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A teacher draws a bow to full tension while a seated young student watches the taut string.

The Arrow and the Bow

An elderly man and a child stand on a path under a tree; the child holds up a single red leaf.

The Autumn Leaves

A farmer kneels smiling beside a single green shoot breaking through the soil, a watering pail set down beside him.

The Bamboo Tree

A lone traveler sits among upright bamboo, looking toward massive oak trunks fallen in the background.

The Bamboo and the Oak

Two blindfolded men touch an elephant with their hands — one its side, the other its trunk.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

A blind man with a white cane holds onto a stranger's arm on a city street.

The Blind Traveler

A dying lantern maker holds out a lit lantern to a woman standing at his bedside.

The Borrowed Light

An old man lashes a plank to an unfinished rope bridge over a chasm, a lantern and staff beside him.

The Bridge Builder

A woman at a wooden table joins pieces of a ceramic vase with gold seams, holding a thin brush.

The Broken Vase

A violinist plays with eyes closed under a stage light, one string hanging broken from the violin

The Broken Violin

A commander in armor stands on a beach at dusk watching his ships burn on the water

The Burning Ships

A man sits on a mat at dawn, a butterfly resting on his hand, his face calm and quietly puzzled.

The Butterfly Dream

A man helps a butterfly emerge from its cocoon on a branch, his face gentle and caring.

The Butterfly Struggle

An open candle fights against the wind on the left, a steady lantern with curved glass on the right.

The Candle and the Wind

A captain calmly holds the helm in a storm, a frightened sailor clutches a rope behind him.

The Captain and the Storm

A captain speaks with his adult first mate at the ship's rail, a lantern lighting both faces.

The Captain's Word

A water bearer smiles at a cracked leaking pot on his yoke; wildflowers bloom along the wet side of the path, the other side bare.

The Cracked Pot

A traveler with a bag looks down empty tracks, an elderly woman sits calmly on a bench behind him.

The Delayed Train

An older mentor holds out a lump of coal on an open palm while a tense young student looks at it.

The Diamond Under Pressure

An eaglet falls through the air, the mother eagle flies below to catch it, a nest on the cliff.

The Eagle and the Cliff

A Zen master pours tea into an overflowing cup as a startled scholar reaches out to stop him, books stacked nearby.

The Empty Cup

A woman stands in a doorway looking down an empty hallway; a man stands a few steps behind her.

The Empty Nest

An empty throne on a stone dais with one elderly minister standing at the foot of the steps looking up at it.

The Empty Throne

A woman by a classroom window has just switched off a desk lamp, a starry night sky beyond the glass.

The Fading Star

A girl kneels unrolling a large canvas in a shaft of light from a barn's attic window.

The Forgotten Artist

A young woman traveler stands before a seated old man at a fork in the road with signposts.

The Fork in the Road

A queen stands beside her gardener in a flourishing garden as he gestures toward the soil, explaining.

The Gardener's Secret

A poised cook guides a blade with ease at a block while a richly dressed prince watches in wonder.

The General and the Cook

An older general faces a bearded officer at a table with a map and lamp inside a tent.

The General's Humility

A master reveals thick roots at the base of a tree, a student watches beside her.

The Hidden Roots

A king stands looking out a tall window in a stone hall while an elderly advisor waits silently a few steps behind him.

The King Who Asked Why

An attentive king leans toward a white-bearded elder who speaks to him in a quiet stone hall.

The King's Three Questions

A man carries a lit lantern at his hip down a dark street, a small figure walks behind him in its light.

The Lantern Carrier

An elderly professor lies in bed with his eyes closed, a student sits nearby on a stool among bookshelves.

The Last Lesson

A man sits on an attic floor with a box in his lap and a sheet of paper in his hands, surrounded by stacks of blank envelopes.

The Last Letter

Five frogs sit on a log, a sixth is already swimming in the pond.

The Leap of the Frog

An older lighthouse keeper stands alone by his lit lamp, gazing out to sea toward a distant ship in fog.

The Lighthouse Keeper

A girl kneels in an overgrown garden behind a stone wall, a bag of seeds beside her, the gate open.

The Locked Garden

A grown daughter with a travel bag stands in an open doorway at dusk, meeting her mother's gaze across the threshold.

The Long Way Home

A man searches by feel in a circle of lamplight, while the key actually lies in the dark alley nearby.

