I was introduced to the concept of "time capsule" while attending Northwest Missouri State University.

Across from my dorm, the university library was under extension. One day it was annouced that a "time capsule" would be put into the foundation. Inside an airtight container were various hand-written messages, drawings and objects that were meant to be discovered by the future generation.

"Time capsule" also happens in our life, such as when you open a long forgotten box that contains your early writings and personal collections. In fact, archeology can be considered a "time capsule" project of academic significance.

This Web site is a marriage of this "time capsule" concept and the spirit of a Chinese poem that I have carried with me since I first read it in high school.

Click here to read the Chinese poem.

This Chinese poem begins the "The Romance of Three Kingdoms", which is a widely read 14th-century novel. Using his rich imaginations, the author stitched together political events and state warfares in the "Three Kingdoms" period that was several centuries before his time.

This is my "conceptual" translation (as opposed to a literal one) of thepoem.

The furious waves of Yangtze River scoup away all heroes
on their perpetual rush to the eastern sea.
Righteousness, wrongfulness, success and failure eventually turn into emptiness.
The green mountain still remains there,
witnessing the sunset time after time.

On the river edge sits a white-haired angler,
who has seen and heard it all.
A pot of crude rice wine and an acquaintance
are all that it takes to begin a lively conversation.

Come share your "time capsule" and have a conversation here...

(The poem in simplified Chinese will be available later.)