The Chinese circular outlook on time is also revealed in literary writings and proverbs. The flight of time is compared in classical writings to the movement of a shuttle (suo), which flits back and forth in a weaving loom. Qu Yuan (about 270 BC), a patriotic poet of the Warring States Period, writes in his masterpiece The Lament, “The sun alternates with the moon; autumn returns after spring soon.” Time is looked upon not as a never returning, one-way movement, but as a back-and-forth rotation like the endless cycle of the seasons. It is true that time goes quickly, but it comes back soon as the sun and moon do. The circular view results in a sense of the abundance of time and thus doing things in an unhurried manner.

People believe that loss can be made up for as time rotates. This belief is expressed in a line from The Biography of Feng Yi written in the East Han dynasty, “What is lost at sunrise can be regained at sunset.” Although people also sigh over “time waiting for no one” (Tao Yuanming, Jin dynasty) and feel “regret for the negligent loss of time” (Han Yu, Tang dynasty), yet they expect “the favor of the time cycle and the change from bad to good luck.” The unhurried and leisurely manner is so appreciated that advice is given and farewell remarks are made by frequently using the phrases “go (eat, play, watch, discuss, do something) slowly” or “take your time.” The road sign “slow down, look around, and then cross” can be found at crossroads everywhere in China.

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