Chapter 20 5. Stringless piano

It is said that Tao Yuanming's qin has no strings. It is not clear why he would have such a stringless piano.If it's because you don't know music, or think that the sound of the big sound is rare, it is certainly possible to have no strings, so isn't that piece of qin also superfluous?However, Tao Yuanming wanted to have a piano.And as long as there is wine, I will fondle the harp, playing music that no one can hear. Perhaps, Qin is his stag tail. There is no evidence that Tao Yuanming participated in the Qing Talks, but this by no means means that he is different.On the contrary, as the last celebrity in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Tao Yuanming's attitude towards life was also philosophical and artistic.It's just that Yin Hao and the others want to communicate with other talkers, but Tao Yuanming's targets are Tian Yuan and himself.

This point can be read from his poems.Yes, why are the cocks and dogs barking in the village, the smoke from the neighbor’s house, the good seedlings in the field and the wind in the field, and the hoe with the moon in the field, these ordinary scenes and scenes will become the most common in his heart and writing. your favorite?The poet has already answered: To argue is to speak, not to discern.Human beings need to speak because they have intentions to express.Mind can be emotion, will, or cognition, but they all need to be conveyed through conceptual language.However, whether the conceptual language (言) can fully express the mind (善意) is a question.For this reason, Wei-Jin metaphysics was divided into two schools, one school believed that it was possible, and the other school thought it was not possible.

This is the dispute between "speaking fully" and "sufficiently speaking". Therefore, the "debate" here cannot be written as "discernment". Tao Yuanming did not directly answer this question.He just told us that when he picked chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely saw Nanshan, the autumn sun setting slowly in the west and the flying birds returning together, he had realized something (there is a real meaning in it), But when I wanted to say it, I forgot how to say it. More importantly, of course: Needless to say. Therefore, his qin does not need to have strings.Because the important thing is the true meaning, forgetting the words is irrelevant.With this true meaning, even if "the hut is in a human environment", it can be "without the noise of cars and horses", not to mention the chrysanthemums, the Nanshan, and the birds.

This is actually the metaphysics of art. In fact, the ultimate goal of metaphysics is to explore the true meaning, but the true meaning belongs to the world and the universe.This is even beyond the grasp and expression of general conceptual language, and can only resort to "mysterious words", and "mysterious and mysterious".When this kind of mysterious and mysterious language can't do what it wants, it can only resort to art. Art is also speech, but it is "non-conceptual".Art language, whether abstract such as music and calligraphy or concrete such as sculpture and painting, is somewhat uncertain.Yet this quality is good news for inexhaustible truths.Because determination means limitation, and limitation means limit, so how can it be the door to all wonders?

The art of metaphysics is inevitable. Moreover, it is just a way of speaking. In fact, Tao Yuanming did not deny the need to speak, otherwise he would not even have to write this poem.This is just as the tail of the stag is not the purpose of the talk, but the tail of the stag is still needed to add to the fun of the talk.Be it philosophy or art, both need carriers and props.Therefore, the qin cannot be without, even without strings. Similarly, Go can not do without pieces, even if there are only two kinds of black and white. Go, music, calligraphy, and painting are collectively called piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, which is very strange from a taxonomic point of view.But if talking can also be turned into a game, why can't Go be turned into an art?In fact, in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Go was "silent talk", called "hand talk"; it was also "sitting seclusion", called "sitting hermit".Hands talk wisely, sit quietly and be noble.It's not just art, it's philosophy.

Of course, it is also the attitude towards life and the interest in life. The same goes for calligraphy and painting. If we say Go has changed from a game to a philosophy, then calligraphy has changed from practicality to art.The difference between the two lies in whether the characters are written to convey information or just to look good.This is just like whether a painting is art or not, it cannot be judged by its function, only by its aesthetics.Aesthetics are personal.Without individuality, there are only painters and painters, but no painters. This is of course a long and gradual process.Even piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting are called the Four Arts, and they have to go to Tang Dynasty.But the Wei and Jin Dynasties are undoubtedly a major turning point.Represented by Gu Kaizhi and Wang Xizhi, concepts different from those of the predecessors began to emerge, and painting and calligraphy, as pure arts, have emerged or are about to emerge.

There is no doubt that this first benefited from the aesthetic fashion.In other words, this transformation itself is an integral part of aesthetic fashion.However, calligraphy has become an independent art category, but it is likely to be related to metaphysics.Because only a mind trained in philosophy can see the true meaning from the combination of strokes and strokes.Such an aesthetic vision should be called "mysterious learning from the heart". Even the popularity of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting in the Wei and Jin Dynasties may be due to the gift of metaphysics.At least, the common features of music, Go and calligraphy are simplicity and abstraction.Therefore, they are interlinked with the old and Zhuangzi's thoughts of "the great sound has no sound, but the elephant has no form" and "the simplicity is unmatched in the world".

It seems that while metaphysics is becoming artistic, art is also becoming metaphysical. The same is true for the discovery of natural beauty. Like art, the natural world in the eyes of Jin people is also metaphysical.Metaphysics explores the laws of the universe, and this law is expressed by "Lao Zi" as "Tao follows nature".The meaning of this sentence is not that there is some "nature" besides "Tao" for it to imitate, but that the law of "Tao" is "natural".Only in this way can heaven and earth "have great beauty without saying anything".

So, what does it look like if there is great beauty in the world without mentioning it? There are no quiet trees in the forest, and the river never stops flowing. This is a poem by Guo Pu at the turn of the Jin Dynasty, which is highly respected in later generations.Some people even said: the sound of the wind is bleak, and the sound of the water is loud, the artistic conception is really indescribable.Every time I read these two sentences, I feel that God is beyond form. Why do you feel this way? Because the profound meaning is beyond words. It is clear that if the artisticization of metaphysics is a change of the way of speaking, then the metaphysics of nature is a change of perspective.This kind of vision is called "Xuan Dian Shanshui", and the premise is "square inch is clear" (square inch is the heart, sharpness is clear).

In other words, the inner world is pure. Now, it is not difficult for us to understand the aesthetic orientation of celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and understand why they like jade, spring moon willow, and Matsushita wind so much.We can also understand why the mountains in autumn and winter are particularly difficult to cherish, while the suburbs are still snowing, but the mountains and forests are already clear, which is so moving. That's right, all of them pure and natural. Nature is true, and truth is frankness.On a snowy night, Wang Xianzhi's older brother Wang Huizhi woke up and opened the door, only to find that the snow had stopped at some point.On the snowy night and the moonlight at the beginning of the day, the fields are bright and clear, so I immediately decided to see the painter Dai Kui.However, the boat arrived in front of Dai's house overnight, but Huizhi ordered to return.He said: Come here when you are happy, and leave when you are exhausted. Why do you need to see Dai?

Perhaps, this is called true temperament. With this true disposition, the communication between people will become pure and natural.Once, when Wang Huizhi went to Jiankang, the boat stopped at the pier, and Huan Yi, a celebrity who was proficient in music, happened to pass by the bank.Wang Huizhi, who didn't know Huan Yi, sent someone to say: "Can you play the flute for me, sir?"Huan Yi, who was already famous all over the world at that time, didn't say anything, sat on the bed and played three tunes, then turned around and got in the car and left.From the beginning to the end, the two of them did not have a word of politeness and pleasantries. What is a man of temperament?This is. True temperament, beautiful appearance, respect for nature, love of wisdom, heavy family status, all these add up, maybe it is the style of Wei and Jin Dynasties.The question is, is such a presence worthwhile?If so, what is it?