What is Coke? Happiness should be a state that makes people feel comfortable physically and mentally, and can achieve the unfettered state of mind that they yearn for. Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher, rose to the rank of General of the Right Army. In the ninth year of Yonghe's reign, he and more than 40 celebrities gathered in Lanting to "cultivate evil spirits". "High mountains, luxuriant forests and tall bamboos" and "clear and rapid streams" brought Wang Youjun the joy of landscapes; "talking about secret love" with celebrities brought Wang Youjun the joy of chanting; "looking up at the vastness of the universe and overlooking the prosperity of categories" brought Wang Youjun The joy of realization. The air of purity and elegance emanates from this. Wang Xizhi is a person with noble aspirations. At this time, this scene should be filled with joy. But with the next stroke, he fell into the abyss of grief and couldn't help himself. He thought that beautiful things, emotions, and life could not last forever. "Death and life are also big things. Isn't it painful?" So he wrote this preface and put his name on it, and the work was handed down together. Today when we say the name "Wang Xizhi" in our conversation, everyone will know such a person.
Now I still have to mention one more word: nothingness. After all, Wang Youjun is a person who sees through the emptiness in life. This easily reminds us of Su Dongpo, such a lovely person. Interestingly, both of them were influenced by Confucianism and Taoism at the same time. "Su Dongpo understood life too thoroughly and cherished it too much. Naturally, he did not want to spend his life completely among drunken women." ("The Biography of Su Dongpo") However, Wang Youjun saw through life, but he would feel sad. Life seemed to The flowing water takes away all the good things in passing, so it is not sad. Death is the greatest nothingness in life and the end of life. Wang Xizhi was an elegant person. His official position and reputation were not things that made him happy. He even looked down upon these vulgar things, so he devoted himself to the natural landscape. He was happy to be able to talk freely with his comrades about what was on his mind. This kind of happiness can make his soul pure, but the purification is still entangled with the painful understanding of life. Also from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Tao Qian's life was much worse than that of Youjun. He wore tattered clothes, no water to drink, and no food to eat. He was addicted to alcohol and was only a charity from relatives. But in the countryside, he could " Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, you can see the Nanshan Mountain leisurely." The word "leisurely" is worth recalling. Maybe it means leisurely, or the tranquility in the heart. Therefore, Tao Qianqian himself lived happily and "amused himself by writing articles, which quite showed his ambition." . Let’s go back to Su Dongpo and Wang Youjun. Wang Youjun enjoyed staying with distinguished people, but Su Dongpo “could accompany the Jade Emperor when he was above, and the beggars of Beitian Courtyard when he was below.” The difference in thinking between the two can be seen from this, I thought it was the Confucianism in Su Dongpo's mind that had more influence.
Today, we can live a life hundreds of times better than Tao Qian's, and we don't have to put shackles on being an official. But we are faced with the question "What is Coke?" What is the answer? It seems that it is not the pursuit of spiritual purification, not even the joy of mountains and rivers. The good reality we live in, we clearly see that many good things have become the past and will not last forever. We pursue many things, and we will also have a moment of surprise and subsequent indifference after "temporarily getting it for ourselves". We also hope to go to a place where nothing is possible. In a world of restraints, such "unfetteredness" is not happiness, but more like an escape from reality and the removal of invisible but crushing burdens. We have many happy moments, but if we "believe in Coke", it is difficult to find them. What is Coke? It seems to be everywhere, but what is left is nothingness.