analysis+foreword,+the+how+of+pooh,+the+tao+of+pooh

__Analysis By Dee Dee & Lydia __
     **朴**   is **Pooh** and **  Pooh  ** is 朴  Pooh is represented as an optimistic character who always thinks in a simple- minded way. Unlike the character Rabbit, who seems very clever and logical nor Eeyore who seems negative all the time, the calmness and the happiness that Pooh possess portrays the Taoist way of thinking.

"We've come to wish you a Very Happy Thursday" (15). " ... it's what I call a Friendly Day"(21). " ... and we'll go to wish everybody a Very Happy Thursday" (21).

These are some quotes that Pooh says throughout the chapters, which by the glance represents how cheerful and positive he is. We can especially tell how he emphasizes the word friendly and happy with capitalizing.

" I don't see much sense in that"(13). - sour feeling said by Rabbit " But nobody minds. Nobody cares. Pathetic, that's what it is"(16). - negative feeling said by Eeyore

These are quotes that the Rabbit and Eeyore says that relates to the Confucianism and Buddhism concepts in "The Vinegar Tasters".

Pooh's name represents the Chinese character 朴(Pu') which means "natural, simple, plain, honest"(11). Not only does Pooh and P'u sound similar, but the meaning is the exact characteristics of Winnie the Pooh. The concept of P'u is also known as the "Uncarved Block" because the Chinese character 朴 has a radical or the root word 木, which means tree, and the phonetic means dense growth.

"And if Clever Rabbit doesn't quite have what it takes, Abrasive Eeyore cetrtainly doesn't have it either" (15). This shows how although Rabbit and Owl are extremely intelligent characters, they still don't have what it takes to have fun because they are too complex, unlike pooh. Although Pooh is simple, he has the right attitude all the time, which makes him happy and optimistic. "...the Eeyore Attitude gets in the way of things like wisdom and happiness, and pretty much prevents any sort of real Accomplishment in life" (16). Because of Eeyore's negative attitude towards everything, he can't actually do anything he wants to in life, the opposite meaning of what happiness actually is.

Lastly, Pooh often overuses the phrase "I think" which shows how Taoism stresses that self-reflection and one's gut feeling can be the correct answer. This helps prevent over-analyzation and stress, but instead a simple, calm, and relaxed life, since the answer is dependent on one's opionion.

"I just thought.." (14) "What I think..." (20)-Pooh states what he believes

