Writing and Private Space: Read Beacon Fire and Meteor: Literature and Culture of Xiao Liang Dynasty

1.
Beacon and Meteor, Lights and Candles. This book is a good book for discussing the literary history of the Liang Dynasty. But before talking about the content of the book, we will first ask: What was the Liang Dynasty? Why should we read (or just hear) them?

2.
Writing, or "creating" more broadly, like drawing, composing, filming, etc., is something that many people don't have in their lives at all. However, this is not a very high-level, unreachable thing; as long as you take ten minutes to write a diary every day, that is, you are creating every day.

Sometimes, we encounter this kind of thing: this thing may not be useful to others, meaningless; but, I want to save it, even if it is only for myself. One day I will be able to take it out again.

However, in the modern society where the pace is very fast, this approach is often questioned: writing, isn't everyone able to write? Instead of wasting time writing, it's better to learn new skills to "refine" yourself. But such criticism did not start today. In ancient China, when the literati had nothing to do and started to write an article that had nothing to do with national affairs, but only about his own life, of course some people would question him: You are living on government salaries, how can you Wasting time on "this kind of thing"?

Such criticism may not be entirely unreasonable. However, we should also think about another thing: if a person is only active in the public domain, but has no "private space" of his own; or, in other words, it must cover up its own private space, unless one "is beneficial to the people of the country" reason, otherwise not being able to reveal their private life to others. Is this a society where one can live happily?

3.
The Liang Dynasty was an era when literati finally made up their minds to publicly publish some "useless" poems. That is to say, they can begin to publicly affirm the value of "private life": some things are not important to others, not important to society; if another person lives in my position, he may also find it unnecessary. However, this matter is very important to me; I am even willing to record it in writing so that it may be passed on to others and become my handle.

However, before the Liang Dynasty, China already had a long history and tradition; how could the people of the Liang Dynasty suddenly have such an "innovative" idea? It is strange to say that this matter has something to do with Buddhism. So let's start with a poem that has absolutely nothing to do with "Buddha":

Woven into a screen, silver bends the knees, and the red lips and jade face lights come out.

Looking at each other's breath and looking for pity, who can be ashamed not to step forward?

Opposite the screen, a woman with whom the author had an appointment appeared. They looked at each other, forgetting the whole world in their eyes. Getting closer and closer, even feeling the other person's breath. So the poem is terminated by a rhetorical question: "Who can be ashamed not to come forward?" Time continues to move forward, but the poem and the record remain at the moment of the rhetorical question.

The author of this poem, Xiao Gang, was the son of Emperor Wu of Liang and later became the heir to the throne. It is truly shocking that people like this do not worry about national affairs, and they are complacent and record the experience of a tryst. But how could he have the guts to offend a Chinese tradition passed down from the Zhou, Han, and Jin dynasties all the way? This is an unexpected impact after "Buddhism" was introduced into China!

It turns out that Buddhism says that "all dharmas are empty", that is, everything that exists cannot maintain its own existence. This sounds very negative. However, we can think about the impact of this idea in life: we are, often in order to achieve one thing, and do another thing. Go to work to get a salary; get paid to buy what you want to eat; buy what you want to eat to make you happy, etc. But if there is a Buddhist now, or someone who is influenced by Buddhist concepts, he says, "Everything that exists cannot keep its own existence." Whether it's what we want to achieve, or what we're doing actions have no absolute, long-term meaning.

So far, this still sounds very negative; however, we can actually put it another way: "None of them can maintain their own existence"; doesn't it really mean, "In the long run, they are all the same"? In our life, we often do the present work for the purpose of the future. Because we think the future is more important, we have to sacrifice the hard work of the present to achieve it. But if someone thinks that his goals in the future are "the same in the long run" as what he is doing now; he probably won't sacrifice the present for the future. In other words, he can take a step back from the goal he originally set, stand a little farther, and think about whether there are other possible ways of living "now".

4.
Through such a circuitous path, Liang Chaoren established a new concept: now is our life. Not for the country, not for the society, not for some greater purpose; nor do they need to rationalize our cherishing of our private lives.

For nothing, the "now" itself has value. Even if "all things are empty"; at least, "now" and everything else are equal in value.

Even if they knew they would die tomorrow, no one would rush to hang themselves today, right?

——Anri アサト: "86—The War Zone that Does Not Exist—"

references

Tian Xiaofei: Beacon Fire and Meteor: Literature and Culture of Xiaoliang Dynasty

Yuwen Suoan: "Wit and Private Life". The End of China's "Middle Ages": Essays on the Literature and Culture of the Middle and Tang Dynasties, translated by Chen Yinchi and Chen Lei

Anri アサト: "86 - The War Zone that Does Not Exist -". Translated by Li Junzeng