After visiting the Red Square we walked to
the nearby Nikolskaya street leading to Lubyanka Square. At a glance the street
just looked like a fashionable shopping street, lined with boutiques, bars and
food shops. But actually, the place had many historical and cultural buildings
in the past. The street is named after the Greek Monastery of St. Nicholas
situated there, and the north side of the street is lined with some historic
buildings, such as the Kazan Cathedral, the former Red Mint building, and the Russian
State University for the Humanities. Other historical buildings have been
replaced with souvenirs shop, restaurants and boutiques.
We can feel the commercial atmosphere in
the street, many local ladies and gentlemen wear Russian traditional clothes,
complete the big blonde wig strolling the street offering souvenirs or selfies.
They greeted the passing by tourists ‘nihao, nihao’ as there are many Chinese
tourists coming there. There are also benches in the middle of streets for us
to sit after a long walk, enjoying the fresh spring air, under blue sky with
flocks of white cloud. There are also street performers there, including one
singing opera arias, with his quite powerful voice. We heard that he was
actually practicing for an operatic performance, as he wouldn’t be able to do
it in his apartment room, it would be to noisy for the neighbours.
From there we took a metro and walked in
the Vozdvizhenka Street area, and saw a huge modern building dominating the
area. It is the Russian State Library, the largest in the country and the fifth
largest in the world for its collection of books. In front of the library
stands a statue of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a famous Russian novelist. The statue depicts
him in a very informal posture, sitting slanting on a pedestal, looking deep in
thought. Within the vicinity of this area there are other museums such as the
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Gogol House museum, and Gallery Aleksander
Shilov. There are other museums, theater and churches in this district, making
it one of the most dense area with cultural heritage.
Taking another metro to the Teatralnaya
Ploschad or Theater Square, in front of Bolshoi theatre, at the side of Teatral'nyy
Proyedz street stands the statue of Karl Marx the founder of Communism. The
statue carved out Marx from a grey
granite block, depicting him as a speaker standing on the podium as if
addressing people with a speech. The pedestal is engraved with his famous
words: "Workers of the World,
Unite!". The sculpturer Lev Kerbel was awarded the Lenin Prize the
following year.
I captured the soul of Moscow in the brief
walk on its streets.
Assigned to interview Friedrich, I was at a
loss as to how to deal with it. He is famous as a controversial philosopher who
declared 'God is Dead', with his views on religions, especially Christianity, very
negative, even though his father was a Lutheran minister. His father died when
Friedrich was only 4 years old so he did not get to witness his son's
'apostasy'.
To prepare for this interview I forced to
read his writings entitled 'Antichrist' which is very demeaning to Christianity
and even considers Christian values as poison for his followers. Of course,
many readers will feel insulted by these provocative remarks and cannot accept
their blasphemy. But by stroking my chest I finally decided to meet Friedrich
in his hometown of Röcken, in Germany.
That day Friedrich received my visit in the
living room of his house, he looked weak, his neck was wrapped in a thick
scarf. It seemed the cold February air had turned him pale. He was not as
fierce as his writing, only his thick mustache made him look like a member of
the military force. His body was hunched, his legs were slightly bent, and his
hands looked like dumplings.
I then opened the conversation:
“Herr Friedrich, straight away, in the book
The Joyful Wisdom you wrote about the Madman proclaiming that “God is Dead”.
How did this happen?”
Friedrich, repeating the Madman's words in
the book ‘The Joyful Wisdom’:
"Where is God gone?" he called
out. "I mean to tell you! We have killed him,—you and I! We are all his
murderers! But how have we done it? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who
gave us the sponge to wipe away the whole horizon? What did we do when we
loosened this earth from its sun? Whither does it now move? Whither do we move?
Away from all suns? Do we not dash on unceasingly? Backwards, sideways,
forwards, in all directions? Is there still an above and below? Do we not
stray, as through infinite nothingness? Does not empty space breathe upon us?
