Zhu Guangqian has a well-known article called "The Beauty of Silence". It systematically introduces the forms of "blank space" or other "silent" arts that often appear in Chinese and even world culture. The original article has a compact structure. The most well-known version, published in textbooks, makes the article "silent" by deleting some examples. With extremely profound aesthetic skills and a relaxed and natural language that can provoke deep thinking, Zhu Guangqian and a generation of aestheticians wrote about the general understanding of "silence" as a broad art.
The introduction of the article starts with a famous saying from Confucius, "I want to be silent." Confucius suddenly said that he didn't want to speak anymore, which scared his students. The author uses this dramatic scene to introduce the entire article, using a well-known figure to give more authority to his article, and cleverly establishing a fresh and natural language style through appropriate examples. It can be said to balance humor and seriousness. It also triggers readers to think: are some of Confucius' thoughts really applicable? Can they really be the central argument of the whole article, namely "silence"? In this way, it mobilizes readers and actually leaves room for the author to showcase his thoughts in questioning.
Confucius' example actually emphasizes that education does not necessarily have to be in the form of pure language. This is also more correct in the later world. Later educators have also proposed the concept of using production and life as textbooks and labor as teaching materials. However, as an aesthete, Zhu Guangqian's research is about human understanding of beauty, which is not limited to demonstrating educational methods. What he does, I think, is to include education in the scope of aesthetic research, broaden the breadth of argumentation, and actually elevate the problem in a subtle way. Therefore, the beauty of silence is not only an artistic method, but also a life strategy that is often used.
But it still needs art. The author starts with the basic principles of fine arts (painting, sculpture, etc.) and literature to comprehensively explain this "beauty of silence". In the original version, the author first uses the viewpoint of "harmony with nature and realism" in the principles of literature and art to indirectly prove (perhaps only appearing more objective and not as a complete counterexample) the viewpoint of the beauty of silence. The author first emphasizes that "harmony with nature and realism" is correct, and then points out that "harmony with nature and realism" is not the same as "being exactly the same as nature", but generalizes it as "art should tell the truth" (this part is retained in the textbook).
I think this kind of argument structure actually highlights Zhu Guangqian's caution. Before introducing silence, he first emphasizes the premise of speaking the truth. The essence of silence will be revealed later as a form of blank space not limited to painting. However, here he emphasizes that even if you don't say much, you should try your best to tell the truth and speak your most sincere feelings. Don't fabricate for a certain purpose. This is also a kind of beauty fundamentally close to morality. Only when you can appreciate the artistic value of telling the truth can you start trimming the truth and leave behind thought-provoking blank spaces. From the perspective of the basic principles of art, it emphasizes telling the truth. There is also an example in the text, which is Confucius' famous saying "The passing of time is like this." The premise for this sentence to have artistic value is not that it uses few words, but that it expresses Confucius' genuine thoughts, followed by the concise number of words, giving readers an opportunity to think.
Then the discussion turns to literature, and the author draws a "bridge model" to tell readers that the relationship between readers and authors is connected by the bridge of words. Any bridge has a design load and a width limit. It is ultimately difficult for thousands of troops to cross a single-plank bridge. So thousands of words are not as good as a few words, that's the point. This connects to the previous point of telling the truth: if the bridge of words is already shaky, if you don't condense the goods, but like usual, send a bunch of lies and nonsense to the other side, how can it work? The reader on the other side will probably miss more than half of the author's thoughts. Words cannot convey meaning because the bridge has a width. So words don't need to convey meaning. Based on the ability to tell the truth, say as little as possible and instead transport the goods of words and good thoughts more smoothly. Complete expression, in the world of words, is deemed unnecessary and impossible by the author.
Art is mentioned again. The author says that art emphasizes blank space in painting, and the art of blank space is the silence of painting. Sculpture also emphasizes silence, sometimes manifested as unclear depiction, sometimes as missing beauty. For example, the Venus de Milo is famous for its missing arms. The author also gives examples of photography and painting. If we talk about realism, a photograph is enough, so why should painting be preserved? It can be seen that painting cannot simply copy nature. It is true that it should tell the truth about nature, but more importantly, it should tell the truth about the inner self. Completely depicting nature is deemed unnecessary and impossible in fine arts.
Finally, the author's thoughts actually lead to further exploration of beauty. Beauty ultimately comes from human thinking. It is derived from observations of nature and then extends from there, becoming a part of the complex human society. The essence of silent beauty is to emphasize the human aspect of art more than the natural aspect. Art is the embodiment of humans in nature, rather than a replica of nature by humans. Because for the latter, humans are too small to replicate. Only through the former, can one record what they have seen, heard, and felt. This article was quite valuable at the time. Although it was not the first to propose silence, it was probably the most typical and systematic summary of the importance of silence in China. It was valuable at the time and still provides good guidance now. In our daily lives, the beauty of silence or the power of silence is often concrete. The most common example is that when someone shouts loudly, anyone passing by will cover their ears, while when someone mutters, there will always be someone who wants to get closer and listen carefully to what they are saying. The connection between people is nothing more than a bridge constructed with many limitations. Although many words have been said, they are not as direct as one or two words, which ultimately stems from the guidance of the beauty of silence. Since the bridge is limited, let's think about how to transport fewer unnecessary paper boxes and more practical thoughts.
Perhaps, this is the simple beauty of silence in my heart.