Why does it alleviate the anxiety of contemporary people's lives | young people | anxiety

In the scenery of Jiangnan, three or five friends dress in simple and rustic attire, light a furnace of incense, taste a cup of tea, some play the piano, some draw

Similar scenes not only appear in historical dramas, but also become a popular way of life among some young people.

Reconstructing an elegant slow lifestyle and traditional Chinese culture may also be one of the good medicines for correcting the dilemma of modernity and alleviating the inner feelings of urbanites.

Xu Mingsong: For a century, Western philosophy has been exploring this topic. In modern society, everyone is just a screw on the assembly line. What is the individual value and self-worth that people pursue after crossing the subsistence line? Marx said this is human alienation, and similar expressions have been made by Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and others. Western philosophers have been pondering the spiritual anxieties of modern people for a hundred years.

In the Internet era, the society is more flat. Where does one place their own soul in the midst of busy work and life? What is the connection between inner emotions?

China's long agricultural society has nurtured a unique cultural geography. The philosophy and values of the Chinese people connect heaven and earth, and reach the universe. Under the great cultural image of the unity of heaven and man, daily life and artistic aesthetics go beyond instrumental rationality, respecting individual sensibility and recognition, rather than just logic and abstract thinking.

This frees modern people from the constraints and anxieties of life, finding a spiritual refuge, a poetic paradise.

Xu Mingsong: For example, Western landscape painting still divides things and myself, objects and subjects. Chinese landscape painting, on the other hand, reflects more on the forgetting of things and myself. People are like mountains and rivers, and mountains and rivers are also like people. Mountains and rivers are also like the universe of heaven and earth.

It not only does not differentiate, but also emphasizes the state of unity and the silence of heaven and earth. To modern people, the logic may seem unclear, but it is precisely the powerful spiritual power brought about by the unity of heaven and man that provides temporary refuge and dwelling place for the Chinese soul.

Chinese people are inherently personified nature. The expression of inner poetry in Chinese people is a reflection of inner spirituality, rather than a purely rational result of thinking.

Today, young people look back at traditional culture, and this collective consciousness is precisely seeking a poetic dwelling in the depths of their souls.

Xu Mingsong: Drawing nourishment from the vast system of Eastern culture is an important phenomenon in the entire modern civilization. In cultural exchanges, I have found that many foreign artists worship traditional Chinese culture and constantly draw nourishment from it.

Western classical painting was first established on objective imitation, gradually developing from imitating objective objects to expressing subjective ideas.

But Chinese painting, from the beginning, is to express the connection between humans and the universe, not an objective description. We are the "external teacher of creation, the source of the heart", reflecting the integration between the subjective and objective aspects of the Chinese people, rising to the unity of heaven and humanity.

Therefore, when some Western art faces the dilemma of modernity and needs to be re explored and expressed, some people are inspired by traditional Chinese culture.

Xu Mingsong: In Chinese calligraphy and painting, it is often said that "the heart and hands are united". This heart is the heart of heaven and earth, not just a simple personal heart. Heaven and earth are the way, and the mind and objects are connected. This is a worldview and methodology. It follows a different path from the West.

The spatiotemporal imagery provided by Eastern philosophy, with vivid charm, can create artistic conception. This is not just a physical pursuit of strength, and even language cannot fully convey its meaning. But upon seeing the work and hearing the sound, the viewer can feel its vividness.

Therefore, our learning of traditional culture, from introspection to enlightenment, goes beyond just knowledge points. It is not a quantifiable standard or data.

Xu Mingsong: Chinese culture values the soul and recognition. Unfortunately, many people's understanding of traditional culture is merely a matter of knowledge absorption, stuck on paper, without transforming knowledge points into cultural personalities.

Chinese cultural imagery is not a framework definition. "I have never seen the ancients before, nor have I seen the ones who will come later. I yearn for the vastness of heaven and earth, and feel sad but shed tears alone." This is a heart of compassion for the operation of the entire universe and life, breaking through the mathematical meaning of time and space.

In modern history, the earliest group of international students and art masters in China were the ones who received the deepest Western education. They were born in an era where they felt a deep pain for the backwardness of the East and the advancement of the West, but in the end, they unconsciously returned to tradition and began to explore the power of Chinese culture again in their later years.

The convenience and efficiency of modern tools do not necessarily mean that a person's mental state is more free and spiritual. Today, not only is material abundance abundant, artificial intelligence may also defeat the human brain. However, fundamentally, what is the spiritual fulcrum of humanity? Matter cannot answer, nor can artificial intelligence.

Xu Mingsong: Jiangnan culture is long and soft, like water, with strong solubility and tolerance. It is daily, friendly, and can still seamlessly connect with modern life. Even in modern times, tea tasting, playing the qin, burning incense, and arranging flowers are not abrupt, and even appear very interesting. So, Jiangnan culture is a very rich treasure trove.

I am very happy that young people nowadays can naturally achieve a fusion between tradition and modernity. Perhaps it is because they have been nurtured by modern civilization since birth, and their knowledge structure is open, allowing them to find free expression and liberation without deliberate effort.

People may have to go through impatience before they can experience the spiritual determination of traditional culture. Entering the great tranquility and beauty of Chinese culture is the trend of the times.