Has it not become colder? Does not night come on continually, darker and
darker? Shall we not have to light lanterns in the morning? Do we not hear the
noise of the grave-diggers who are burying God? Do we not smell the divine
putrefaction?—for even Gods putrefy! God is dead! God remains dead! And we have
killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all
murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed,
has bled to death under our knife,—who will wipe the blood from us? With what
water could we cleanse ourselves? What lustrums, what sacred games shall we
have to devise? Is not the magnitude of this deed too great for us?
I said:
"Then if God is Dead, who will replace
him?"
Friedrich, as he said in ‘The Joyful
Wisdom’
God is dead: but as the human race is
constituted, there will perhaps be caves for millenniums yet, in which people
will show his shadow,—And we—we have still to overcome his shadow!
Let us be on our guard against saying that
there are laws in nature. There are only necessities: there is no one who
commands, no one who obeys, no one who transgresses. When you know that there
is no design, you know also that there is no chance: for it is only where there
is a world of design that the word ‘chance’ has a meaning.”
I said:
“Besides the Madman proclaiming God is Dead
in that book, there is also the Zarathustra who says: 'Once you said 'God' when
you gazed upon distant seas; but now I have taught you to say 'Superman'. Who
is Superman?”
Friedrich, quoting ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’:
"I TEACH YOU THE SUPERMAN. Man is something
that is to be surpassed. What have ye done to surpass man?
All beings hitherto have created something
beyond themselves: and ye want to be the ebb of that great tide, and would
rather go back to the beast than surpass man?
What is the ape to man? A laughing-stock, a
thing of shame. And just the same shall man be to the Superman: a
laughing-stock, a thing of shame.
Ye have made your way from the worm to man,
and much within you is still worm. Once were ye apes, and even yet man is more
of an ape than any of the apes.
Even the wisest among you is only a
disharmony and hybrid of plant and phantom. But do I bid you become phantoms or
plants?
Lo, I teach you the Superman!
I said:
“Referring to 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra', I
grasped the call for man to become Superman by realizing that there is no
objective truth and no objective morality—that God and goodness are all
man-made. Thus man will go beyond the commonly accepted and discover his own
values, and these discovered values will arise from his own essential desire
for power. Is that not so?"
Friedrich, again quoting ‘Thus Spoke
Zarathustra’ randomly:
The beauty of the Superman came unto me as
a shadow. Ah, my brethren! Of what account now are—the Gods to me!
Man is a rope stretched between the animal
and the Superman—a rope over an abyss.
A dangerous crossing, a dangerous
wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.
What is great in man is that he is a bridge
and not a goal: what is lovable in man is that he is an OVER-GOING and a
DOWN-GOING.
I love those that know not how to live
except as down-goers, for they are the over-goers.
I love those who do not first seek a reason
beyond the stars for going down and being sacrifices, but sacrifice themselves to
the earth, that the earth of the Superman may hereafter arrive.
I love him who justifieth the future ones,
and redeemeth the past ones: for he is willing to succumb through the present
ones.
I love him who is of a free spirit and a
free heart: thus is his head only the bowels of his heart; his heart, however,
causeth his down-going.
I love all who are like heavy drops falling
one by one out of the dark cloud that lowereth over man: they herald the coming
of the lightning, and succumb as heralds.
Lo, I am a herald of the lightning, and a
heavy drop out of the cloud: the lightning, however, is the SUPERMAN.
I said:
“The tight-rope walker’s performance is
dangerous as he must traverse a rope suspended over a deep chasm. So too, in
bringing about the Superman, man must live dangerously. He must assume great
risks and never remain stagnant, but despite the dangers always live for the
sake of self-transformation. As Zarathustra explains, those who live in this
manner are the individuals destined to be the harbingers of the Superman. But
who is Superman?”
