>The Caigentan (Chinese: 菜根譚) is a circa 1590 text written by the Ming Dynasty scholar and philosopher Hong Zicheng (Chinese: 洪自誠; pinyin: Hóng Zì-Chéng). This compilation of aphorisms eclectically combines elements from the Three teachings (Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism), and is comparable with Marcus Aurelius' Meditations or La Rochefoucauld's Maximes.