Why Cultivate Immortality? Farming Is Better

All things in the world, from plants to animals, have their own patterns. Dragons and phoenixes display auspicious signs through their ornate markings; tigers and leopards form their graceful shapes through their vivid stripes. Clouds and rosy mists carve out colors more wondrous than any painter could manage; plants and trees bloom in splendor without needing the marvels of a brocade weaver. How could these be mere external adornments? They are simply the work of nature.

The sounds of wind through the woods weave together like the notes of reed pipes and zithers; springs and rocks strike up resonant tones, harmonizing like jade chimes and bronze bells. Thus, when forms take shape, patterns emerge; when sounds ring out, beauty is born. If even mindless things possess such rich color and splendor, how could things made by conscious minds be without pattern?