All public parks have rules governing the behaviour of park users – lighting fires, picking the flowers, dropping litter are among the many prohibitions
These are usually displayed at the park entrances, and in the park itself smaller injunctions are displayed here and there. The prohibitions are usually sensible, for instance: picking flowers is not allowed, nor is littering, nor is disrupting other park users with loud music, or having a dog that is not on a leash. . In the west these rules are usually written in terse language, the prominent word usually being ‘Don’t’!
Of course in China the park users are also exhorted not to behave antisocially, but how these injunctions are phrased is so much more poetic.
Last weekend I was in Xi’an and visited the famous Great Goose Pagoda which is surrounded by a beautifully tranquil park, with lots of trees, bamboo groves and flowering shrubs. It is all kept in immaculate order. There are notices scattered around which are the equivalent to our Western park orders – but see for yourself how different they are!
Philosophic thoughts to encourage good park behaviour! I love it!
Brilliant, Jo. Unfortunately, in some communities one has to speak very bluntly otherwise the message does not get through or is ignored!
I always liked the Chinese park sign ‘Tiny grass is smiling on you, please don’t step on us’
Love it too Jo…..
Beautifully put and displayed. Unfortunately the persons most likely to offend would probably not even bother to read, never mind oblige . . . . . .
Love this Jo!
We need a bit of this philosophy over here!
Speak when you are over.
Love
Wendy
Xxx
Sent from my iPhone
Lovely! I hardly dare say it, but maybe it’s simply a question of… culture?
How lovely.