Friedrich, as he said in ‘Joyful Wisdom’:
“People have never asked me as they should
have done, what the name of Zarathustra precisely meant in my mouth, in the
mouth of the first immoralist; for that which distinguishes this Persian from
all others in the past is the very fact that he was the exact reverse of an
immoralist. Zarathustra was the first to see in the struggle between good and
evil the essential wheel in the working of things. The translation of morality
into the realm of metaphysics, as force, cause, end-in-itself, is his work. But
the very question suggests its own answer. Zarathustra created this most
portentous of all errors,—morality; therefore he must be the first to expose
it. Not only because he has had longer and greater experience of the subject
than any other thinker,—all history is indeed the experimental refutation of
the theory of the so-called moral order of things,—but because of the more
important fact that Zarathustra was the most truthful of thinkers. In his
teaching alone is truthfulness upheld as the highest virtue—that is to say, as
the reverse of the cowardice of the ‘idealist’ who takes to his heels at the
sight of reality. Zarathustra has more pluck in his body than all other
thinkers put together. To tell the truth and to aim straight: that is the first
Persian virtue. Have I made myself clear? ... The overcoming of morality by
itself, through truthfulness, the moralist's overcoming of himself in his
opposite—in me—that is what the name Zarathustra means in my mouth.”
I said:
“Oh, so you mean the Zarathustra, who in
Greek is called Zoroaster, the founding prophet of Zoroastrianism in ancient
Persia over 1000 BC. Some researchers suggest that Zarathustra may have been the
first monotheistic prophet in recorded history. He eliminated all the ancient
gods from the Persian pantheon, leaving only Ahura Mazdah, the 'Wise God', as
the Only True God. This was, at a time when Zarathustra instituted religious
reforms that were broader in scope and more radical than Martin Luther's
challenge to the Roman Catholic Church.
Then Zarathustra established the concept of
morality which can be summed up with the words 'good thoughts, good words, good
deeds.' Living these three principles is how we exercise our free will by
following the law of Asha. The three ethics of Zoroastrianism also pass down
concepts such as the cosmic struggle between right and wrong, between
Asha—Truth and Virtue and Druj—Lie, Evil, and Chaos.”
Friedrich:
“As Zarathustra spoke: ‘ Let us speak thereof, ye wisest ones, even though it be bad.
To be silent is worse; all suppressed truths become poisonous.”
I said:
“Zarathustra urges to discard God and
instead create a new meaning of the earth; one that embraces the personal
desire for self-actualization and self-affirmation, and promotes the
development of a strong body in which natural instincts are seen as a source of
energy to be channeled and sublimated in order to overcome oneself. This new
meaning, Zarathustra announced to be Superman.
Friedrich
then quoted his book the Antichrist:
“Under Christianity neither morality nor
religion has any point of contact with actuality. This purely fictitious world,
greatly to its disadvantage, is to be differentiated from the world of dreams;
the latter at least reflects reality, whereas the former falsifies it, cheapens
it and denies it. Once the concept of ‘nature’ had been opposed to the concept
of ‘God,’ the word ‘natural’ necessarily took on the meaning of ‘abominable’—the
whole of that fictitious world has its sources in hatred of the natural (—the
real!—), and is no more than evidence of a profound uneasiness in the presence
of reality.... This explains everything. Who alone has any reason for living
his way out of reality? The man who suffers under it. But to suffer from
reality one must be a botched reality.... The preponderance of pains over
pleasures is the cause of this fictitious morality and religion: but such a
preponderance also supplies the formula for décadence....”
I said:
“But mankind's rejection of God has existed
since the first humans, Adam and Eve. They chose to freely disobey God's
commandments by eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. According to Christian belief, by his transgression Adam became
an earthly being, a 'natural man' with a 'carnal mind'. You in 'The Antichrist'
advise mankind to repeat Adam's attitude of rejecting God as in the
beginning."
Friedrich quoting ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’:
“At last, after seven days, Zarathustra
raised himself upon his couch, took a rosy apple in his hand, smelt it and
found its smell pleasant. Then did his animals think the time had come to speak
unto him.
‘O Zarathustra,’ said they, ‘now hast thou
lain thus for seven days with heavy eyes: wilt thou not set thyself again upon
thy feet?
Step out of thy cave: the world waiteth for
thee as a garden. The wind playeth with heavy fragrance which seeketh for thee;
and all brooks would like to run after thee.
All things long for thee, since thou hast
remained alone for seven days—step forth out of thy cave! All things want to be
thy physicians!
Did perhaps a new knowledge come to thee, a
bitter, grievous knowledge? Like leavened dough layest thou, thy soul arose and
swelled beyond all its bounds.—'
—O mine animals, answered Zarathustra, talk
on thus and let me listen! It refresheth me so to hear your talk: where there
is talk, there is the world as a garden unto me.
