Chapter 9 The Empty Mountains Are Inhabited——Thoughts on Reading "Chinese Literati's Views on Nature"

one My Chinese teacher in high school was very kind to me back then, and often asked me to go to her house to explain it to me secretly.At that time, rumors of "cleaning up the class ranks" were being heard outside.In retrospect, the teacher loved me so much and gave me a "small stove" because I was fascinated by classical poetry with a "red heart". The teacher told me about her experience: In September 1949, she was abroad full of enthusiasm and decided to fly back to the mainland. At the airport, she happened to meet Ms. Nie Hualing, a college classmate and roommate who had just flown from the mainland.Both sides were stunned and confused, why did the other side go in the opposite direction.An argument to convince the other side is inevitable.Of course, no one convinced anyone in the end, and things flew apart.Ms. Nie Hualing is now a well-known Chinese writer, and my teacher has been an "athlete" for decades.According to Nie Hualing, my teacher was an outstanding talented woman in college, and her literary talent was higher than hers.

A few years ago, I read Professor Gu Bin's "Empty Mountain" (the Chinese translation is called "Chinese Literati's View of Nature"), and I also had a feeling of "running in the opposite direction".Gu Bin also had the same view on my "Salvation and Disappearance". We inevitably had a big quarrel, and the result was that "things" flew. Gu Bin was not born in a Christian family. He was baptized to believe in Protestantism in his early years, which was entirely his own decision.After college, he initially majored in Christian theology and German philosophy.Later, although he did not "betray the religion", he resolutely threw away theology and began to study Sinology.He was deeply puzzled by me: why should I pick up the theology he threw away.

Plato's "Allegory of the Cave": The light is behind you.Perhaps Professor Gu Bin has been secretly saying this to me, or is looking forward to my "retrospect". European sinologists can be roughly divided into two categories: one is the scholars in the Christian world.Historically, missionaries were the first to bring Chinese classics to Europe.Today, priests and pastors still account for a large proportion of European sinologists; the other category is non-Christian humanities scholars.According to my contacts, this kind of sinologists have a bit of a "feud" with Christianity. However, what is interesting is that the sinologists of the humanities have a more critical examination of Chinese culture than the sinologists of the Christian world.

Gu Bin's view of the natural view of Chinese literati is also a kind of examination.Does this scrutiny involve the denial of an unnatural landscape? two A friend once asked me; which one do I like, the flowers in spring, the stream in summer, the moon in autumn, or the sun in winter.It is said that this is a fairly accurate test question for determining the type of personality.I replied that I liked the autumn moon, only to be characterized as a "sentimental" type. Of course nature and nature are not the same thing.There is only one nature in essence, and all people are in the same nature, but the view of nature varies with individuals, nations, and cultures.The examination of the conception of nature is thus an interesting subject, from which the character of a people or culture can be determined, just as the previous question can determine the character of an individual.

The German word for "view of nature" is Naturanschauung.The original meaning of Guan (Anschauung) is "intuition" and "seeing". "Natural view" is the nature presented in a person's subjective consciousness, not nature itself.Therefore, the examination of the view of nature has a somewhat phenomenological flavor.Although Gu Bin did not consciously adopt a phenomenological approach to examine the Chinese literati’s view of nature, his descriptive analysis of the Chinese literati’s view of nature is clearly a description of a phenomenon of consciousness—an examination of natural consciousness itself.

After the spread of Western learning to the east, words such as "world view", "life view" and "class view" appeared in Chinese characters. In the past, these terms did not exist.However, although we have learned to use the "×× view" to examine others, we have not learned to reflect on our own view of consciousness—the examination of consciousness itself. What kind of consciousness is hidden in the natural view of Chinese literati?We did not observe this consciousness, but a German scholar observed it for us. In the book, Gu Bin analyzed in detail the descriptions of nature that appeared in Tang Dynasty poems from "Chu Ci" to Tang Dynasty poetry. These analyzes obviously aimed at presenting the natural consciousness of Chinese literati itself. "Nature as a symbol", "nature as a danger", "nature as a historical process", "nature as a peace of mind", and "as" (als) have unique magical functions in German, but their magical effect is greatly reduced when translated into Chinese.It was originally a wonderful word used to present the related objects of consciousness, but a more appropriate translation word cannot be found in Chinese.Does this indicate a lack of awareness of consciousness?

The examination of natural consciousness is not a description of the personification of nature and the emotionalization of nature, just as Gu Bin sees: "The personification of nature and the emotionalization of nature are nothing new." (p. 14) Rather, this examination aims to reveal a type of "self-consciousness" (cf. p. 63), that is, a consciousness that manifests itself through the transformation of nature.Through the view of nature, the ultimate thing to grasp is the "basic consciousness of self-existence" (p. 175) and "universal overall factors in consciousness" (p. 230) in history.This is authentic Germanic Anshauung.

three Since Gu Bin believed that the emergence of "self-awareness" of Chinese literati began at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, his analysis of the natural consciousness of Chinese literati focused on the period from the Han, Wei to the Southern Dynasties. "From the moment when people know themselves and desire to express themselves, their entire inner world has a 'natural feeling'". (p. 63) Natural consciousness thus appears to be a manifestation of self-consciousness.It can be further said that the examination of natural consciousness can and should enter into the examination of self-consciousness.Natural consciousness is the mirror image of another, more fundamental consciousness.

