I found this book some time ago, read it completely and found it very interesting, so I wrote some thoughts below.
Many times, I was very moved when I saw it, and then I might forget what I thought at that time after a while. At best, I internalized them and enriched my spirit. But to be honest, I really forgot most of the time.
So, I spent several hours writing this article. On the one hand, I sorted out my thoughts as a record, and then I looked back at my previous thoughts after a while. On the other hand, because I think this book is good, I recommend it to everyone. You can have a look if you are interested.
The Story of the Mountain and the Moon is a collection of short stories by Nakajima Atsushi, a modern Japanese writer. I read the version of Sanqin Publishing House above, which contains ten representative works of Nakajima Atsushi.
There is basically no sense of disobedience when reading this book, because it was written by foreigners. I think on the one hand, it depends on excellent translation, and on the other hand, eight of the ten articles included are based on China's ancient classics, such as Historical Records, The Analects of Confucius, Zuo Zhuan and The Journey to the West. Moreover, Nakajima Atsushi didn't stop at the simple story retelling. He had a profound understanding of China's classical culture and incorporated his own thinking.
This should start with the personal experience of Nakajima Dun (1909- 1942). His grandfather and father were both Confucian scholars in China. Under this subtle influence, Nakajima Atsushi himself is obsessed with China culture. He graduated from the Literature Department of Imperial University in Tokyo, and then lived and traveled in China for several years.
? Next, I will extract four stories and share my feelings after reading them, namely, the story of mountains and the moon, the birth of Jason Wu, the sigh of Jason Wu, light, wind and dreams.
The story of the mountain and the moon is not only the title of this book, but also the first story, which is adapted from tang legends's "Biography of a Man and a Tiger".
This adapted version of the short story is very famous in the history of Japanese literature and has been selected as a high school Chinese textbook all the year round.
The story is simple. The main content of the story is about a man named Zheng Li, who was outstanding in literature and became famous when he was young. He was admitted to Jinshi. After becoming an official, he didn't like the filth of officialdom and didn't want to go along with it. He resigned to concentrate on literary creation, hoping to become famous by poetry.
However, the reality is helpless. His poems did not cause a sensation as expected, and because he could not support his family without income, he had to return to his official career as a small official again, and his contemporaries were already in high positions.
Zheng Li was unhappy all day. Finally, one night, he suddenly went crazy and didn't know where to go until his old friend was discovered and Zheng Li became a tiger.
Li used his remaining sanity to introduce his changing process and thoughts to his friends, and at the same time passed on the poems he had written in the past to his friends, hoping to spread all over the world one day, and finally entrusted his friends to take care of his wife and children.
From then on, under the mountain forest and the moon, the tiger roared loudly, and Zheng Li became a tiger completely.
Many people know "Tales of the Mountain and the Moon" because of the opening sentence. Below I excerpted more to better understand this sentence:
This passage tells the inner world of so many people, and it is still out of date and deeply shocking.
To some extent, the process of our growth and maturity is also a process of constant compromise.
The following may be typical ideas that many people have had:
At first, everyone imagined that he was a different person, that he would enter a world-class prestigious school in the future, and then do something big, become a family glory and a pillar of the country; Later, he may become an executive of a well-known enterprise or a large enterprise; Finally, the idea becomes, you can mix a middle class, or find a good business to earn more money.
In this process of constant compromise, there will inevitably be many moments of entanglement, self-doubt, fear of facing the true self and struggle.
Zheng Li in Shan Hai Jing is a stagnant spirit, and finally becomes a tiger. By the time he sobered up after deep reflection, it was too late.
As modern people, we can never be transformed into tigers, but if we go deep into our hearts, there may be a prison where a tiger lies. This tiger is sleeping soundly most of the time. All kinds of negative emotions and dark thoughts in our hearts are its nourishment, which makes it stronger and stronger, so that one day it will break through the cage and occupy its mind.
So what should be done to kill this evil tiger? Not only this story, but in my opinion, this book is all about this problem, so I will briefly summarize it at the end of the article.