For me—how could there be an outside-of-me?
There is no outside! But this we forget on hearing tones; how delightful it is
that we forget!
Have not names and tones been given unto
things that man may refresh himself with them? It is a beautiful folly,
speaking; therewith danceth man over everything.
How lovely is all speech and all falsehoods
of tones! With tones danceth our love on variegated rainbows.—
—'O Zarathustra,’ said then his animals, ‘to
those who think like us, things all dance themselves: they come and hold out
the hand and laugh and flee—and return.
Everything goeth, everything returneth;
eternally rolleth the wheel of existence. Everything dieth, everything
blossometh forth again; eternally runneth on the year of existence.
For thine animals know it well, O
Zarathustra, who thou art and must become: behold, THOU ART THE TEACHER OF THE
ETERNAL RETURN,—that is now THY fate!”
I said:
"Herr Friedrich, in closing, how do
you want the world to remember you?"
Friedrich:
“As I said in Ecce Homo:’ I am, for
instance, in no wise a bogey man, or moral monster. On the contrary, I am the
very opposite in nature to the kind of man that has been honoured hitherto as
virtuous. Between ourselves, it seems to me that this is precisely a matter on
which I may feel proud. I am a disciple of the philosopher Dionysus, and I
would prefer to be even a satyr than a saint. But just read this book! Maybe I
have here succeeded in expressing this contrast in a cheerful and at the same
time sympathetic manner—maybe this is the only purpose of the present work.
The very last thing I should promise to
accomplish would be to ‘improve’ mankind. I do not set up any new idols; may
old idols only learn what it costs to have legs of clay. To overthrow idols
(idols is the name I give to all ideals) is much more like my business. In
proportion as an ideal world has been falsely assumed, reality has been robbed
of its value, its meaning, and its truthfulness.... The ‘true world’ and the ‘apparent
world’—in plain English, the fictitious world and reality.... Hitherto the lie
of the ideal has been the curse of reality; by means of it the very source of
mankind's instincts has become mendacious and false; so much so that those values
have come to be worshipped which are the exact opposite of the ones which would
ensure man's prosperity, his future, and his great right to a future.”
THE END
This is an imaginary interview in memory of Friedrich Nietzsche.
One of the attractions of Dubai is its magnificent Shopping
Malls. From the outside a mall looked like an ordinary building, but inside it
is truly amazing, with an attractive and well-designed interior. Once we go inside
we feel at home there, to do our shopping, looking for nice meals, playing,
watching movies or just looking around.
The Mall of the Emirates is one of the most magnificent
Malls in Dubai, its six hundred thousand square meters space is filled with shops
that mostly sell international branded goods. There are more than five hundred
shops located on all four floors of this Mall. However, if you do not intend to
shop there, there is a cinema and a place to play at Magic Planet. When you get
tired, you can choose to eat in one of the many restaurants serving a variety
of food. There is local Middle Eastern food, Asian and Western food, all served
in a room with nice surrounding.
And in the midst of Dubai heat, you can play in Ski Dubai,
an indoor ski hall. With a ski slope 85 meters high and 140 meters long, it is
the largest in the world. The room temperature is maintained between minus one
degree and two degrees Celsius, to keep the meter-high snow intact. Thus, even
though the outside temperature is around 45 degrees Celsius, you can slide on
the snow inside this Mall. To play here you have to buy a ticket, the price is
around 70 USD, depending on the facility you choose.
Strolling from the Marais area where the buildings are in
the 17th century style to the Beaubourg through the narrow streets and alleys we
find a huge building with a unique colorful style. It is the Pompidou Center, a
multicultural complex, bringing together in one place different forms of art
and literature. It houses a Public Information Library, a vast public library
and the Museum of Modern Art. It is named after Georges Pompidou, the President
of France from 1969 to 1974 who commissioned the building, and was officially
opened on 31 January 1977.