The second part of the book thus becomes the focus of the whole book.As can be seen, the second part is not only the longest and more detailed in its analysis, but it is also indeed the most interesting.For this part deals with an important subject: how natural consciousness arises. Gu Bin gave a rather fascinating case analysis: the emergence of the consciousness of sorrowful autumn.Gu Bin noticed that the tragic autumn is a typologically constant theme in Chinese literature, and as far as the investigation or examination of natural consciousness is concerned, the examination of the tragic autumn consciousness will be fruitful.

Although the poem "autumn is desolate" has appeared in the poem, this does not indicate the emergence of a sense of autumn as a consciousness. Similarly, in Qu Yuan's poems, the theme of "sorrowful autumn" has appeared. However, Gu Bin still refuses to recognize it as a sign of the emergence of a sad autumn consciousness. According to the stipulation that only the emergence of self-consciousness can there be real natural consciousness, can it be said that Qu Yuan still lacks self-consciousness?I am not yet sure about this question. What is the real sign of the emergence of grief consciousness?Gu Bin's answer is: self-awareness of time. "Only with an awareness of autumn as an overall phenomenon and season, can the decaying scenery in nature become a sign of a deep understanding of the ephemerality of life." (p. 74) Gu Bin believes that the emergence of time awareness in Song The first clues appeared in Yu's place, and it was matured by Cao Pifang.Gu Bin’s criterion for determining the maturity of time consciousness is neither the feeling of seasons nor the time of life and death, but the feeling of day and night.He wrote: "Although "Chu Ci" has revealed that autumn is the season, it still lacks an important aspect from which a mature sense of time can be inferred, that is, the revelation of the time of day and night. ’” (p. 77) The consciousness of circadian time thus becomes a sign not only of the emergence of the consciousness of tragedy as the consciousness of nature, but also of the emergence of self-consciousness.

