What Is the Meaning of Suixuan?

12,836 characters2008.02.14

What, in the end, is the meaning of Suixuan? Why have I been running this blog? I have more or less forgotten these questions, because blogging has gradually become a daily habit: I write whenever I think of it, without needing any purpose or reason. But after setting it aside for a period of time, the question has surfaced again—why did I want to shut the blog down? And if I do not shut it down, then why should I continue blogging?

I dug up a comment I myself left a year and a half ago:

https://yilinhut.net/2006/03/24/350.html

Gu 2006-07-07 01:59:06

The current orientation of this blog of mine is:

First, and most important, it is “self-talk,” communication with myself. Communication between pen and mind. Some things, when you think them over in your head, take one form; but when you write them down and then look at them again, they become something else altogether.

Second, it is for academic exchange. While still young, I have the capital to write some shallow things, and the classmates and teachers involved can, if they happen to come across them, casually take a look now and then.

Third, it is for those friends who try to understand me to read. My personality, thoughts, and experiences will all gradually be reflected on the blog. Because I am a very passive person in social interaction, anyone willing to be friends with me only needs not to feel repelled after a preliminary understanding of me; that is qualification enough to become my friend. If you are willing to make friends with me, just say so.

……

Now, when I read this passage, it already feels strange and unfamiliar. There was a special context when I wrote it; if you asked me now to state this blog’s orientation, I would probably say something different. The first point should remain unchanged, but the latter two will surely have changed. Still, one thing is certain: the purpose of starting a blog is thoroughly selfish—even if I strip away the words “self-talk,” I still opened this blog solely for myself. I do not want to use the blog to spread anything, to inspire anything, or to enlighten anyone. Although some people have told me that they have gained something or been inspired by my blog, I would of course be glad to hear that, but it is by no means my direct purpose in running the blog.

At my present level, I do not dare go out and swindle people or mislead students. I am merely keeping my head down and building on my own patch of ground. Although this construction site is relatively open, so that passersby can see the progress of the work, the building is still far from finished, and it is absolutely not yet time to open the doors and solicit customers. If you happen to pass by and feel that my building has some prospects, you may use it for reference, or you may also enter my territory and discuss things with me, because the project is still underway, and its final form may well be changed by your participation.

At present, my construction site is probably in this condition: the plot has more or less been enclosed, the foundation has been partly laid, and the rough framework and style have also been tentatively determined. But it seems to be facing a shortage of resources; the bricks, tiles, mud, and stone are all inferior goods, not solid or reliable enough. A house built this way may still look exquisite on the surface, but it cannot withstand close scrutiny.

Therefore I need to devote energy specifically to opening up supply channels and ensuring that the raw materials are solid and reliable; only then can I go on building further. Before this problem is solved, the construction project will have to remain temporarily stalled.

During the shutdown, however, it is still possible to examine and discuss some of the parts that have already been built or have already begun to be designed. If you are willing, I will welcome your suggestions at any time.

I am still hesitating: should I close the blog, shut it down, lock it, suspend it, or continue writing as usual? Let’s talk again in a few days. But in any case, if you raise questions here and challenge my claims, I will certainly respond; that is to say, as long as there are always people challenging me, I cannot close the blog in order to evade them. But since there is, after all, not much traffic here, I may as well devote myself toKKBBS.

February 14, 2008

Comments and replies

Gu
2008-02-20 18:35:06 Anonymous 123.112.72.35

I can only say: an interesting person.
But I am not interested in his blog.
I will only follow three kinds of people’s blogs: first, my teachers’ blogs, specifically Teacher Liu’s and Teacher Jiang’s; second, those of people I know in real life, specifically Mist and Xueli; third, those who often leave comments on my blog and tell me their blog addresses, specifically only Unic. Apart from these three categories, I will not read other blogs. Of course, if you want to discuss a problem with me, and thus need me to look at certain posts on some blog first, then I will go have a look.
At a rough glance, that fellow’s blog style and philosophical outlook are utterly at odds with mine, and obviously offer me no inspiration whatsoever.
s
2008-02-20 15:49:03 Anonymous 58.217.113.83