Created in the style of modern architecture by the
architectural team of Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano the building looks like of
an 'inside-out' building with its structural system, mechanical systems, and
circulation exposed on the exterior of the building with colorful pipes and
ducts. From the outside, the visual signature of the building is embodied by
the huge mechanical escalator, known as the “caterpillar”, designed to serve as
a vertical outdoor path. It is the primary artery of the Pompidou Centre,
serving all levels and transporting the public upwards. Its transparency
provides one of the finest views of Paris, and as you travel up, it seems as though
you are still strolling through the city.
The vast plaza in front of the building forms an integral
part of the Pompidou Centre and serves as a strong link between the city and
the building, thus enabling the most natural flow possible between the two
spaces. The plaza acts as a lung, a place of life where Parisians, tourists and
onlookers cross paths. People come here to meet others, to stroll, to rest or
contemplate their surroundings. In the spring, the plaza becomes more lively
with carnivals, bands, and street performers.
From the Pompidou Centre, our next trip is to another modern
buildings complex in Paris, the business center of La Défense. By taking the
Metro from the Hotel de Ville for about half an hour we arrive at the Esplanade
Metro station, the location of La Défense. Right above the metro station stands
La Grande Arche, a 110 meter cube monument designed to be a late-20th-century
version of the Arc de Triomphe. Its designer Johan Otto V. Spreckelsen described
it as a window onto the world. It is intended to function as a place where
people with different backgrounds and cultures can meet and communicate.
Around Le Grande Arche, La Défense contains many of the
Paris urban area's tallest high-rises. There are hundreds of high-rises and
buildings belonging to the top companies in the world in this area. There is
also a large shopping mall, Les Quatre Temps, with 220 stores, 48 restaurants
and a 24-screen movie theatre. One day is definitely not enough to explore this
area!
From the Anvers metro station, we walked a bit along the Rue
de Steinkerque in the Montmartre area to the Place Saint-Pierre. Montmartre,
which notably means hill of martyrs, owed its name to Saint Denis, who was
beheaded on this hill in the third century on the orders of the emperor Decius.
Saint Denis was Bishop of Paris at the time and is now known as the patron
saint of France.
A short walk later, we saw the white building of the
Sacré-Cœur basilica perched on top of the hill of Montmartre. It is amazing
that the basilica although is more than 100 years old, its white color is not
polluted. Apparently this is because the walls were built from travertine
limestone from Château-Landon. This stone has a very interesting
characteristic: when it comes into contact with rainwater, the thin protective
layer that naturally coats the stone releases a white substance that hardens in
the sun. Therefore, every rain is an opportunity for this building to cleanse !
The Sacré-Cœur Basilica, which means the Sacred Heart Basilica, is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Christ. From the beginning
until now, the faithful take turns day and night to pray here without stop.
Each evening, after the doors close at 10.30pm, the prayer relay continues,
with people registering for the evening service in honor of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus. On the ceiling above the altar is one of the largest mosaics in the
world depicting the risen Jesus Christ, clothed in white and revealing a heart
of gold. This mosaic created by Luc-Olivier Merson, shows the worshipers around
Jesus represented by the saints: St Joan of Arc, St Mary and St Michael.
At the front of this basilica under the statue of Jesus
Christ there are also statues of St. Louis IX and St. Joan of Arc sitting on a
horse, besides being considered saints they are also respected French heroes.
So this basilica also became a symbol of French nationalism. Its construction
is also an effort of national reconciliation and atonement for the tragic
events of the Paris Commune in 1870-71.
The architecture of this basilica is unique compared to
other major churches in Paris such as Notre Dame. Many large churches in France
have gothic architecture, while architect Paul Abadie was inspired to design
this church in Romano-Byzantine style after completing many restorations on a
similarly designed church in southern France. The Byzantine style of the
building is characterized by a high dome, the result of new techniques of the
sixth century, and the interior features many mosaics.
Walking in Paris, strolling on cobbled streets flanked by
old buildings, we really can feel the romantic atmosphere. As in many European
cities, the buildings and streets were preserved that way, not modernized. The
last Paris renovations were carried out from 1852 to 1870 by Georges-Eugne
Haussmann under the order of Napoléon III. Haussmann’s work gave Paris the look
it has today as well as its architecture. He created a very long and wide
avenue with cafes and shops that influenced much of Parisian life. The
architecture of classical Haussmann buildings was not designed independently
but rather as part of a quarter, block, and thus the style should be coherent
and in harmony with the architecture of the other buildings. The ground floor
has thick walls. The second floor offers beautiful balconies and the third and
fourth floors are built in the same style, although the window frames have less
intricate stonework.
