Elementos estéticos

In the Daodejing《道德經》, also known as the book of Laozi, the Tao道is described as follows:

There was something complete and nebulous Which existed before Heaven and Earth, Silent, invisible,

Unchanging, standing as One, Unceasing, ever-revolving,

Able to be the Mother of the world. I do not know its name and call it Tao…3

有物混成，先天地生。寂兮寥兮，獨立而不改，周行而不殆，可以為天下

母。吾不知其名，字之曰“道”… (chapter 25)

That which you look at but cannot see Is called the Invisible.

That which you listen to but cannot hear Is called the Inaudible.

That which you grasp but cannot hold Is called the unfathomable.

None of these three can be inquired after, Hence they blend into one.

2

See Ye Lang 葉朗, Foundations of Aesthetics《美在意象》(2010), p. 4. 3

Above no light can make it lighter, Beneath no darkness can make it darker. Unceasingly it continues

But it is impossible to define. Again it returns to nothingness.

Thus it is described as the form of the formless, The image of the imageless.

Hence it is called the Evasive.4

視之不見名曰夷；聽之不聞名曰希；搏之不得名曰微。 此三者不可致詰，故混而為一。其上不皦，其下不昧。 繩繩不可名，復歸於無物。

是謂無狀之狀，無物之象，是謂恍惚。 (chapter 14)

From the Tao, the One is created; From the One, Two;

From the Two, Three;

From the Three, the Ten Thousand Things.5

道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬物。 (chapter 42)

Here the “One” refers to the qi 氣; from the One is generated the Yin and the Yang (the Two); the interfusion of Yin and Yang creates a balance, a harmony (the Three) － it is through this process that all things are created.

According to the Chinese perspective on the universe, the Tao is the source of all things. It is life itself. The Tao is eternity: it has no beginning and no end; it is ever-existing and ever-lasting. It is difficult to define the Tao not only because it is “formless” and “imageless”, but also because there is nothing that is not the Tao. The Tao is All That Is, and All That Is Not. It comprises the visible and the invisible; the audible and the inaudible; the tangible and the intangible.

4

Based on Chang, Creativity, p. 31. 5

When we reflect life through literature and art, it should therefore be, and inevitably will be, a reflection of the Tao. However, in the words of Professor Ye Lang 葉朗 of Peking University:

Merely showing the “form” 象 is not a full reflection of the Tao, because “form” has limitations, while the Tao incorporates both “Being” (you有) and “Non- being” (wu無), with no name, no limitation, and no definition.” 6

但 是 單 有 “ 象 ” 並 不 能 充 份 體 現 “ 道 ” ， 因 為 “ 象 ” 是 有 限 的 ， 而“道”不僅是“有”，而且是“無” (無名，無限性，無規定性) 。

This so-called wu, or Non-being, or Tao, is only a figure of speech. It is opposed to everything that takes form. It has indeed not the slightest meaning of wu無in its literal sense (nothing, or not existing). On the contrary, this wu is all-inclusive and omnipresent; it gives birth to all Beings, you有. In truth, wu is the greatest Being. This explains to some extent why Chinese theatre and Chinese painting never really care to reproduce things in a realistic way, for this would confine the artist and the whole artistic process to a specific time and space (the issue of time and space shifting in Xiqu will be further discussed in detail). To manifest the Tao, especially its aspect of wu (the source of all creation; total freedom from all limitations), has always been of the highest value in Chinese Aesthetics, and the ultimate desire of all great artists.

Now the question is how to approach the Tao? Or how to be aware of the existence of wu, which seems so unfathomable?

Before going any further let us learn more about our universe and where we find ourselves in it by examining the very title of the early classic the I Ching (Yijing) 《易經》.

6

There are three layers of meanings of the word yi, sometimes known as the Three Principles of yi“三易”原則:

‧ The Principle of the Ever-Changing, bianyi 變易－ this applies to the realm of the Relative. In this dimension where time and space exist (as opposed to the realm of the Absolute where there is only Now and Here), everything is changing; no man, not one thing, not one situation is identical with what it was a nanosecond ago. Nothing here is unchanged and everlasting. The Buddhist calls it “Transiency” 無常. This is the dimension of physicality. This is where we are (physically).

‧ The Principle of the Unchanging, buyi 不易 － While everything is constantly moving and changing at an incredible speed, there is, however, one thing that is eternal and unchanging; and from this all things are engendered. This Principle applies to the realm of the Absolute. We may also call it the Tao, the One.

‧ The Principle of Simplicity and Ease, jianyi 簡易 － everything has its own reason to be. If we cannot explain a thing it is because the underlying reason is beyond our knowledge. Once we are able to embrace the Absolute Truth (the law of the universe), everything becomes simple and easy even though at first it appeared to be extremely intricate and inexplicable.7

So what we actually want to explore is this:

‧ Given where we are (a world of relativity), how do we get in touch with the Absolute realm, or the Tao, which sometimes seems not at all apparent?

‧ Through what means might we get to know not only conceptually but experientially that we are One with the universe, One with the Tao?

7

See Nan Huaijin 南懷瑾 (1918-2012), Miscellaneous Treatise on the I Ching《易經雜說》(2006), pp. 4-6. See also the comments of Zheng Xuan鄭玄 (127-200) in I Ching with Annotation by Zheng Kangcheng《周易鄭康成 注》(1983 reprint), p. 25B: “易一名而含三義，易簡一也， 變易二也，不易三也。”