Out of curiosity, I read the original story. This work was created in the Tang Dynasty, and was included in Taiping Guangji, formerly known as Zheng Li, and was also included in Talking about the Sea with Modern Talking in Ancient Times, renamed as Biography of Man and Tiger.
The main plot of the original work is roughly the same as Nakajima Atsushi's Shan Hai Jing, but I think there are three very good adaptations.
I think it's interesting to rename this story.
This work was created in the Tang Dynasty, and included in Taiping Guangji in the Song Dynasty, named Zheng Li. In the Ming Dynasty, it was included in Ancient and Modern Stories on the Sea and renamed as Biography of Man and Tiger. Nakajima Atsushi's adaptation was named The Story of the Mountain and the Moon.
The original name "Zheng Li" is somewhat unpretentious, just named after the protagonist; Later, Biography of Man and Tiger revealed the general content of the story, which was legendary. I didn't feel much about the title of this book at first sight, but after reading the story, I found that the name was endowed with many humanistic colors by the author. When Li Zheng was alone, he couldn't vent his anguish. He felt that no one could understand. After he became a tiger, he vented his anger on the tigers in the mountains all day, making the small animals tremble with fear, which added a bit of frustration and despair to Zheng Li.
? The Legend of Man and Tiger doesn't have much inner monologue of Zheng Li, and it doesn't have the process of becoming a tiger, but suddenly one day it becomes a tiger.
The story of Mountain and Moon adds a lot of inner descriptions to Zheng Li. Although there is no scientific explanation, at least we can see that his becoming a tiger is closely related to his inner depression, and the story is smoother.
These inner monologues not only fit Zheng Li's situation, but also coincide with the author Nakajima Atsushi's ideas to some extent, which are also applicable to modern people and have to be said to be exquisite.
There are a lot of classic works that are not out of date, which I think is related to their profound discussion of human nature. The difference between human beings is that their thoughts are very complicated. If we dig deeper, there is not much new about human nature. Writers of all ages have either analyzed themselves or observed themselves, and after thinking, they have written them into their own works.
In The Legend of Man and Tiger, Zheng Li met a friend when he was about to lose his humanity and become a tiger completely. He turned to his friend for help, hoping that he would take good care of his wife and children. Then he asked his friends to record his poems, hoping to spread them.
In The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Zheng Li is actually most concerned about his own poems, which are numerous and dozens. At the same time, he made a poem on the spot for his friends to record. It was not until the last time was pressing that he remembered to let his friends take care of his wife and children.
The adjustment of this order is deliberately arranged by the author, which can well highlight the mystery of Zheng Li, who is still mired in fame and testimony.
In this part, I put the two stories "Jason Wu was born" and "Jason Wu lamented the parting" together, because the protagonists are both Sand Monks in the Journey to the West.
The Journey to the West and various adaptations seldom pay attention to Friar Sand. The last work that impressed me deeply was The Diary of Friar Sand, which was a ridiculous online article popular in my junior high school.
Here are two articles that are very surprising to read. Jason Wu was endowed with some philosopher characteristics by the author.
This article describes Jason Wu's life in Liusha River.
There are thirteen thousand monsters in the quicksand river, but Jason Wu is the most restless and restless. He is nicknamed "Jason Wu alone" because he always feels uneasy and blames himself. Far away, he could see a string of small drains flowing out of his mouth, which was that he was whispering again.
In the eyes of all the demons in Liusha River, Jason Wu contracted a disease. An experienced old fisherman said that Jason Wu was suffering from an etiological disease. Jason Wu thinks about why all the time, and all the causal things want to find the answer. These are things that only the top gods know. If he gets this disease, he will lead a miserable life.
The most serious of these problems is that Jason Wu often wants to know who he is. Everyone says that he is the reincarnation of general shutter, and Jason Wu will wonder why he has no impression at all. If he has no memory at all, he will not be reincarnated. As a result, what do you exist for now? What is the connection between your soul and your body?
