On July 12, 20 years ago, an anime was released in Japan.
It was a legend in Japanese animation, and within a few days it became the highest-grossing anime in Japanese history at the time, and it caused a sensation around the world.
A few days ago, this animation ushered in the twentieth anniversary of the release, many friends talked to me about it, and said that the story is too complicated, some did not understand, want to ask Ah Zheng's opinion.
Ah Zheng also likes this story, today I will take this opportunity to talk to you about it -
Such a classic story I believe everyone is familiar with, this is the signature work of Hayao Miyazaki, but also the life-saving work of Studio Ghibli.
In 1997, Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli was in trouble for a time and nearly went out of business.
It was all thanks to this animation that made Studio Ghibli the world's first-class animation studio and made Miyazaki's fame around the world.
20 years later, its influence has not dissipated until now, this story is still listed in the hundred most worthy movies on Douban -
As for the story of "Princess Mononoke", most people should have seen it, so I will not repeat it here, and simply review it.
The story takes place around the 15th century.
The male protagonist, Ashidaka, is a young member of the Japanese Ezo tribe and the successor of the next patriarch.
The Ezo were isolated from Japanese society at the time and lived in seclusion.
One day, a cursed wild boar invaded the man's village.
In order to protect the clan, the male protagonist stepped forward to fight off the wild boar, but he was also contaminated with the curse of the wild boar——
Once you are infected with a curse, your life is in danger.
The male protagonist heard that only the patron saint of the distant forest can dissolve the curse, and in order to survive, he can only leave the village to find the guardian deity of the forest.
On the way, he met a crowd of people mining iron ore in the forest.
Those people were attacked by wolves —
The heroine, Shan, is a member of the wolf pack—
She is an abandoned child by humans, raised by a white wolf, very close to the white wolf—
The struggle between wolves and humans has been going on for a long time, with one side destroying the forest and the other protecting.
The contradictions between the two sides are almost irreconcilable, and the male protagonist is also involved in the war between the two.....
For this story, everyone's point of view is very exciting -
The story is brilliant.
Some people see love, some people see environmental protection, and some people see social development.
Originally, watching animation was a personal experience, and these angles could not be said to be problematic.
However, it is inevitable that I have some regrets about not being able to see the ideological theme that Miyazaki has painstakingly built up.
Personally, I think that although this story is divided into several angles, they can all be condensed into two words, "balance".
The old man has always liked to discuss the contradictions between things, such as the contradiction between man and nature, the contradiction between man and the heart, and the contradiction between people.
These contradictions cannot be avoided, but they can be coordinated and coordinated to a state of "balance".
For example, the main contradiction in this story is the contradiction between man and nature, and the contradiction between the two sides is very fierce at the beginning.
Princess Mononoke is a representative of the natural side.
In her eyes, humans are a bunch of insatiable invaders, burning forests and slaughtering wild beasts for profit.
Like the wild boar that first hurt the male protagonist, it was also attacked by a human musket, and the inner resentment became a cursed body.
Of course, Shan's perspective on nature cannot forgive this group of invaders, she constantly sneaks up on humans to prevent them from destroying the forest-
The representative of the human side is the strong woman in the story, the black hat adult -
It was she who took the lead in slaughtering life and defying nature.
So is she evil?
No, she is not a villain in the simple sense.
As the leader of the human race, she led the people to dig iron ore and smelt weapons in exchange for a better life.
In her eyes, forests and wolves are obstacles to human development, and if people are to live a good life, they must be removed, and she has nothing to fear no matter what the challenge.
In fact, under her leadership, people are really living better, and everyone lives and works in peace and contentment.
Moreover, she is not a ruthless leader, and she has a human touch on people, and even lepers can be well cared for.
And those lepers say —
"She was the only one who treated us like people"
Such people are brave, gritty, fearless, and even compassionate and appealing.
It can be said that without the existence of such people, our human civilization would not have developed to where it is today.
The reason why the two sides are full of contradictions is only because the Tao is different.
One side wants to survive, but the other side also wants to develop.
For this, the male protagonist is also clear.
The male protagonist knows that there is no distinction between good and evil on both sides, only the difference in position.
Therefore, for the fight between them, the male protagonist only said -
"See the facts with clear eyes"
At first, the male protagonist only wanted to be a bystander and did not want to participate in the fight.
However, when the male protagonist visited the human territory, he saw some scenes that he had never seen before.
There, for example, men and women are completely equal.
You know, in those days, no, even in some areas today, women had no status, and there were many contradictions between men and women.
And there, the contradictions between men and women are resolved, and the relationship between them is in a delicate balance, men mining outside, women making iron at home —
Both sides paid for the labor, so the woman also got enough status.
They live very freely, no longer have to rely on the sniffles of men —
Such a harmonious state of balance also makes the male protagonist have an idea.
Since the contradictions between men and women can be resolved, can the balance between man and nature eventually return?
Therefore, all his subsequent actions are also towards this goal, and he wants to reconcile the contradictions between the two sides.
What is paradoxical is that the contradiction has not been resolved in the end.
The human action went too far, they took the initiative to break the balance, sneaked up on the patron saint of the forest, and attracted the attack of the guardian god -
Speaking of which, we have to mention the guardian deity of the forest in the story.
The Guardian Of the Forest is a very powerful creature of the Mystery, and it even has the power to seize and give life.
When he appeared, he took the life of a plant and healed the wounds of the male protagonist——
In the finale, the Guardian Spirit is attacked by humans and begins to run wild, which is enough to destroy the world and the earth——
I believe that many people will feel strange when they see this.
The guardian god obviously has such a strong power, why didn't humans use this power to stop humans when they first began to destroy the forest?
In fact, this patron saint is a metaphor for Miyazaki's "balance" thought.
The patron saint does not take any side, it simply maintains the worldly order in a state of equilibrium.
It has no good or evil in itself, no anger and no joy, just like the saying in the Tao Te Ching—
"Heaven and earth are not kind, and all things are dogs"
In the struggle between man and nature, whoever wins or loses is part of the worldly order, so it does not strike a blow to upset the balance.
Only when one side is too much, will it be forcibly intervened.
For example, when the wild boar began to demonize because it hated humans too much, it took the life of the demonized wild boar.
And when human beings take the initiative to break the balance, it also leads to its crazy retaliation -
Balance, balance.
In Miyazaki's mind, the most ideal state of anything is to be in this state of balance.
The same is true of human attitude towards nature, asking too little, unable to develop on its own, asking too much, it will lead to disaster.
At the end of the story, the contradiction between man and nature is still not completely resolved, just like the male and female protagonists are not together in the end.
The two of them, after settling the patron saint's affair, said goodbye to each other in the meadow—
However, the relationship between them has entered a new state of equilibrium, Shan still lives in the forest, and the male owner lives in the miner's place, and will often visit her in the future.
Two people are not separated, just right.
And at the end of the story, the relationship between man and nature is the same.
Miners, after bearing nature's revenge, also rethink how to get along with nature.
In my opinion, what Miyazaki wants to convey through "Princess Mononoke" is this concept of "balance".
No more, no less, no less.
In fact, this principle does not only apply to grand narrative themes.
For ourselves, doing everything also requires a balance.
We pursue our dreams, so can we abandon everything else for the sake of our dreams? (e.g. Che si papa) -
We pursue love, but is it necessary for us to ignore everything else for the sake of affection? (For example, my wife Yuno) -
Neither.
We need dreams, and we need love.
But what is more needed is to take a good measure and achieve a balance in life.
Only when we achieve balance can we have a good life.