Harmony

Sarah Conover has written six books on world wisdom traditions and the spiritual education of families. Her interests lie in building bridges of understanding between people of differing world cultures and wisdom traditions. As a former high-school teacher, she strived to bring multicultural perspectives to her students by collaborating with other educators worldwide. She was the recipient of two U.S. State Department grants that brought U.S. teachers to the Middle East to initiate classroom collaborations between students in the two regions. Sarah lives in Spokane, Washington, where she teaches creative writing and Buddhist meditation. Chen Hui majored in English literature and education at Hunan Normal University, in Chansha. She subsequently earned an MA in education from Harding University, in Searcy, Arkansas, and taught Chinese at St. George's School, in Spokane, before her recent move back to China. Ji Ruoxiao is a professor of art at Sichuan Normal University, in Chengdu. She studied at Beijing's Central Institute of Fine Arts, and her paintings hang in the Chinese Art Museum, also in Beijing. The recipient of many honors, she was one of two Chinese artists whose work was chosen for the art exhibition at the Fourth United Nations World Conference of Women. She lives in Seattle and returns to Sichuan each year to teach.

Preface


To the Young Reader


Stories


A Man in Qi Worries That the Sky Will Fall


Waiting for a Hare by a Tree Stump


Pulling Up Sprouts to Help Them Grow


Blind Men Touch an Elephant


Sharpening an Iron Bar into a Needle


The Fight Between a Snipe and an Oyster


Studying How to Walk in Handan


A Frog in a Shallow Well


The Fox Borrows the Tiger's Power


His Spear Against His Shield


A Man from the Kingdom of Zheng Buys Shoes


Quenching Thirst by Hoping for Plums


Practice Makes Perfect


Looking for a Horse with the Aid of a Diagram


Monkeys Dragging Up the Moon


Mend the Sheepfold Even If Sheep Have Been Lost


Trying to Go South by Driving The Chariot North


A Man from the Kingdom of Qi Snatches Gold


Marking the Boat to Search for Your Sword in the River


Plugging One's Ears While Stealing a Bell


An Unskilled Musician Concealed in the Crowd


Old Man Sai Lost His Horse


Yu Gong Moved Mountains


The Teeth Are Gone, but the Tongue Remains


Maps and Timeline


Guide to pronunciation


Philosophical and Religious Influences


Source Notes


Acknowledgments


About the Authors and Illustrator


About the Series