Since ancient times, the Chinese nationalities have never thought human beings to be superior to any other species. Their performances in both philosophy and literature reflect that man occupies a relatively appropriate proportion with all other creatures in the natural world, rather than being the dominant ruler. Therefore, generally speaking, our suffering is basically less than that of western people, for the intensity of one’s depression literally changes along with the magnitude of one’s desire and ambition. As people in an agricultural society enjoy much lesser than those in an industrial society, they have fewer desires. Besides, ancient Chinese always took it as their most main philosophy of life that one should not merely be confined to material pursuits, or be enslaved to material things.
