Ma Xiaodong: A decade of a literati

2022-04-22 02:34:02

Ten Years of a Literati - Reading Mr. Huang Xiaolin's "Daily Use"

Text/Ma Xiaodong

In my eyes, Brother Xiaolin is a complete literati, and in these years, such people are very scarce and rare.

Mencius has a saying: Although tens of millions of people are looking forward to it. If it is white, that is, you all go to that side, I just want to go this way, no one should stop it, and it is really going, not talking about playing, there is a very precious spirit in it, that is, "independence", insisting on an independence, it has become difficult now, but Brother Xiaolin has done it.

This is a book of thought notes that record his ten years of experience in hearing, thinking, practicing, and witnessing, and is a spiritual record of a literati. In the context of the drastic changes in Chinese society for decades, in the waves of the sea of various ideological trends and values, these essays are like a small navigation beacon, although the light is limited, but it is certain to shine, this light is illuminating itself, but also guiding those night voyagers, this light does not die, the avenue is eternal. It's like the central idea of this book: the people's daily use is the way. There is an avenue in this book, and this avenue is also the title of the book - "Daily Use".

These four words are not easy to come by, especially for the literati, who are eager to learn, seek high and deep, and are not as easy as "daily use". The book also tells a story, he said that there is an article in the magazine "Reading", the author translated an academic article in the West, not a sentence read, there are 68 words, breathless, and do not know what to do. Now many academic articles, put up the shelf to do learning, the Chinese character written in the crooked teeth, as if this is not enough academic, let people not understand, it seems that the learning is deep, in fact, it is self-deception; the great poet Bai Juyi wrote poems specifically to read to the grandmother, the old lady can not understand, just rewrite, which shows that the real Tao in the daily life of the people, Xiao Lin Brother has this insight, it is gratifying and admirable!

The book "Daily Use" has been written for ten years, and the trajectory of thought in this decade has been vividly remembered, from the earlier concrete and perceptual to the current abstract and macroscopic. This is not only a clear proof of the writing habits of a literati, but also everywhere to see the true feelings of Chinese culture, the traditional Chinese culture Confucian interpretation of the tao, only words, casually picked up, flowers bloom everywhere, the use of points, not only to see Xiaolin brother's profound traditional cultural skills, but also to impress the profundity of Chinese culture, from the perspective of an ordinary reader, "Daily Use" this book, can make people harvest a lot.

For example, he said in the book: "Confucianism is not learning, but a kind of life", this kind of mention I heard for the first time, I feel very good, I have never thought about what people often talk about "Confucianism" is, because of the loss of our traditional cultural education, the average person rarely thinks about "What is Confucianism?" Such a question, it is very automatic to think that "Confucianism" must be a very profound learning, and through the "point dialing" in this book, it suddenly recoiled, originally, Confucianism is of course Chinese way of life, concept of life and life practice, but we do not reflect on meditation, in fact, Confucianism is still in our daily life; for example, when visiting the 918 Memorial Hall, we talked about the word "don't forget the national shame", this "shame" word, in fact, is more of the "shame" of the Japanese, The Japanese have insulted such a culturally prosperous and developed civilization as China by attacking by force, which in itself is a "shame of mankind." No one has ever seen a problem from this height before, and the word "shame" has risen from the height of the country to the height of civilization, and this sense of historical depth is probably only possessed by a civilization like China.

The articles in "Daily Use" are not cloudy, nor are they strong, they are all heart-to-heart, feeling and hair, which is the concrete embodiment of his independent spirit, although he is engaged in the traditional paper media industry, but he does not say against his heart, do not do official articles, I think there are three things that support him to do this:

First, he insists on reading, which is rare in the current impetuous society, but also his duty as a literati, even if he has worked for many years, he still maintains the good habit of reading until late at night, and every time he has a feeling, he writes down his feelings, this kind of smell and meditation makes him often follow; second, he insists on participating in various cultural activities in society, such as various reading clubs and cultural lectures, constantly contacting famous scholars, discussing and exchanging all aspects of traditional Chinese culture with them, which makes Brother Xiaolin often dock with traditional Chinese culture. Natural induction; third, he consciously initiated the consciousness and responsibility of Confucianism in his work, just as he used the four sentences of the Hengqu of the Song Dynasty, so the book Chinese often seen, and in the community work he was engaged in, he consciously compared it with traditional Chinese culture, making people feel that what he thought, said and wrote, everywhere there was a foothold.

Literati writing, not only for life to make marks, but also to show their own feelings, Xiaolin brother has a traditional Chinese literati mentality and values, he is distinct in concept, is China-based, the love of Chinese culture is the heart, is in the bone marrow, such as his expectations of local China, he worries about history, worries about society, worry about culture, in this book are expressed without doubt, if these are too macroscopic, personality emotions in the "A letter to the daughter at the coming-of-age ceremony" can be described as a spilled, Let people sigh: isn't the love of children long, is not it also a daily use?

In recent years, I have had many exchanges with Brother Xiaolin, our exchanges are literati, ideological, pure spiritual, in this era of materialistic desires is very precious, I am very impressed by the "four returns" he often talks about, these "four returns" are: return to simple life, return to nature, return to traditional Chinese culture, return to my heart. These ideas are rare and valuable in contemporary times, which is the crystallization of Xiao Lin Brother's thoughts and his conceptual system. In the process of communication, I deeply felt that his ideas were in line with the spirit of Mahayana Buddhism in many places, and his book also embodied the wisdom and understanding of the Buddhist family at any time. As it is said in the Vimalaya Sutra, "Sixty-two views and all defilements are Buddha's species... For example, the plateau land does not produce lotus flowers, and the wet mud gives birth to this flower... In the mud of troubles are the dharma ears of sentient beings", the solution of all the problems in our lives is in the daily practice, it can be said that Xiao Lin Brother's book , "Daily Use Constant Practice" is a good observation point.

Editor: The editorial department of the micro-journal of Yiwu Network

"The Unfinished Net" · Members (in no particular order)

Editor-in-Chief: Ruan Zhonghua

Committee members: Zhang Fan| Chen Yonghao| Ji Yunqing| Yue Mingqi

Editor-in-Charge: Chen Fei | Qian Zhe | Hua Rui | Ya Xiang resident

Click: Apply to join the Yiwu Network

Tip: Click "Read the Original Article" to view the unfinished network!

Ma Xiaodong: A decade of a literati

Read on