"Cai Gen Tan" 菜根谭, or “Cabbage Roots Talk” is a collection of quotations by Hong Yingming in Ming Dynasty. Including ideas of life skills-based aphoristic essay anthology, a blend of Confucian doctrine of the mean thought, Taoist inaction thought and Buddhist born life thinking philosophy of life. The content of "Cai Gen Tan" is a popular book of Confucianism. It is the essence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. It is centered on mind and Zen , and has the avenues of self-cultivation, family, governance, and peace. At the same time, because of its philosophy, life Art, aesthetic taste, it is also a Chinese literature that makes people work hard.
From the structure, "Cai Gen Tan" has beautiful remarks, and it is a kind of popular reading material that is beneficial to people's cultivation of sentiment, tempering will, and struggling. The author named the book "cabbage roots", which means that "human intelligence and cultivation can only be obtained through hard work.", the so-called "bite the roots, then you can do everything."