From the perspective of phenomenology, the analysis of consciousness must penetrate into the thinking of time.Heidegger's breakthrough in phenomenology was to invert this relationship: it is not consciousness that makes time, but time that makes consciousness.In other words, what is more fundamental is not the consciousness of time, but the temporality itself that defines consciousness. However, through the investigation of a specific time consciousness, it can be more or less effective to determine the pattern of a certain ontological temporal existence.Heidegger's inversion needs to be inverted again in the analysis of a text dictated by a particular culture.In this regard, what needs to be asked is: what does the emergence of day and night time consciousness mean for the self-awareness or existence style of Chinese literati? After all, this work by Gu Bin is not a book of philosophy. However, the value of this treatise on literary history lies in the fact that its entire research runs through the attention to the temporality of consciousness, so it is far more profound than many current works on literary history. perspective.It is a pity that the book only discusses the Tang Dynasty, and the discussion stops when the appearance of "inner time" (p. 226).Perhaps, many of Gu Bin's descriptions are still debatable, but his analysis method, perspective and specificity of analysis are quite worth learning. Professor Li Zehou proposed many years ago that it is necessary to examine the accumulated elements in Chinese culture.It's a great idea.It is a pity that although the word "accumulation" has almost become a catchphrase among scholars since then, there are few analyzes of a certain "accumulation", and even if there are some analysis and research, they are all generalized.Germans don't talk about "accumulation", but they keep improving their self-examination of their national culture.In their spare time, they inspected for us again. Four A few years ago, Professor Gu Bin and I quarreled over the issue of Lu Xun.Unexpectedly, he did not read "The Feud" and invited me to give lectures at the University of Bonn. I took the opportunity to visit the Chinese American Society near Bonn, which is quite famous in the international sinology circle.When I browsed through the decades-old catalog of their "Chinese Studies" journal, I couldn't help but be secretly surprised: the Sinology studies of foreigners are more sophisticated than the studies of Chinese studies by Chinese people. I saw some quite original research topics: "About China's Pickaxe", "About Ancient China's Pig", "China's Ruler", "The Evolution of Folding Chairs", "Donglin Academy and Its Politics and Philosophical Significance", "On the Marriage of Bai Juyi's Parents", "Marriage Registration in Communist China", "Description of Catholic Customs in Buddhist Language", "Commercial Activities of a Small Chinese Businessman", "On the Awarding of "Jinshi" Degrees Discussion", "Numisology and History", "The Choice of Rural Officials in the Southern Song Dynasty: Who to Give Power to?" ", "Pu Gu Huai'en and the Tang Court: The Limits of Loyalty", "Legal Terms in Old China and New China", "Comparison of the Central Government Structures of Chu, Qi, and Jin", "The Confucian Standard of Self-reflection", "" No Nian Erzu"——"The Book of Songs · Daya" A deceptive and pious interpretation of early Confucianism in the poems of King Wen and its correct semantic interpretation"... Jufan History, Sociology, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology Many of the research topics are unique in various fields such as science, literature, and philosophy. How much do Chinese people make a fuss about making a fuss, and how do foreigners make a fuss about it?This is not the case, at least not for senior scholars. What I think of is not the size of the questions, but more importantly, the selection of research topics.Why do Chinese and foreigners choose different subjects?There is a question of consciousness behind this for us. The famous German Sinologist W. Bauer wrote a tome, "China and Seeking Bliss: Paradise, Utopia, and Ideal Concepts in Chinese Intellectual History" (1971), which is full of eloquence. One hundred pages, only dealing with one question: how Chinese thinkers from ancient times to the present understand happiness.So far, our historians of philosophy and thought have only been obsessed with the general theory of general history, which really makes people feel a little too big. This is not a question of outdated research depth, but a question of the strength and dimension of self-examination. When Swiss sinologist Harro von Senger was just learning Sinology, he went to Beijing to experience life and met a German compatriot who had lived in Beijing for more than 30 years.The old man wanted to test his juniors' Sinology Kungfu, so he asked a question: What are the Thirty-Six Strategies?The elder told him that if you don't know the thirty-six tricks, you can't even think about reading Chinese newspapers.Shenge lived up to his high expectations, and many years later he wrote a masterpiece of more than 300,000 words: "Thirty-Six Strategies-Chinese People's Life and Life Strategies" (1988). As long as they are not illiterate, there is probably no Chinese who cannot read newspapers.From this point of view, the Thirty-Six Strategies is a kung fu that we have been subtly instilling since childhood, and we can learn it without a teacher.Today's people's learning and application of "crossing the sea", "Li Daitao stiff", "taking advantage of the fire", "creating something out of nothing", "hiding a knife in a smile", and "playing hard to catch" are beyond the reach of the ancients.I thought there was a major flaw in Shen Ge's great book; he didn't notice at all that after thousands of years of accumulation, the thirty-six strategies have now developed into seventy-two strategies: "Tobacco, alcohol, alcohol"... The German philosopher Scheler believes that: as far as the whole human being is concerned, the people who have developed the "cunning", "witty" and "scheming" way of life to the limit are always those races and nations that are most fearful and repressed.However, these words are not aimed at Thirty-Six Strategies. Guoxue research ignores some very important topics, and even some very common topics.For example, the view of nature.Although it is generally believed that the view of nature is one of the most representative aspects of Chinese culture, the first monograph on the natural consciousness of Chinese literati was written by a German professor.Gu Bin's book made me have to think about a question: why do we turn a blind eye to some topic areas?What is wrong with our own Anschauung? Fives Gu Bin's book was originally titled "Empty Mountain" in German, and the subtitle is "Chinese Literati's View of Nature".It is a pity that the Chinese translation gave up the original title of "Empty Mountain".Perhaps, keeping the original title of "Empty Mountain" will increase the selling price. The word "empty mountain" seems to have a Zen meaning. Gu Bin translated "empty" into durchsichtig, and "empty mountain" (der durchsichtige Berg) is a noun.But the adjective durchsichtig is reminiscent of the verb durchsehen (to see through).I think this word can better represent the essence of the natural consciousness of Chinese literati. When Gu Bin defined the concept of "nature" in Chinese culture, he quoted Lao Zi's saying: "Tao follows nature"."Natural" here is interpreted as a noun.This solution is obviously controversial.Some historians have pointed out that it is a misunderstanding that the word "natural" is interpreted as a noun, and it is originally a verb, meaning oneself as you are.This is indeed more in line with the nature of the natural consciousness of Chinese literati.In addition, the everyday primitive use of the word "natural" is also used: "Be natural, don't be artificial" is also true.The term "nature" therefore has more to do with mental acts than with objects as entities.Another question implicit here is: to what extent Chinese thought regards "nature" in the Western sense as an independent entity with life and soul. Similarly, the word "Kongshan" should also be interpreted as a verb. "Emptiness so absorbs all realms", "emptiness" and "acceptance" are all verbs: you must first see through everything before you can absorb everything.As far as the phenomenological analysis of consciousness is concerned, "emptiness" (seeing through) is a kind of consciousness activity. "Empty mountain" does not refer to the empty mountains and forests, but refers to a kind of spiritual activity, a kind of conscious effort.Since it is a conscious effort, there is of course a human presence, the so-called self.Even if you want to see through yourself, you need to see through your own self.It is this "self" that sees through everything, so it returns to the landscape and pastoral, and it is like you in spirit.Gu Bin abandoned Christian theology and searched for the nature of China, probably wanting to find this self who sees through everything.He admired Lu Xun because Lu Xun had a thorough understanding of China and the entire world of life.And my turning to Christian theology, of course, shows that my ego has not yet realized this kind of insight, and I don't want to realize it at all. However, not every Chinese literati (now called intellectuals in fashion) has the consciousness of "empty-mountain".I think back when the "Gang of Four" was rampant, my high school Chinese teacher was criticized and investigated during the day, and in the evening he closed the door and explained to me in a low voice, "The belt is getting wider and wider, and I will not regret it, and I will make people haggard for Iraq." ? Basel, August 1991