will it be possible that we think too much?

As early as in the time of Han Dynasty, trditional chinese culture like poetry, Chinese painting and so on enjoyed a large population. People expressed their ideas by composing a poem or a painting in a both public and secret way.

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When we study these works nowadays, teachers instruct us to explore as many meanings from the elements they used as possible. For example, when they drew bamboo, the meaning expressed is more than just bamboo, but claiming their unwilling to surrender to the authority as well, as bamboo is the symbol of the uprightness. However, I am always wondering that will it be possible that we think too much, maybe the writer didn't mean that but just wanted to draw bamboo simplitly?

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It is true that people communicating with each other by using symbols to stimulate meaning in other's mind. However, the symbols, especially signs has their original meanings themselves, when we read these signs, we should not add too many meanings on it violently. It reminds me of tragedies happened to scholars in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In order to enforce their regime, the authorities killed many scholars because of their works, which the authories regarded containing antisociety meanings.