There are some monsters and philosophers among the monsters in Liusha River. In order to get the answer, Jason Wu began to seek advice and explore.
The puffer fish essence said that the root of all this comes from the fear of death. "If you live, you won't die. If you die, there will be no self. Why are you afraid? "
The old shrimp essence said that everything in the world is empty, and the world is an illusion projected by itself in time and space. The world will come to an end one day, and when he dies, the world will be finished, so there is no need to think so many profound truths.
Mr. Zuo Zuo, who can't see his real body, has a view on "Who am I": "I feel hungry if I don't eat, and I feel cold in winter. You are such a thing. " The view of time is: "the measurement of time is only the actual feeling of the person who feels it, and it is only a device in our mind."
An ugly man said, "I should thank the creator for making me look so rare." I even look forward to what it will be like in the future. "
Catfish essence said that if you worry about the future blindly, you will have worries in front of you. Daren won't go to the heights to see the distance, so he caught a carp that swam to the front and ate it. As for why the fish just swam to him and was caught and eaten by him, this is not what he should think, but that he should concentrate on catching and eating it, otherwise he will starve to death. And then even watched Jason Wu eat him.
A saint said, it is easy to know what you are, just shout, if the roar is a wave, you are a pig, if the roar is a honk, you are a goose!
Another saint said, "As long as you don't force yourself to ask' What am I', it's not difficult for you to understand yourself." He added, "The eyes can see everything except themselves. The so-called' I' is something I can't understand. "
"Losing memory is beautiful, because it frees up space to recall the next better things, which are yesterday or even the last moment. At that time, the perception and emotion will be forgotten in the next moment, and only a few of them will leave vague traces, so this moment that we are experiencing now is the most precious. "
What is interesting in this story is the process of Jason Wu seeking Tao from different monsters. Every monster has its own set of philosophical theories, extending different lifestyles. According to Jason Wu, many of them don't know how to pretend to understand, and their thoughts will never merge with each other, let alone reach a higher level conclusion after discussing with others, which will remain unchanged for ten thousand years.
Which method is correct?
After walking around for a long time, Wu Jing realized that the world and the meaning of life that he had been pursuing before were actually pursuing his own happiness. The reason why he has been running around for a long time may be to satisfy his cheap satisfaction and vanity.
The author uses Guanyin's enlightenment mouth to illustrate a point: "If you can't get it, you must get it. If you can't get it, you must get it." This is a slow increase (you think you are complacent when you are enlightened and not fully enlightened). You have to ask for unprovable proof, but you are extremely jealous of the slow growth. What you are pursuing is something that even the Buddhas can't pursue, and you don't want to pursue. The world seems meaningless, but it has infinite significance when it acts on specific details. First put yourself in the right position and then put yourself into the right action. "
Under the guidance of Guanyin, Jason Wu began to wait for the arrival of the westward team. Although not fully enlightened, at least not so confused.
This story is some scattered thoughts about Jason Wu's westward journey. At this point, Jason Wu Yijing followed the team for a long time.
On the way to the west, except for the eighty-one difficulties encountered, most of the time was spent in boredom, begging and sleeping. What is the state of mentoring during this period? The author thinks through Jason Wu's mouth.
Jason Wu has been observing and pondering these three disciples privately with the mentality of seeking the Tao and learning from them, and really learned a lot from them.
Wukong is a magical genius who can use seventy-two changes at will. In his view, the trick of magic is to be extremely single-minded and pure. If it is intense and urgent, it will become something he wants to change.
Jason Wu thought the hedgehog was ugly at first, but later he was impressed by his charm.
There is a fire burning in Wukong's body. When practicing magic, he abandoned the temptation of the outside world and practiced specially. When he conquered the devil, he threw himself into the battle wholeheartedly, just like a god of war.
Wukong has always been full of spiritual strength that can be overcome no matter what difficulties. As long as he is with Wukong, he will be ignited, and he will become full of heart, as if the world were ignited by him.
