3 ms·

The part of the scroll being blank also goes way back, reminiscent of the “true and wordless scripture” of Buddhism

• pdimitar 5y ago
  Not to start a huge philosophy argument but I always only understood it as "the real power to change things around is only in you -- no magic scrolls will help you with that". In a very typical (and loved by me) Buddhism fashion you have the protagonist of a tale e.g. be promised wisdom or power if they climb a mountain and talk to the monks on top and eventually it turns out that while you were climbing the mountain you gained the wisdom and strength you were seeking. Arriving at the top of the mountain was just the event that is supposed to make you aware that you have now succeeded. I viewed Kung Fu Panda part 1 similarly. If you go through all the trials to gain the Dragon Scroll and finish them successfully then you ALREADY ARE the "dragon warrior". You don't no need scroll for that. That's why it's empty. Not just empty; it's a mirror. To show you that the wisdom and power are already inside you. That's what I got out of it.
• dragontamer 5y ago
  I'm no expert on Chinese culture. But the message is at least as old as "Journey to the West" (aka: 'that monkey king story'). Where Tang Sanzang travels westward in search of paradise. At the end of the trip, he fails to find paradise, and Buddha IIRC tells him to turn around and look back upon his journey. Tang Sanzang created paradise in his time, by solving all the issues of the people along the way. It was the journey that made paradise, not the end. If he just teleported to the West, there would have been no paradise. ------ Probably a Buddhism thing that keeps coming up over and over again over the centuries. But I liked that one.