrainian’s liberate their oil platform off the coast of Crimea, Kadyrov is dead and all I want to do is study Chinese, I wonder why?
No I don’t.
Here is this season’s last episode of Word Whiz or Slime. Not that Slime is an oblique reference to chemical weapons. The mad scientist starts her latest episode playing with a Duncan yoyo! So evil!
The last chengyu is “Not a crow cried” 鸦雀无声 yāquè-wúshēng
[silence reigns and not a crow or sparrow can be heard] 安静,无一点声息
It means complete silence; a lull in the conversation, often embarassing. But Ukraine is transliterated as “crow conquering orchid” 乌克兰 so it is also an oblique reference to Ukraine.
Draw your own conclusions…
佛典动画 - 佛说十善业道经 (高清版) - YouTube
This is the Chinese version of the ten commandments. 十善業道經 Unlike the Jewish version it explains Why the commandments are and what benefits occur to those who follow them.
People are likelier to follow you when they understand the reasons Why.
《陋室铭》,刘禹锡 Engraving on a Crude Hut, Yu Xi Liu:
山不在高,有仙则名。
水不在深,有龙则灵。
斯是陋室,惟吾德馨。
苔痕上阶绿,草色入帘青。
谈笑有鸿儒,往来无白丁。
可以调素琴,阅金经。
无丝竹之乱耳,无案牍之劳形。
南阳诸葛庐,西蜀子云亭,孔子云:何陋之有?
My Translation:
The mountain is not high, unless it bears an immortal's name.
The water is not deep, unless it have a divine dragon's soul.
This is a rough dwelling. Yet I, though alone, hear and smell the heartfelt sounds and scent of virtue.
The stair steps respond: "the green of the grass enters into the azure curtains".
The talks and laughter of geese, like their grand confucian scholars' namesakes, signal the uncommon are approaching.
One can talk, play purely the zither, read the classics;
there are no stringed instruments disturbing the ears,
there are no complicated cases to work through formally.
It is like Zhuge Lu's sanctuary in the Southern Sunlight
or Zi Yun's cloud covered pavillion in Western Shu!
In the words of Confucius: "what is so crude here?"
【婷婷唱古文】《陋室銘》 唐 刘禹锡 动画版古诗今唱 - YouTube
柏学士茅屋
碧山学士焚银鱼,白马却走身岩居。
古人已用三冬足,年少今开万卷余。
晴云满户团倾盖,秋水浮阶溜决渠。
富贵必从勤苦得,
男儿须读五车书。
【婷婷唱古文】《念奴娇赤壁怀古》宋 苏轼 关于三国的古诗 - YouTube