Letters and Repetition: Remembering a Lost Era of Written Conversations

Nov 15, 2021

"Conversation with the absent", some people call letters, this method of communication before email and social networking sites (it seems to be a very distant era, even memories can't clearly shape it). Although you are not here, I still want to talk to you; this is the first word hidden before anything I say.

1.
Although I am writing this letter to you now, I can't help but think: letters in our time have lost their former noble and effective status. "Conversations with the absent," someone calls the letters that are no longer there, the way of communication before email and social networking sites (it seems to be a very distant era, elusive, and it is difficult to remember it clearly) shaped out). Although you are not here, I still want to talk to you; this is the first word hidden before anything I say.

More than 200 years have passed since Kierkegaard's time. According to Kierkegaard: At his time, love letters were still a powerful tool for chasing girls. You can write it long or short; writing long can show off your talent and intelligence, while writing short can move people emotionally and make the other person have endless aftertaste after reading it. (As for whether love letters are really so powerful, or whether Kierkegaard's appearance and conversation have already won others' goodwill when they met; this needs to be verified by historians.) In short, letters once had a great influence on others. One person's perception of another person; it is no wonder that there was an era, just as people today are keen on "sending useless articles", but they are happy to send each other some letters with unclear meaning, profound meaning and originality.

2.
I am writing this letter to you. In addition to what I said before, I also want to talk to you about another topic. I don’t know if you still remember? You once said: You don’t appreciate traditional metrical poetry very much. This surprised me a bit. Because before you say it, someone whose name I will never mention again said this too. But I don't quite understand why you are so willing to work together. I can better understand why some people cannot appreciate modern poetry; because I am also such a person. When I read modern poetry, I often don’t know where to start to understand the author’s meaning.

In fact, the same "metrical poem" is written by different people in ever-changing ways, each with its own characteristics. But what are the similarities between them? Metrical poetry is tied up in word count, rhyme, and tone, and each word appears in its prescribed place; it sounds very rigid and boring. But if we look at it from another angle: precisely because everything is set and repeated, once there is a slight change, we can easily detect it. And often in these changed places, the author injects the information he arranged and leaves behind the thoughts he most wants to leave behind. Perhaps it can also be said: apart from the difficult vocabulary brought about by the age gap, metrical poetry is actually one of the easiest genres for us to understand and appreciate.

3.
Although I have mentioned so many metrical poems before, the one I most want to introduce to you is a non-metrical traditional poet. Because I like the sincere and pure emotions in his works. Even after the oppression and destruction of reality, he suppressed the emotions, but still left a touch of sadness.

Things are changing on the boat, can you stay safely along the boat?

"Yan Hui" are two ways of sailing a boat. "Yan" means to go along the river, and "Hui" means to go up against the river. Everything in the world is like a boat in the waves. No matter whether it goes with the current or against the current, it can never stay in the happiest time we want to stay. These two sentences are the end of a poem, tying together the previous descriptions of the poem; from this moment, looking back at all the memories shared by the two people. A poem is a letter. After the author left, he sent the poem back to his place of origin while taking a boat to his future destination.

When you leave, will you write me a poem? Although you said you don't like writing poetry. We don’t know when we will see each other again; maybe we won’t have the chance to meet again?

Desolate to dear, diffuse into smoke;

Returned to Luoyang, with broken bells and trees in Guangling.

This is a farewell now, where can we meet again?

The waves of the world are on the boat, and you can stay safely along the boat. "The first letter from Yangzi was sent to the Yuan Dynasty." Wei Yingwu>

"Hanqi" means sad; "general" means that the fog is shapeless, neither dry nor wet, and blocks the sight. After today's separation, how long can we maintain this contact? Maybe I'll make the first move soon and the relationship will be over. Our relationships, lives, and futures are all at a loss, as if surrounded by a thick fog.

One of the reasons why I like Wei Yingwu is that I think he is not afraid of "repetition". Many authors are afraid of repeating what others have written, fearing that they will be too similar to their predecessors. I feel that as long as I am similar to others, I am not the only one who can leave a message. But Wei Yingwu seemed to rarely consider this. He wrote poems when he met someone he knew by chance, wrote poems when marrying his daughter, wrote farewell poems when seeing off, and wrote poems as letters when they were separated and sent them. He knew his feelings were true; the words he wrote were the message he wanted to convey to that person.

So why should I worry about losing my identity like others? Because no one can replace or eliminate my life, the experiences and connections I have made with you. It doesn't matter if any message I leave follows the same format as most people, the same expression as other writers. I am here and I have said something to you; there is a memory of me in your eyes and a testimony about me in your mouth, whether it is in defense or against.

So, I want to say to you: "I am your friend." Listen, this is what you once said to me. I hope you won't be offended if this letter says too much about myself and too little about you. Because what I actually mean is: I want to know more about you.