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"Fate like Strings" is a short story that Shi Tiesheng is extremely famous, a unique and profound life philosophy novel, which contains multiple philosophical implications.
The existential philosophical implications of "Fate as Strings"
The story of "Fate like Strings" is simple: a little blind man in his early 20s follows an old blind man in his sixties all day long, playing the piano and telling books for a living. The little blind man could not bear the misery of fate, and whenever he wanted to give up his life, the old blind man told him that his master had left a last word, saying that he had broken 1,000 strings, burned ash to make a medicine primer, and taken it with the prescription medicine left by the master, and the blind man could see the light again. The little blind man will believe and doubt, and see the result. Finally, one day, the old blind man broke the 1,000th string, rushed to find the prescription, and entered the pharmacy. Who knew that the guy who picked the medicine told him that the prescription was not completely blank. As soon as the old blind man heard the five thunderbolts roaring, he wanted to crash into the door of the medicine room and suddenly turned his mind again. Back at home, he replied to the little blind man's question, "I misremembered Master's words, and Master said that he had to break 1200 strings." But before the remaining 200 strings could be broken, the old blind man died; when he was dying, he instructed the little blind man to continue playing.
Picture @ Mr. Crooked Front Teeth
When I read that the prescription that placed the old blind man's infinite expectations on it was actually a blank piece of paper, the author could not help but be shocked; when he read that the old blind man had concocted the same method and used a vain hope to deceive his apprentice, the author was even more shocked; however, he suddenly woke up, looked up at the sky and sighed and suddenly realized: Life is just like this! That's what life is!
This novel undoubtedly expresses the existential idea that the world is absurd, life is absurd. The wordless prescription left by the old blind man's master is a symbol of this existential idea. The name of the prescription but the fact that there is no word does not mean that life has no meaning, it is so, it must be so, and it is unchangeable (hopeless); the pursuit will not be meaningful, the struggle will not bear fruit; just like Sisyphus, who pushed the boulder up the mountain, the result of his constant struggle will eventually be futile, and there will never be a day.
If that were not enough, it would not be existentialism, the existentialist thinker Camus's Sisyphus was a man who knew it was meaningless but still insisted on doing it. Camus believed that life is absurd and meaningless, but there are two attitudes to the face of an unchangeable fate: one is to surrender to fate; the other is to fight against fate. Camus's attitude was to fight against fate and never give in. He believes that this attitude and behavior shows the value and meaning of human beings: autonomy, self-reliance, and freedom. The struggle has no result, I ignore the result, and the more people are not swayed by the actual results, the more they show the absolute autonomy, self-determination and freedom of their choices. Such a life shows the value and significance of tragic resistance and the tragic nature of struggle. It may be said that this is an existential transformation of meaninglessness into meaningful life planning or life decisions.
Sisyphus, Collection of the Prado Museum
It is clear that the old blind man and his master in "The Strings of Destiny" are Camus's Sisyphus: knowing that there is no hope of seeing the light again, knowing that there is no point in struggling, but still insisting on doing it. Thus their lives have a tragic value and meaning. Camus's Sisyphus was the symbol of the whole of humanity in his mind. The old blind man should also be the symbol of the whole human race in Stetson's mind. Life is so absurd: meaningless, purely nothing; but man cannot tolerate a meaningless life; in order to survive, man must set a goal or have a hope; without such a thing, he cannot pull the time of existence into a clue (such as a taut string), life will be scattered, the spirit will collapse, and existence will be unsustainable. Sentient beings do not know that this so-called goal is actually meaningless, this so-called hope is actually equal to hopelessness, and Camus and his Sisyphus, Stetson and his old blind man understand it; understanding the meaningless but still doing unremitting efforts and struggles for the meaningless goal is the greatest and most profound absurdity in life. In the face of this absurdity, we have no choice but to be shocked.
The Philosophical Implications of the Zhuang Zen of Destiny
There are also Zhuang Zen philosophical implications in "Fate as Strings".
In zhuang zen philosophy, life is also meaningless. Expressed in Zen language: life is empty. The so-called emptiness of life means that life has no meaning, and that life has meaning to speak of and value to pursue, which is purely man-made delusion; all suitors will eventually work in vain and have nothing to gain.
In zhuang zen philosophy, life is also meaningless.
Although Zhuangzi did not leave any words of "life is empty", Zhuangzi philosophy is most famous for advocating "natural inaction". "Zhuangzi Biaomu" has a cloud: "Since three generations or less, the world can not help but barter their nature." The villain is martyred with his body, the soldier is martyred by his body, the doctor is martyred by his body, and the saint is martyred by his body. Therefore, the number of sons, the cause is different, the reputation is different, its wounded nature, to the body of martyrdom, one also. In Zhuangzi's view, asking for nothing, a natural life is the only real life. From here, we can clearly see Zhuangzi's value concept of "life first, nature is beautiful".
"Life is supreme, nature is beautiful" is also a value of Zen philosophy. Life is empty, and any artificial pursuit has no meaning, so Zen monks do not seek common names, do not seek common interests, are pure and indifferent, and are free to do nothing. Life is empty, so Zen monks can't help but want to be cruel, and they don't indulge in harming life. Abstinence is action, indulgence is also action; there is no enlightenment of The Buddha' principle: everything is empty, there is no need to make things up; what should be done is: hunger and sleepiness, go with the flow. Life is empty, life is empty, and death is empty; therefore Zen monks are not happy with life, they are not afraid of death; life and death are born from it, and they go with nature.