After wandering through the cobbled streets of Le Marais, we
arrived at the Hotel de Ville. Wow we thought, this hotel looked like a palace
or a museum, wasn’t it? It turns out that in French, 'hotel' can mean a house,
building, residence, so it does not always mean hotel as a place to rent rooms
to stay for tourists. Today, apart from functioning as the city's
administrative office, the Hotel de Ville is also a venue for art and cultural
exhibitions. There are many interesting exhibits in the building and on the
grounds in front of this building.
From the Hotel de Ville we walked not far, only a few
hundred meters to the south, to arrive at the Seine river. We can walk along
this river or take a ferry to explore Paris. It turns out that the Eiffel Tower
is located on the bank of this river and is one of the stops of the ferry route.
The name of this stop is Port de la Bourdonnais. From this side we can see the towering
Eiffel Tower, with its trademark brown color named Eiffel Tower Brown.
Walking along the Seine reminds me of the words of the
famous French painter Claude Monet: “I have painted the Seine all my life, in
every hour, in every season. I never get bored: for me the Seine is always
new.” But the river Seine in Paris is not as beautiful as Monet's paintings
made in the interior of France, such as Argenteuil, Poissy and so on. Although
the river water in Paris is not blue like in the painting, and there are no
lotus plants, it flows calmly leading us to various history that are close to
it, besides the Eiffel Tower, also Notre Dame Cathedral, Louvre Museum, and Musée
d'Orsay.
I went to Huang Shan
mountain in Anhui province, to meet Li Bai, one of China's most famous poets.
Against a backdrop of misty mountains, he met me cross-legged in front of a
small table on the veranda of a food stall. Not to forget a cup of wine was served
for him and me. I say 'not to forget' because it is a tradition in China to
serve wine or other liquor to guests as a courtesy. In addition, Li Bai has a
reputation as the Drunk Poet, due to his penchant for liquor until he drunk, but
able to write interesting poems in that state.
It seemed that Li Bai
wanted to isolate himself in the area around here, to write poems, being close
to the common people, after being 'expelled' from the Royal Academy by Emperor
Xuanzong in Chang'an (the ancient name of Xi'an city). He was expelled because
of the intrigues of ministers who were jealous of his talent to write beautiful
poems. He traveled from mountain to mountain, deepened Taoism and wrote many of
his poems there.
That morning I met Li
Bai at dawn on the Bright Peak Summit of Mount Huangshan to enjoy the golden
light of the sun slowly creeping in from behind the mountains. We just sat in
silence while Li Bai was writing a poem, he was just like that, could
spontaneously write poetry when attracted by something he encountered. Sometime
later he showed me his poem:
Thirty six strange peaks, Immortals with black
top knots.
Morning sun strikes the tree tops,
Here in this sky mountain world. Chinese
people, raise your faces!
For
a thousand years cranes come and go. Far off I spy a firewood gatherer,
Plucking sticks from stone crevices.
I responded:
"Mountains often
appear in your poetry, right?"
Li Bai, smiling,
quoted another of his poems:
“You ask for what reason I stay on the green mountain,
I smile, but do not answer, my heart is at leisure.
Peach blossom is carried far off by flowing water,
Apart, I have heaven and earth in the human world.”
I said:
“Heaven and earth in
the human world, I really can sense the deep influence of Taoism, which views
the Universe as an interconnected organic entity. None exists separately from
the others.”
Li Bai:
“I recited ‘Liu Jia’
at the age of five, an ancient Taoist book that has been lost, and see a
hundred schools at the age of ten. At the age of fifteen, I and Dongyanzi, a
Taoist hermit, went to mount Minshan to live there in seclusion. I lived in there
for several years. We raised many exotic birds in the forests, lived and worked
as animal breeders. These are beautiful and docile birds, because we used to
feeding them, so they come regularly to ask for food. It's as if they can
understand people's language, with a call, they fly from everywhere before
coming down, can even peck at people's hands. With grains, they are not afraid
at all”.
