childe hassam Wayside Inn Sudbury Massachusetts painting

childe hassam Wayside Inn Sudbury Massachusetts paintingEdgar Degas Four Dancers paintingEdgar Degas dance class painting
Confucius thought moderate amounts of fun were acceptable. This is backed up by modern research finding that people who engage in pleasurable activities are happier (I know, surprise surprise!). Follow-up studies show no long-term disadvantages to a bit of short-term fun. So there's no point rejecting the possibility of happiness, as does ancient Chinese Buddhism, which warns that the pursuit of the land of the blindingly obvious - yes, people are happier. Still, just because the advice is obvious doesn't mean it's any less relevant, or any more likely for people to actually act on! Despite this the self-evident nature of this advice, ancient Chinese Buddhism actually recommends physical privation. Again, we'll stick with Confucius on this one.
6. Meet your obligations
One of the most important aspects of ancient Chinese Confucianism is a sense of duty and responsibility. There's some sparse evidence from the individual level that this might lead . At a societal level, however, people who live in collectivist societies, like the Chinese, tend to be less happier than those who live in individualistic societies. This may be because collectivist societies stifle the individual's search for self-actualisation.