Imagery in Didactic Literature

In the stories, "The Zen Parables," "Taoist Anecdotes," and "Confucius Analects," all share one similarity, which is describing stories as guidlines to a simply act of kindness/morality in a person's life, to pass on to others as a moral lesson.

In "The Zen Parables," the story "The Thief Who Became a Disciple" teaches a moral lesson of kindness because of how a man came into Shichiri's house to steal money, and Shichiri allowed him to do so, then the thief said thank you. When the thief was caught he went on trail, and Shichiri dropped the charges because of how the man said thank you to Shichiri. This is an act of kindness because of how Shichiri allowed the man to have money, and having dropped the charages because of a simply thank you response. The moral lesson would be respecting ones wishes, and in return you will have one's respect.

In "Taoist Anecdotes," the story "Gold, Gold," the person was faced with the temptation of greed, because of the line, "when I took it, I saw only the gold, not the people," which means he only thought of himself and not others who need the money just as much as he does. Another story called, "The Butterfly" is about how a young boy, who wanted to escape into his dream life, which was him being the butterfly, and only doing what he wants to do, with no stress. Both these stories teach a moral lesson which is seeing the bigger picture in life, such as caring about others, instead of yourself.

Finally, in the story, "Confucius Analects" the first paragraph talks about how to teach people to follow morality. For example is the Buddha and how they worship their religion through meditations and pratices. This story alone, teaches people the true meaning of life, and how to follow their teachings, and morals such as the Buddha, and Gandhi. Both of them brought their teachings to life by wisdom and kindness, for example worshiping their culture and teachings to other monks. Being able to share their thoughts and feelings with others, not by words, but by actions, such as the Buddha and their meditations, to find ones innerself. Another example is Gandhi, when he starved himself to get his people to listen, and respect ones wishes. The authors wrote these stories so people could have a sense of guildlines with morality, and kindness, and to put it into play with real-life experiences.