Wukong never talked about the past, or he forgot all the isolated events in the past, but he integrated the lessons of those experiences into his bones, and the same strategy never made a second mistake. How this lesson was brought about by bitter pain has been completely forgotten.
Wukong loves the world passionately, worships the sunrise every day, and is also moved by the discovery of pine nuts sprouting, a pure life sprouting.
Wukong gives meaning to the outside world and ignites everything around him with his own fire. He will be angry but not worried, happy but not sad, and he is very eager to affirm "life".
His unrestrained and unrestrained mentality is naturally manifested because of his inner maturity, which affects the people around him.
In everyone's stereotype, Pig Bajie is the representative of laziness and derailment.
But in Wujing, I saw something new.
Bajie loves the world and practices "life" enthusiastically.
Bajie doesn't particularly yearn for bliss. He doesn't think it's a good thing to sit on the futon and practice penance. Although living in this world is very difficult, Bajie prefers endless fun.
Bajie likes many things: sleeping in the shade in summer, taking a bath in the stream, sleeping in in the morning in spring, tasting delicious food and wine, and meeting all kinds of fairies and beautiful sisters.
Jason Wu realized that it takes talent to have fun. After all, what Bajie said may not be worth mentioning in the eyes of ordinary people. In the same situation, he may sigh all day.
Tang Sanzang didn't know that he was better than the three disciples.
Compared with the three disciples, Tang Sanzang was sickly and had no ability to defend himself. Being persecuted by monsters is everyone's protection object. Facing all kinds of dark sides on the westbound road, he is still very positive about "life", but his belief is extremely firm. No matter how difficult the journey was, he still showed happy moments, and there were some special things that made the three disciples feel weaker than the master.
Jason Wu couldn't understand this special thing until one night, when they camped in the open air.
Jason Wu looked at the starry sky in the distance and suddenly understood Tang Sanzang's clear and melancholy eyes, which kept staring at the distance and were full of pity for everything.
"It turns out that Master has been staring at eternity, and at the same time she is clearly staring at the fate of all objects on the ground in contrast to this eternity. Destruction will come sooner or later, but before this destruction, wisdom, love and other beautiful things are still blooming. Isn't master's affectionate eyes, which are always full of pity, projected on these things? "
Jason Wu thought of this, he felt a slight fever in his chest, as if a flame had sprung up in his heart.
What a wonderful epiphany!
If you think about it, there will be a "poof" moment when generate sparks, which is precious.
What I want to say in this part is that the only novella of this book, Light, Wind and Dream, has also been recommended as a candidate for the Akutagawa Prize.
This story mainly describes the life of Stevenson, an English writer, in the Pacific Samoyed Island in his later years. Stevenson should be famous for his masterpiece Treasure Island. In fact, he had a great influence on modernist literature in the 20th century, and was regarded as one of the greatest writers in19th century.
Actually, it's a little reluctant to say it's a novel. I think it's more appropriate to call it Stevenson's Records of His Later Years.
The full text has two perspectives, one is extracted from Stevenson's first-person diary, and the other is Nakajima Atsushi's third-person description. These two perspectives are overlapping, which truly shows a writer's inner thoughts, anxiety about lack of inspiration, questioning the quality of his works, thinking about illness and suffering, and pursuing the meaning of life. . .
Why did Nakajima Atsushi choose Stevenson?
I think it's because they are very similar. They all regard literary writing as their ideal and the foundation of settling down, and they all suffer from illness. From God's point of view, they all died young. Stevenson died at the age of 44 and Nakajima Atsushi at the age of 33.
Nakajima Atsushi saw himself from Stevenson and produced a powerful self. This is not so much a short biography of Stevenson as a work created by two souls who travel through time and space.
Inspiration is one of the most important things for a writer. Ever since Stevenson established himself as a novelist, he has been observing things around him sensitively, and whenever he has inspiration, he will record it in his notebook.