In zhuang Zen philosophy, a life without desire, without desire, without purpose, is a natural life. Facing a meaningless life in a way that has no desire, no desire, no purpose, has just achieved the most meaningful life. In the language of Zhuangzi's philosophy, it is because of "doing nothing" that "nothing is done" is achieved. In the language of Zen philosophy, it is: emptiness is wonderful existence, and wonderful existence is emptiness.
Life is supreme, nature is beautiful.
From this, let's interpret "Fate like Strings": Life has no meaning, like the white paper left by the old blind master, whether it is empty or nothing. However, is that piece of paper really like a void, meaningless? Non also! If it weren't for that piece of paper, would the old blind man have been able to hold on to life for decades as a day, and come firmly to the end of his life? The prescription seems to be nothing, it seems to be virtual and real. As the saying goes, "Nothingness is wonderful existence, and wonderful existence is emptiness." The old blind man's previous state of life was to believe that the prescription had its meaning (to allow him to see the light again); this was a worldly delusion. This worldly delusion supported him to break 1,000 strings and survive. But when he understood that the so-called prescription was a blank piece of paper, what supported him to continue his life? It is the clear state of mind after enlightenment: life is empty, there is no need to suffer between the eyes and blindness, self-seeking troubles; hunger and sleepiness, natural survival, this is the "life first, nature is beautiful" life practice.
At the moment when he understood the truth, the old blind man thought that Master had deceived him. After suddenly realizing, the old blind man understood that Master had not deceived him: life itself is the purpose, and it is the highest value to naturally spend life, experience life, and enjoy life.
Similarities and differences between Zhuang Zen philosophy and existentialism
The idea that life is meaningless is a common concept between Zhuang Zen philosophy and existentialism. But a closer look is not the case. It may be argued that existentialism holds that the world and life are absurd in the absolute sense, that this absurdity is irrevocable and indelible, that is the fate of man, and that there is no other way but to resist desperately to prove man's indomitability; that man has no possibility of salvation. Zhuang Zen philosophy, on the other hand, holds that the absurdity of the world and life is the result of man-made self-centeredism and man-made ingenuity and will-firstism (will first, power first, consciousness first, purpose first, result supreme, solipsism) running rampant in the world. The way to salvation lies in dissolving human egocentrism, removing individual egocentrism, abandoning man-made ingenuity and intention to be supreme, returning to simplicity, and returning to the natural nature of life, so that we can stay away from false absurdity and obtain a harmonious and complete life experience between nature and human beings (the unity of heaven and man), the individual and society (self-transcendence), and the body and mind (the unity of body, soul and flesh). This is the life of "life first, nature is beautiful".
Western wisdom has brought about a scientific civilization beyond the reach of the East, but at the same time it has laid the foundation for the survival of people.
Zhuang Zen philosophy is the wisdom of the East. Existentialism is the result of the development of Western wisdom from Plato and Aristotle to today's extremes. Since ancient Greece, Western wisdom has established the line of human egocentrism and man-made ingenuity and will-firstism, and eventually developed to be self-centered, with the purpose of recognizing, grasping, controlling, and conquering all other things, resulting in the division and opposition between people and society, between people, and even people's own body, mind, and flesh. This line of wisdom has brought to the West a scientific civilization that is beyond the reach of the East, but at the same time it has laid the foundation for the survival of people.
"Fate like Strings" is a story of pursuit of light. Oriental wisdom believes that the light is in the human heart, the so-called "heart lamp self-evident", the heart lamp is clear, the world and all things in life are open and clear in front of your eyes. Western wisdom believes that the light is outside the human body, and the light from the outside must illuminate the present and support the heart; just as the self-existence must be supported by the domination and control of external objects. The existence built on the control of external objects eventually degenerates into the existential reality of man-made material service.
"Fate like Strings" can also be said to be an event in the pursuit of freedom. The blind man pursues the light with the aim of winning freedom. Western-style freedom is absolute self-supremacy freedom, freedom to completely cut off the root of existence, and therefore absolute hopeless freedom. The freedom of the Eastern way is the freedom of the unity of heaven and man, the individuation of self and other, the freedom of body, soul and flesh, the freedom of harmony and harmony with the root of existence, and therefore the freedom of infinite fulfillment, tranquility and comfort.
Freedom in the West is absolute self-supremacy, while freedom in the East is infinite fulfillment, tranquility and comfort.
Existentialism is the inevitable result of the development of the above-mentioned Western line of wisdom to the extreme. Existentialism, with the idea that the world is absurd and life is meaningless, reveals the crisis of the decline of Western civilization, but it does not and cannot propose an antidote to the crisis. As long as Western wisdom does not realize the true meaning of "returning to simplicity and returning to nature", it will never be able to embark on the path of rebirth from the fire. The Western wisdom line has long been not rampant in the Western world, but is increasingly rampant in the world in the trend of global integration. The prescription for saving modern man from the absurdity of existence may be in the Eastern philosophy of Zhuang Zen.
However, the paradox of the matter is that contemporary Chinese assimilated by Western philosophy and completely lost the wisdom of life in the East; contemporary Westerners gradually realize the subtlety and magic of Eastern philosophy, and are increasingly freed from the shackles of western traditional philosophy.
(The author is a professor at Nanchang Normal University and vice president of Jiangxi Aesthetics Society)
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