The Philosophical Background of Chinese Art

中国艺术的哲学背景

The ideal of Chinese art is not without its philosophical background. 

中国艺术的这种风格是有其哲学背景的。

In the twenty-sixth chapter of the Chuang-tzu it is said: "A basket-trap is for catching fish, but when one has got the fish, one need think no more about the basket. A foot-trap is for catching hares; but when one has got the hare, one need think no more about the trap. Words are for holding ideas, but when one has got the idea, one need no longer think about the words. If only I could find someone who had stopped thinking about words and could have him with me to talk to!" 

《庄子》第二十六章《外物》篇最后说：“荃者所以在鱼，得鱼而忘荃；蹄者所以在兔，得兔而忘蹄；言者所以在意，得意而忘言。吾安得夫忘言之人而与之言哉！” 

To talk with someone who has stopped thinking about words is not to talk with words. 

得忘言之人而与之言，这时两人不是用语言来交谈，

In the Chuang-tzu the statement is made that two sages met without speaking a single word, because "when their eyes met, the Tao was there." 

《庄子》书中说到的两位圣人，相遇而不言，因为“目击而道存矣”（《庄子·田子方》）。

According to Taoism, the Tao (the Way) cannot be told, but only suggested. 

按照道家的思想，道不可道，只能暗示。

So when words are used, it is the suggestiveness of the words, and not their fixed denotations or connotations, that reveals the Tao. 

语言的作用不在于它的固定含义，而在于它的暗示，引发人去领悟道。

denotation，外延

connotation，内涵

Words are something that should be forgotten when they have achieved their purpose. 

一旦语言已经完成它的暗示的作用，就应把它忘掉，

Why should we trouble ourselves with them any more than is necessary? 

为什么还要让自己被并非必要的语言所拖累呢？

This is true of the words and rhymes in poetry, and the lines and colors in painting.

诗的文字和音韵是如此，绘画的线条和颜色也是如此。

From YLYK《中国哲学的故事》专辑S01E27