Here there is an 80s-born maniac who claims to have a formal background in philosophy and to be a philosopher; he has started a BLOG. Brother Gu, if you are interested, you can go challenge him a bit, and perhaps it may give you some inspiration regarding your attitude toward the “Suixuan question.”
www.strongart.cn
Sina’s
Gu
2008-02-17 21:22:22 Anonymous 123.112.77.187

There was a period when I also emphasized “speak less,” directed at myself; in fact, from the moment I proclaimed “speak less,” I transferred all my energy for speaking onto the blog.
Hegel’s teaching seems a bit that way… and he himself certainly did not speak very little~ As for the first point, “revealed and exposed his own weakness and stupidity,” is that in the end a good thing or a bad thing? In fact, many times it is not easy to become aware of one’s own weaknesses. By articulating one’s thoughts in language and further highlighting the problems through interaction, so as to understand one’s weaknesses more clearly, isn’t that a good thing? As for the second point, Hegel was probably emphasizing an attitude of humble listening. Such a modest attitude is of course very important, but responding is not necessarily the opposite of humility; on the contrary, feedback is respect and recognition for the speaker. In lectures at Peking University, many Peking University teachers would say this: they hope you ask more questions. If a lecture leaves the audience unable to ask questions, then even if there is thunderous applause, the lecture has failed. So in fact, the reason I am rather disappointed in my blog is because I know that although my articles have quite a few readers, there are not many responses, which shows that my articles are still rather ordinary.
s
2008-02-17 21:07:56 Anonymous 221.230.20.2

The above remarks are merely personal opinions; I do not dare call them “challenging.” If there is anything improper, it is entirely not my intention. Please forgive me!
s
2008-02-17 20:46:43 Anonymous 221.230.20.2

Brother Gu, I actually think this blog is quite good. I have also forgotten through what channel, and at what point in time, I began to come here frequently and lurk in silence. I often, secretly—somewhat ashamed to say this—read your articles and received more or less some inspiration, but I never dared to comment casually. I have always kept Hegel’s teaching firmly in mind: “Speak less, especially when there are people present who are more capable than you, or unfamiliar, or more experienced and knowledgeable than you. For when you speak a great deal, you are at the same time doing two things that are very harmful to yourself: first, you reveal and expose your own weakness and stupidity; second, you lose an opportunity to gain wisdom and experience.”
On Brother Gu’s blog, including Brother Gu himself, there are masters everywhere, which has provided me with a very good platform for learning and exchange. Even if, as you say, the purpose of starting a blog is thoroughly selfish and it is still only for oneself, at the very least it can be said that you have, in an unselfconscious sense, done something beneficial to others. As for whether it is necessary to temporarily stall the construction project and devote energy specifically to opening up supply channels to ensure that the raw materials are solid and reliable, I do not think that is entirely necessary; one can build while also opening up supply channels. As long as the solidity of the raw materials is enough to temporarily support the entire edifice, construction can continue. If the building reaches the limit of what the materials can support and can collapse on its own, then by that time reflecting on the reliability of the entire material foundation and guiding things accordingly will surely save half the effort for twice the result!
Griffth
2008-02-15 21:02:58 Anonymous 116.252.72.245

Sometimes one has to pop up and say hello.
随缘
2008-02-15 00:17:52 Anonymous 124.17.18.213

Also, let me offer a rational suggestion for your reference: if you want to take care of the blog’s popularity, you might consider using a migration tool to move the blog to Sina!
In terms of dissemination, a Sina blog would unquestionably have much greater reach; there Brother Gu may well have the chance to spar with experts from all the major camps, both righteous and unrighteous, and perhaps have some unique experiences!
随缘
2008-02-15 00:09:24 Anonymous 124.17.18.213

Let me borrow a line from Teacher Wu: questions are always raised within a certain world of meaning! The source of the question, the motive for raising it, and tracing why the question can be asked at all—perhaps this is precisely where Suixuan’s own meaning lies.
Once a question can no longer be raised, then congratulations, junior fellow student, you have already plunged deep into the chaotic realm behind “meaninglessness” and “meaningfulness”! Since, for you, meaning is no longer an issue, then it is time for you to turn the ship of compassion around and come again to ferry me, UNIC, MIST, and all other sentient beings across.
It sounds a bit like sophistry. Still, I agree with what the brothers above said: don’t treat updating as a burden; write something whenever you feel like it!
Gu Zuo
2008-02-14 20:51:00

