[No transmigration + realistic setting + adventure + fishing + mysteries] Most outsiders don't know this, but once you take up fishing, you leave the mortal world behind. Of the fifty paths of the Great Dao, Heaven derives forty-nine, leaving one for escape. But anglers have already escaped the Great Dao. Fishing isn't a dinner party, a domestic idyll where one tills the fields while the other weaves, or a battle where the artillery fires and the infantry charges. Fishing is an art, a skill passed down since the dawn of human society, with more intricacies than anyone can count. Some people spend their whole lives learning only the basics. History has produced many famous anglers. Take Jiang Taigong, the founding patriarch of the fishing world, who waited for a willing fish to take the bait and helped King Wen of Zhou make history and found a dynasty. Or Han Xin, the Soldier Immortal, who was destitute before he made his name, but came to understand the Great Dao while fishing by a river and helped Liu Bang establish the Han dynasty. Fishing may not make you famous, but of all the things that have helped ordinary people rise to prominence throughout history, fishing is one of the best. So whether the stories are made up or the names are wrongly attributed, there really is something profound to this art. Take up your rod, keep your eyes on the float, and become one with Heaven and Earth. Anglers have a school of their own. Catch a few fish, call over a couple of friends, raise a glass of liquor, and the deeper meaning will reveal itself. Although fishing has evolved from a practical skill into a pastime as human productivity has advanced, the spirit of exploration, curiosity, innovation, perseverance, and integrity among anglers continues to inspire us.
Over the course of my fishing career, Wang Dayi and I have traveled far and wide and experienced many strange things. Aside from a few truly extraordinary ones, these are the only stories I can tell.
