Guanxi Master

About Guanxi Master

My name is Will Boyd, an American adopted by a Chinese family, living with five-generations in the village of Panlong, on the outskirts of Shanghai. I have spent the last ten years of my life studying Classical Chinese and Eastern Philosophy, supporting myself by hosting television programming in Mandarin for SMG and CCTV, and singing Chinese Opera. You can find my programs by searching for my Chinese name, 印威廉. Before moving to China, I lived in India, trying to grasp the root of the ancient ideas that have turned the West upside-down, following the tendrils of Buddhist thought into Chinese Taoism, where I discovered the beauty of Confucius. This started my journey into the long process of wading through Confucian texts. It will take the rest of my life to learn the things that I set out to learn. You can see everything I’ve learned up to this point in my new books, “China Mirror” and “Dream of the Peach Blossom Spring”.

I am privileged to have many insightful friends in China, not a few of whom are writers. Ever so often, when the synergy is right, or when we’ve smelled a little too much bai jiu, an article is created that reflects a particularly insightful resonance about China. These articles, although they are not mine, will be hosted on this site as well. I particularly appreciate Brian Kehler and Jason Lau’s contributions, and look forward to many more years of writing with them!

“Guanxi Master” is not a self-appointed title of an arrogant foreigner. It is my search for masters around China who can explain the Chinese philosophy of life, the Chinese view of relationships, and ways in which people like myself can understand and enter into the Chinese Tradition. This is a notebook for the materials that I have collected through these studies, and are necessarily rough and undeveloped. I appreciate constructive comments and criticism, and invite you to become a part of the search for the “Guanxi Master”.

“Not to Know, but to Know Why I Cannot Know” – Chinese Folk Saying