Oriental Wisdom for Poetry

1. Poetry: Words of the Temple

In oracle bone script, the character for “poetry” (詩) did not exist; ancient humans used “temple” (寺) to represent “poetry” (詩). If you split the character 詩 (poetry), it forms the phrase 寺之言, which means “the words of the temple”. Phrases such as “There’s no path through the ancient woods, where does the bell toll from the deep mountains?” (Wang Wei) and “All worldly noises are quieted, only the echoes of the chime resonate” (Tang poet Chang Jian) depict the temple as a world separated from the material, mundane world, embodying tranquillity and purity. Stepping into a “temple” (寺) is akin to entering a spiritual realm, which is precisely what poetry is as an art form. The transcendence of life, the pursuit of spirit, and the power of faith are the wellspring of poetry. An individual in their everyday state can never produce poetry. Only when one truly enters the state of poetic creation, in that very moment, an ordinary person is transformed and elevated into a poet — they have washed away the vulgarity and concerns of their mundane self, and ascend from the path of individuality to the world of poetry. Poets come from the earthly realm, but upon entering the state of composing poetry, they maintain an aesthetic distance from the real world, transitioning from “seeing mountains not as mountains, waters not as waters” to “once again seeing mountains as mountains and waters as waters.” This is the profound mystery of poetic beauty.

1. 詩者：寺之言

甲骨文裏是沒有「詩」字的，上古人類用「寺」代替「詩」。「詩」字拆開來，就是「寺之言」。「古木無人徑，深山何處鐘」（王維）、「萬籟此都寂，但余鐘磬音」（唐人常建）的「寺」是與世俗的物質世界分隔開的清凈世界。踏入「寺」就踏進了精神的世界。詩正是這樣的藝術。人生的升華，精神的尋求，信仰的力量，就是詩的源泉。常態的「個人」絕對寫不出詩。只要真正進入寫詩狀態，那麽，在寫詩的那個時刻，常人一定就轉變、提升成了一個詩人——他們洗掉了自己作為常人的俗氣與牽掛，從非個人化路徑升華到詩的世界。詩人從人間來，進入寫詩狀態後，又和現實人間保持審美距離，從「看山不是山，看水不是水」 到 「看山還是山，看水還是水」，這就是詩美的奧秘。