志异 Draft by Drama box December 2014 (english) | Page 30

True harmony,
therefore, is
about diversity.

Once that was done, Shun waited for the right time to appoint
Xiang as Prince of Youbi. While this was a promotion, it was clear
to Xiang and to many that this was an exile, a punishment for his
crimes. Nonetheless, Shun was able to keep his dear brother alive
and to uphold the honour of his brother.
Like a chef able to bring three different flavours into harmony,
Shun was able to harmonise three seemingly conflicting values
into a single coherent action through careful preparation and
timing.
In this culinary model of harmony, discord occurs when we
perceive a situation to only allow one element to thrive in
an environment of diversity. Based on such a perception, we
conceptualise every element as if they are in competition for that
single spot, thus putting tension between them. The culinary
model of harmony requires us to reframe our perception of
situations, and to refrain from a binary mode of framing things —
either this or that, yes or no. Such a model of harmony challenges
us to instead see creatively how every diverse element can be
simultaneously manifested like the different ingredients and
flavours of a dish.
Such harmony is not that simple to achieve. One must do the
necessary planning and preparation, and discern the right timing
to execute the various actions. If one were too hasty or too slow,
one might ruin the process and fail to achieve harmony.

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