This challenge is too empty and entirely unfocused; ignore it.
Continuing on without regard for its meaning is precisely one of the maladies I have long criticized in modern technology. The operation of science and technology has merely become a habit, no longer concerned with its source and direction; that is where the predicament of modernity lies. The mission of philosophy is “to question”; this questioning absolutely cannot be evaded.
But insisting on questioning does not mean one must not continue. In fact, although we often cannot trace the reason for continuing, we likewise often cannot give a reason for interrupting. So insisting on questioning is one issue, while whether to continue following habit or to stop is another. Before the questioning has yielded results, whether to keep going mainly depends on one’s mood~
mist
2008-02-14 19:56:09 Anonymous 124.17.16.99

What is meaning?
A little provocation, so you won’t shut it down~~
Keep writing, who cares what meaning there is?
Gu
2008-02-14 14:57:58 Anonymous 123.112.78.223

Please rest assured, friends: first, Suixuan can never be permanently shut down; second, I use reading and writing as my mode of thinking. If I do not read or write, I cannot think through problems smoothly, and I cannot stop writing. Writing is not for “honing my pen”; it is for thinking.
If I do not read, thought cannot begin; if I do not write, thought cannot rest. Only by alternating between reading and writing can thought keep turning there all the time. One reason the blog stalled during winter break was precisely that I read relatively little.
As for the claim that self-talk has no need to be put online, that is logically and objectively correct, but there is still a big difference between self-talk that is not public and self-talk on a blog. For instance, the same things—eating, drinking tea, and so on—obviously do not take place in contexts that are irrelevant. The same pot of tea feels very different when you drink it in a teahouse versus at home, but in the teahouse you are still alone drinking your own tea, are you not? So where exactly does the difference lie?
The character “xuan” in Suixuan’s “xuan” has a special significance; the place where the character “xuan” is used most often is precisely the teahouse. Drinking tea in a teahouse, you are still enjoying your own tea alone; it is not as though several people are drinking one cup together. And yet you are savoring it alone in an open environment. What, exactly, is the difference? It is hard to explain clearly; please taste it for yourself.
UNIC
2008-02-14 14:32:13 Anonymous 124.117.17.121

I just looked again at the message board from those years. You’re right.

As for the second point, you can go to KK. As for the third, you made that clear in those lines you didn’t excerpt here.

But here, both as a reader of Suixuan and as your friend, I sincerely hope Suixuan won’t stop. Though I may not be a qualified reader or a qualified friend.

Just imagine if one day Suixuan really disappeared—it would be terribly sad; I don’t even dare think about it. So out of selfishness, I hope Suixuan will continue to exist.

As for closing up shop for a while, however long that may be, that’s no big deal—just don’t let it vanish, even if there are no updates.
unic
2008-02-14 14:20:05 Anonymous 124.117.17.121

I’ve also been asking myself what the point of starting a blog is.

After reading your analysis, if it’s the first point, then you could just not make it public, or not post it online—just keep it on your computer.

And you also said that at present it “seems to be facing difficulties of resource shortage; the bricks, tiles, earth, and stone are all shoddy goods, not solid or reliable enough. A house put together like this may still look exquisite on the surface, but it can’t withstand scrutiny.” But isn’t the pen itself a way of thinking? You don’t necessarily have to turn everything into bricks and tiles; what if it’s just a process of selection and examination?~

As for mine, it really can’t compare with yours. What I’m doing there isn’t building a house at all—I’m just playing in the dirt. The day before yesterday I suddenly felt the merits of blogging the way you do: some things simply don’t need to be put online. And for someone like you, whose main focus is scholarship, maybe it makes even more sense. In the end, the internet is a medium for communication; since you’re running a blog, you’re bound to use that function, otherwise wouldn’t it be enough to use Word or a notebook?

But do I have any need to communicate through a blog? (As you said, the starting point for starting a blog is always oneself.)
Ceiling
2008-02-14 09:26:13 Anonymous 124.17.18.3

Better not stop. Write a little less, be a little more cautious, but don’t stop completely. It’s still necessary to hone the pen.