The last lecture ended with the death of Ji Kang. Everyone must be deeply impressed. I have always believed that this is the most touching and beautiful death ceremony in all mankind. There is no comparable object in other countries. , there is nothing even remotely comparable.
On the execution ground where thousands of people gathered, it was hard to imagine using music to bid farewell to one's life, not to mention that the music was played by the tortured himself, and had never been played in public. A mysterious piece of music that can no longer be played.
I once wrote an article and called this performance a distant and final performance. This is not only the last performance of Ji Kang and Guangling San, but also the last performance in the history of Chinese culture.
Why do we spend so much time talking about Ruan Ji and Ji Kang in our courses? Because the Wei and Jin Dynasties they represent are too precious, but in Chinese history, they are rarely mentioned in every wave of cultural restoration. The most mentioned ones are always dogmas and poems that lack the charm of life.
There is a reason why Ruan Ji and Ji Kang were ignored or deleted by future generations. This is because they are too noble and strange to be interpreted, and they did not pass on their culture to future generations in the form of genres. But as long as you study the history of Chinese culture carefully, you will find that no matter what era, as long as you are a true cultural elite, as long as you have truly touched the culture of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, you will never let it go, and you will always worship, worship, and yearn for it again. , just like Li Bai worshiped Ruan Ji more than 400 years later.
Now we can make a more macroscopic evaluation of that era and those characters based on ancient worshipers. We can make comparisons from two aspects: time and space. First, from the perspective of time, what Ruan Ji and Ji Kang said The representative celebrities of the Wei and Jin Dynasties ushered in an important era of creation with their resolute attitude of deviating from tradition and making independent achievements. They demonstrated the truth that if you no longer stick to the rules, you can create new things.
So in the hundred years after the deaths of Ruan Ji and Ji Kang, the top calligrapher Wang Xizhi appeared, the top painter Gu Kaizhi appeared, the top poet Tao Yuanming appeared, and 200 years later, the top literary critic Liu Xianzhong also appeared. , if we broaden our horizons to a larger culture, then during this period the top medical scientist, chemist and Taoist thinker Ge Hong appeared, the top mathematician and astronomer Zu Chongzhi appeared, the top geographer, Li Daoyuan and other great scientists also appeared.
These top figures are the ancestors of their respective fields, but in retrospect, they should all be deeply grateful for this. The celebrities of the Wei and Jin Dynasties clearly opened up the world with their own lives and blood. The pure spiritual land where Chinese intellectuals feel free and self-sufficient has nurtured the first classics in various categories.
It is so many first classics that have reshaped Chinese culture. This explosive state of creation did not appear in the period of great empires, great eras, and great unification, but appeared when everything was very peaceful. The chaotic years can only be attributed to the special logic of culture, and should also be attributed to the special charm of celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
In terms of spatial comparison, I think that in Chinese history, celebrities from the Wei and Jin Dynasties are the cultural group most likely to outperform their foreign counterparts. Their thinking is pioneering, open-minded, rebellious, and unique. Their sex, as well as their bravery and loudness in behavior, will be a rare treasure even if it is presented to the international community, and they will be astonished by their foreign counterparts. Of course, I still found an old target that I could compare with them, that is, those Greek wise men. Compared with those who looked at Greece from the academic perspective, the reporters were more complete, more systematic and thorough.
But the celebrities of the Wei and Jin Dynasties also had their own characteristics, which were more distinctive, sharper, and more free and easy than the wise men of Greece. In terms of the pattern of life, both sides have different stories, but the stories of famous people in the Wei and Jin Dynasties must be more exciting. This comparison made me deeply regretful. Greek wise men were carved into many statues, and the quality of these statues was not low. Therefore, most of the beautiful impressions of the Greek era around the world are from those substantial faces and figures. The beard begins.
Later, due to the intervention of outstanding artists from Michelangelo to Rodin, the image of European thinkers became more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and became an enviable image in the world.
Are the Greek wise men more suitable for sculpture in appearance? Not necessarily, because Western documents do not leave much description of their appearance, let alone credible images.
Sculptures of later generations are mostly based on speculation. I spent a lot of time in Greece and Rome, and carefully observed men from all walks of life in various regions. I found that the Romans, not the Greeks, may be more suitable for sculptures. It can be seen that the world image of a culture depends on itself. The strength of it depends on the choice of future generations of artists. This is just like the most difficult river in the world may not be the Danube, and the most beautiful sunflower in the world may not be in the hometown of Van Gogh. But with a little help from artists, the image of the world will appear.
I have said before that judging from various documentary records, China’s Wei and Jin celebrities had a real world image. It is a pity that the artists of our descendants have not kept up. For this reason, I have asked the Chinese Art Institute The curator of the museum, Mr. Wu Weishan, suggested that Ruan Ji, Ji Kang and other philosophers from the Wei and Jin dynasties could be carved out to form a perceptual corridor of Chinese spiritual culture. In fact, he has handed over many of them, many of which are used in this book. However, I do not want this perceptual corridor of Chinese spiritual culture to become just a densely arranged exhibition, but to become independent masterpieces with specific characteristics. The location echoes.
For example, how much I hope there is a sculpture of Ruan Ji riding a donkey to take office at the site of the ancient government office in Dongping, Shandong. Of course, it can even be engraved with Li Bai's poem. How much I hope there is a sculpture in the east of Luoyang, Henan. There is a sculpture of Ji Kang playing Guanglingsan in the execution ground. His image should be like a lonely pine or a jade mountain.
Speaking of Dongping, Shandong and Luoyang, Henan, I think of a question that everyone is interested in. This group of celebrities from the Wei and Jin Dynasties with amazing looks like to stay away from officialdom and busy cities, hide in the embrace of nature, and drink wine. Laughter, where is their favorite place to go?
I have always paid close attention to this. That time Ruan Ji went to see Sun Deng, and Mount Sumei, where people laughed at each other up and down the mountain, is in Huixian County, Henan Province, but the scenery there is relatively ordinary, and the real Wei and Jin Dynasties Celebrities have extremely high aesthetic taste.
Once my wife Malan saw an astonishing scenery in a TV camera that was passing by. Her eyes lit up and she felt that it was so beautiful that there must be many stories hidden, so we walked around After asking about it, I hurried there and with the help of local experts, I discovered the footprints of celebrities from the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Yes, they were the footprints more than 1,700 years ago. I won’t go into the specific verification process here. I will only talk about the results. In Henan At Baijia Rock in Yuntai Mountain, Jiaozuo, there is now a very delicate stone tablet, on which are engraved 8 characters written by me in running script. It is recorded in the travel records of celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Everyone, please go to Yuntai Mountain once you have time. You will know when you go. Celebrities from the Wei and Jin Dynasties would definitely like a place like this.