The Lost Key

An old guide stands with a young explorer at a cliff edge where the trail ends, lowering his unfolded map.

The Map and the Territory

A grandmother sits with a child at a table as a candle burns almost to its base, the child looks up at framed pictures on the wall.

The Melting Candle

A lone woman climber pauses on a bare mid-mountain path with a walking pole, summit faint ahead.

The Mountain Climber

A woman stands at a village doorway at dusk while an older woman in the doorway holds out an empty open palm.

The Mustard Seed

A man crouches touching the smooth blank surface of an old headstone in a cemetery, with newer carved stones behind him.

The Name Carved in Stone

A grieving woman clenches a stone in her fist with tears in her eyes, a sage beside her offers an open hand.

The Open Hand

A conductor stands alone on a podium, arms raised and eyes closed, amid empty music stands.

The Orchestra Conductor

An instructor checks a student's gear before a skydive, inside the plane.

The Parachute

An old woman by a well offers a clay cup of water to a dusty pilgrim on the road.

The Pilgrim and the Dust

A potter works at a wheel; on a shelf behind him a single cracked bowl stands apart from the others.

The Potter's Wheel

A weary traveler with a worn suitcase stands looking lost on a village lane, an elderly woman watches from a stone wall.

The Returning Traveler

A man wades through a fast river, chest-deep, one arm raised for balance.

The River Crossing

An old master presses a smooth river stone into a young student's open palm on a porch by a stream.

The River and the Stone

A young traveler stands where a mountain stream thins into desert sand, mist rising in warm light.

The River's Lesson

A river winds through a green valley past a village to the ocean, a child plays in the shallows.

The River's Purpose

An old teacher pours salt into a vast lake as a young man kneels at the water's edge to drink.

The Salt in the Water

The Buddha speaks to a kneeling student beneath a tree at dusk, a single arrow resting on the ground between them.

The Second Arrow

A weary man sits alone in a dim cave watching a spider climb a thread toward the rock ceiling.

The Second Try

A gardener gently presses a seed into the dark soil of a garden bed.

The Seed and the Dark

A farmer walks away from a planted field, a neighbor at the fence looking at the soil behind her.

The Seed and the Farmer

A king in simple clothes walks alone down a poor street between modest houses.

The Shepherd Who Became King

A lone man stands barefoot at the ocean's edge at dawn, gazing at the horizon, a small boat on the sand behind him.

The Shore and the Deep

An old sculptor rests a hand on a huge half-buried stone giant emerging from a grassy field.

The Sleeping Giant

A child throws a starfish toward the waves as a man stands behind on a beach covered with stranded starfish.

The Starfish Thrower

A stonecutter stands with empty hands, his chisel on the ground, a curious female traveler with a staff leans in beside him.

The Stonecutters

A young samurai bows his head, sword sheathed, before a seated old monk speaking calmly.

The Sword of Discernment

A tightrope walker pushes an empty wheelbarrow across a rope over Niagara Falls, the crowd blurred far below.

The Tightrope Walker

A tightrope walker balances on the rope, a safety net stretched below.

The Tightrope and the Net

A man holds the handle of a worn door, a woman waits patiently behind him in the corridor.

The Two Doors

A small closed seed lies in the soil on the left, a just-sprouted shoot with a couple of leaves on the right against a sunrise.

The Two Seeds

A grandfather and grandson sit by a campfire as two wolf spirits — one snarling, one calm — rise from the flames between them.

The Two Wolves

Two bridge arches almost meet over a river, leaving a narrow gap; a man looks toward the other side.

The Unfinished Bridge

A painter holds a brush at her side, looking at a half-finished canvas in her studio.

The Unfinished Painting

A woman holds a dress just lifted from a box of tissue paper, a tag hanging from it on a thread.

The Unopened Gift

A woman draws water from a village well, surrounded by cracked, dry ground.

The Village Well

A woman looks up at a starry night sky with the Milky Way, an old man with a telescope sits nearby on a rock.

The Wanderer and the Stars

An old wanderer leans toward a small child asking him a question, distant mountains and coastline fading behind them.

The Wanderer's Question

A teacher holds up a heavy bag of potatoes before weary students clutching their own sagging bags.

The Weight of Resentment

A willow stands at a swollen river, its branches trailing in the water, a farmer stands ankle-deep in mud looking up at it.

The Willow Tree

An older monk carries a young woman across a fast river toward a sunlit bank.

Two Monks and a River