However, creation will always face the challenge of exhaustion of inspiration, especially when one makes a living by writing, or when time is short, which is reflected in Nakajima Atsushi. Several of his masterpieces were completed in the year of his death. Knowing that time was running out, he stepped up his creation.
I believe that every writer has a dream that his works will last forever, but it is so difficult for such works to come out.
Especially for Stevenson, he needs to keep writing novels and publishing them to earn money to support his family. Although he often has the idea of creating a masterpiece, he still has to consider the market acceptance, which will inevitably change his works. These two aspects sometimes conflict, which makes him very entangled.
Sometimes, he knows the quality of a work before it is finished or even written, but there is nothing he can do. He will continue to write, because if he doesn't, his masterpiece may never come out. It is important to think clearly and write honestly.
Everyone will go through the stage of exploring the meaning of their own lives, and literary creators will explore this part earlier and longer. After all, they are people who make good use of their brains.
If a lofty writer wants to earn money to support his family, it is undoubtedly very painful.
I can't write a world-famous masterpiece for a long time, and I have to face all kinds of trivial things. I'm still suffering from illness. What is my insistence for? 、
Stevenson's exploration and struggle for the meaning of life can be seen everywhere.
Although he doubted the meaning of writing, Stevenson, like a monk, did not write almost every day. Writing has become his physiological habit, even though he has been tortured by tuberculosis, stomach pain and other diseases for more than 20 years.
At the worst time, he was lying in bed and his dictation was recorded by his wife.
Writing has become his belief, and he can't live without madness. Perhaps because of this, he was able to leave many excellent works and won the title of1one of the greatest writers in the 9th century.
This book is recommended by others and can help us understand and solve our inner confusion and anxiety. The first part also mentioned that in the dark corner of each of us, there is an evil tiger lying. How can we suppress the killing of this tiger and avoid the situation of "turning the tiger into a bandit"?
The whole book is trying to solve this problem. I sorted out three words: calm, think and act. Just reading this part may be chicken soup, because it was extracted after reading this book, so I am interested or hope to read the original.
Make yourself strong enough inside and stay calm.
Let's call it mind training. I put it first.
Only in this way can we better avoid being influenced by external temptations, restrain the inner tiger from leaving, and think more rationally about the next step.
Thinking itself is more important than thinking content.
Thinking without thinking is a common problem of many modern people, so I think thinking often is a valuable quality.
I am not afraid of all kinds of ideas flowing into my brain, because I will become myself through my own thinking;
I am not afraid of my bad thinking, because my thinking is constantly changing. I can verify it through various works, through real life experiences and through communication and collision with people.
It's been some time since I finished reading this book, but this long-planned article has never been finished.
Make an outline to find notes, get back the feelings at that time bit by bit, and then delay waiting for the best writing state. I always feel that I have to write it perfectly. This unfinished article has been carrying a heavy burden in my heart.
Until today, I made up my mind not to dwell on it, and then I spent the whole afternoon writing it in one breath.
"Think more and do less."
Just like the Monkey King in Jason Wu and Tan Yi, the ideal state is when his thinking is extremely mature and he is naturally influenced from the inside out. This ideal state is too difficult to achieve.
If you only concentrate on thinking, you may become a dreamer and you will be able to act all the way.
Finally, thank you for your patience!
There are still many feelings, but I want to write down my thoughts completely, and I don't know where to start.
On the one hand, after reading this book for a period of time, some thoughts and feelings only existed at that time; On the other hand, it is limited by its own expression ability.
I forgot where I saw a sentence: being misunderstood is the fate of the expresser.
It is very unlikely that the written works can be absorbed and understood by readers.
But another reason for misunderstanding may be that the creators themselves did not fully express their ideas.
People's thinking is so magical. In the process from generating ideas to putting them into words, some information is missing, and then it is restricted by external conditions.
For example, I thought it was to keep some records for myself, but because it was to be published publicly, I would unconsciously consider the readers' feelings, and the finished product might deviate from the original idea.
But I still have to write. As I said before, thinking itself is more important than thinking content. Little by little thinking is precious and recorded more.