I said:
“Before you exiled
yourself to this area, it is said that you were once a high ranking official
serving Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. How did it happen?”
Li Bai:
“I was wandering around Zhejiang and Jiangsu
and eventually made friends with Wu Yun, a famous Taoist priest, who was close
to Emperor Xuanzong. One day Wu Yun was summoned by the Emperor to attend the
imperial court, and his praise of me was great.
His praise led Emperor Xuanzong to summon me to the court of Chang’an.
It seemed that the Emperor, aristocrats and common people alike were fascinated
by my talents and personality. At first he gave me a job as a translator, as I knew
non-Chinese language. Eventually the
Emperor gave me a post at the Hanlin Academy, the royal academy which served to
provide scholarly expertise and poetry for the Emperor.”
I said:
“Surely you wrote
poems for Emperor Xuanzong?”
Li Bai:
“I wrote several poems
about the Emperor's beautiful and beloved Yang Guifei, the favorite royal
consort.”
I said:
"May I hear one
of them?"
Li Bai:
“Clouds remind me of her apparel, flowers remind me of her countenance,
The spring breeze blows against the banister, the dew are splendidly
lush.
If we cannot meet atop the Jade Mountain,
Then we will surely
encounter one another on the jade terrace basked under the moonlight.”
I said:
“Hmmm… by mentioning
the Jade Mountain, this poem implies the empress as charming as a fairy from
the heavens, and you will meet her in the mortal world under the moonlight… The
Daoism impression is very strong, heaven and earth as a harmonious wholesome beauty.
One of the other poems
you have written since sitting in the palace is about the drunkenness of
drinking wine. A theme that is rarely expressed as poetry, because it is
considered unworthy, not beautiful, and too 'mortal'. You seem to be very much
into drunkenness perhaps because as people have known, you like drinking to the
point of intoxication, and you even write the best poetry in drunken state. One
of your famous poems is “Drinking Alone Under the Moon”, which express the
feeling of drunkenness and loneliness in a poetic and romantic way, loved by
the public because the feeling is so 'grounded to the earth’ mirroring the
habits of Chinese people from all walks of life to get drunk.
Li
Bai, staring at the sky and quoting " Drinking Alone Under the Moon "
“Among the blossoms waits a jug of wine.
I pour myself a drink, no loved one near.
Raising my cup, I invite the bright moon
and turn to my shadow. We are now three.
But the moon doesn’t understand drinking,
and my shadow follows my body like a slave.
For a time, moon and shadow will be my companions,
a passing joy that should last through the spring.
I sing, and the moon just wavers in the sky;
I dance and my shadow whips around like mad.
While lucid still, we have such fun together!
But stumbling drunk, each stagger off alone.
Bound forever, relentless we roam:
reunited
at last on the distant river of stars.”
I said:
"Wow, it's so
impressive that his feeling of loneliness is combined with the dance in the
universe. Poetic, romantic and once again very thick sense of Taoism.
However, with such beautiful poems that you
wrote why were you expelled from the Palace?"
Li Bai:
"Because of Gao Lishi
the eunuch minister who has the most political influence in the palace. He
envied me and along with other spiteful officials conspired to get rid of me
with various intrigues. Knowing my habit of drinking until the drunk, one day
they trapped me into drinking until drunk. Then in a drunken state I was brought
to the Emperor to be humiliated. The emperor was angry and then drove me out of
the palace, so I decided to leave Chang'an..."
I said:
“How did you feel
leaving Chang’an?”
Li Bai, citing ‘The City of Choan’ Li Bai, another name of 'Chang'an
City' or Xi'an:
The phoenix are at play on their terrace.
The phoenix are gone, the river flows on alone.
Flowers and grass
Cover over the dark path
where lay the dynastic house
of the Go.
The bright cloths and bright caps of Shin
Are now the base of old hills.
The Three Mountains fall through the far
heaven,
The isle of White Heron
splits the two streams apart.
Now the high clouds cover the sun
And I can not see Choan afar
And I am sad.”
THE END
This
is an imaginary interview in memory of Li Bai.
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