No one would dispute that New York is a busy city. Indeed its bustling energy and lively activity have been attracting dreamers after dreamers.

“Everything goes fast here! People walk fast! Fast! Everyone is busy!”

Walking up a Manhattan street one day, I overheard a countryman exclaiming his surprise over the phone to, probably, his friend another countryman: the amazement must be common for all visitors and newcomers, New York could come upon one with invigorating or otherwise aggressiveness.

While busy in the western world is generally considered good–it has the sense of “diligent, zealous, active, hard-working, industrious”, the Chinese instinctively knows that 忙 máng is a bad thing.

First the character explains itself. 忙, busy, is formed by two parts: heart (忄: 心 xīn), and death (亡 wáng). It tells it plainly: the heart is dead, and the original meaning is heart-forced, rush and tension in the heart, urgent and hurried.

Curiously, or rather unsurprisingly, 忙 máng, pronounces the same as blind (盲máng).

The ancient Chinese wisdom thus says: “death of the heart” does not only mean losing the ability to discern the general direction, it also means an unclear and muddled intelligence at the things we are doing at the moment.

弟子规 Dìzǐ guī Standars for being a Good Pupil and Child (a book mainly based on Confucius teaching) says, 事勿忙，忙多错 (Shì wù máng, máng duō cuò), don’t be too busy(hasty), haste makes mistakes. Instead of making mistakes in hectic, it’s better to calm your mind, prepare well before doing things, and think carefully so that things could be done well.

不要太忙! Bùyào tài máng! Don’t be too busy! is a common reminder between friends and family among the Chinese which might baffle a westner.