This article is from the WeChat public account: 知 日 (ID: zhi_japan) author: flowers blowing snow, design: the whole continent, mu xing, head – source: unsplash
Japanese artist Takaya Tanaka’s MINIATURE series works
Japanese seem to be very keen to explore the cultural attributes of their own nation. Not only domestic scholars, critics, and artists have created a wide range of Japanese cultural theories, they are also unusually concerned about foreigners’ interest in Japan, the nation and Yamato the opinion of.
In addition to the well-known theories such as “The Bushido” made by Shintodo Inari, Ruth Benedict’s “Chrysanthemum and the Knife”, and Dai Jitao’s “On Japan”, there is one that I have to mention. The most popular Japanese cultural treatise-That is, “Japanese Reduction Awareness” published by Dr. Lee Yuning of South Korea in 1982 (Shrinking aspirations of Japanese) .
Li Yuning, born in South Korea in 1933, has a Ph.D., and was the first Minister of Culture in South Korea. He has transboundary literature, philosophy, thought, comparative culture, Semiotics, structuralism, design, sports, and other fields have unique perspectives, works, and other ideas, which have profoundly influenced the Korean literary world and society throughout the twentieth century, and are known as “East Asian Cultural Giants.”
In 1982, Li Yuning’s “Narrowing Consciousness of the Japanese” written in Japanese was published and immediately became the best-selling book in Japan that year, and won the Japan International Exchange Fund Award; it has been reprinted for many years, and the cumulative sales exceeded one million copies. “Narrowing consciousness” has become one of the classic Japanese cultural theories.
Li Yuning pointed out that Japan is not because of its external conditions (referring to the geographical environment of Japan as an island country) There is “reduced consciousness” in the depth of subjective consciousness . So what are the manifestations of this “reduced consciousness”, and what kind of spatial consciousness is projected by the Japanese?
Box type-set
Expression in language is the repeated use of possessive grammar and repeated use of “”, which reduces all considerations, expressions, and manipulations in the world; the most typical expression in life is the Japanese love to use boxes. Can also be called a box culture.
Put a box in the box, and a smaller box in the box. Even if there are a dozen boxes, as long as you put them in order by size, you can finally put them in one box.
In Japan, there are not only sets of boxes, but there are also sets of pots and pots in supermarkets. With such a large set and a small method, the space occupied by the utensils is reduced, which is not only convenient to organize, but also particularly convenient to carry and carry.
Japanese people have this kind of invention consciousness since ancient times: No matter what, they want to make it a box-type, making it simple and easy to carry. This concept created scales and folding ships. (Separate a ship and arrange it according to the box mode, and then carry it on land. Japan is nearThe generation warships have such Japanese-style unique inventions as .
Fan type-folding, gripping, aggregation
The Japanese transformed the fan from the Chinese mainland into a folding fan, and no nation in the world likes the folding fan like the Japanese. If the invention of the folding fan is associated with the Japanese narrowing consciousness, it is not difficult to see the unique cultural structure and psychology of the Japanese.
The expressions of “hidden moon in the sleeve” and “holding the moon in your hand” repeatedly appear in Japanese songs and haikus, reflecting the spatial psychology of wanting to pull the vast world and the distant universe to your side. In contrast, Chinese poets Li Bai and Korean poets described Mingyue’s poems not to attract Mingyue to themselves, but to stay away from the world to the moon. The Japanese folded the fan and held it in their hands.
The function of the folding fan can also be found in Japanese aesthetics. No matter how the fan is opened, its prototype has a narrower limit, and the narrowed range is centered on one point. 广 “form (derived from the Japanese word” 広 が り “, meaning to open like a fan, symbolizing endless and auspicious meaning) , Japan This aesthetic concept has been repeatedly practiced in traditional painting and garden art.
It’s not just the fans that fold, the Japanese have the consciousness to fold up no matter what they see. Folding the partition between the room becomes the most space-saving sliding door in the world; Japanese lanterns are also different from Chinese and Korean-style circular lanterns and can be folded to become thin. Folding umbrellas, transistors, cameras, household appliances … These popular Japanese-made products all present a “fan-shaped” thinking style, achieving unity of aesthetics and functionality.
Girl Doll Type-remove, cut off
Look for something that can reflect the Japanese’s shrinking consciousness and also represent the universality of popular culture. It is the Japanese “doll”. No matter which country ’s primitive religion, dolls are often used to exorcise evil spirits or pray for good harvests, but they really make the dolls have a religious effect, as well as ornamental and toy functions. . One of the biggest features of the girl puppet is that its hands and feet have been omitted, leaving only a round head and a straight body. This simplicity makes it show a special beauty. What can be removed, such as not giving samurai swords, the minimalist structure of the Torii, the creation of a pseudonym with a small number of strokes, and the omission of Japanese are all concrete expressions of this simple aesthetics.
Box lunch type-filling
I ’m afraid that Bento culture in Japan is unmatched in the world. The Japan Travel Guide reads the types, types and styles of Bento at various stations in Japan.
The so-called box lunch is nothing more than compressing the food into a small lunch box. There are a variety of sources in the etymology, but no matter what the source is, the common feature is to shrink the food to make it easier to carry.
Using box lunch and boxed items as synonyms, this usage is not onlyOnly in the food sector.
Household appliances based on micro-transistor technology developed by the Japanese are examples of the use of “filling” consciousness. The technical power of the Japanese seems to come from “filling”. What cannot be filled is boring, that is, “useless.”
The Japanese are good at “filling” various cultures and creating various “mashup” effects.
The narrowing of “filling” is manifested in the book distribution world as the miniaturization of books.
Pocket libraries, pocket book catalogs, library books, pocket dictionaries, which pack vast knowledge into a book in their hands, are probably the best for Japanese.
Energy type-posture
Whether it is the surging waves of “Kanagawa Surfing” settled in Katsushika Hokusai’s “Three Scenes of Fuyue”, or the unique “pose” formed on the stage by the unique Japanese art “Noh” , Is to condense the movement and its continuity into a shape, that is, “stance.”
The bow, flower, and tea ceremony in Japan … everything with the word “Tao” starts with “stance”. Not only in these professional projects, but also in ordinary life, both individuals and collectives need to put on a good posture.
This “stance” is by no means static, but changes inadvertently. A slight movement of the energy surface will make the performance reach the emotional apex of anger, sorrow and joy. If this “stance” moves to the eye and becomes sight, it is “gazing.” Gaze is to watch closely, carefully, and intently. Matsuo Basho’s haiku “gaze intently at the amaranth flower on the root of the wall” is a different attitude from the traditional Orientals who dimly looks at the prospects and appreciates the nature. Instead, it means that the flower must be close to the flower, and it must be observed carefully.
The application of “minimizing consciousness” in nature will bring nature to your own homeJapanese-style gardens have “dry landscapes” that express the universe of the sea and mountains through the fine sand of stones, bonsai plants that reduce the size of outdoor gardens and move them indoors, and flower paths that combine heaven and earth into one. A god of deities and hermits who live in seclusion in the city. The Japanese make good use of miniature methods to move vast nature into a small living space, and approach nature by transplanting nature to their side.
The “minimizing consciousness” is manifested in society. We can see Japanese-style houses called matchboxes and rabbit nests, four and a half tatami tea rooms, and more popular capsule hotels.
Although the narrow living environment of the Japanese is criticized, the Japanese seem to disagree with it. The traditional Japanese housing concept and space experience are indeed different from other ethnic groups. The Japanese are accustomed to pursuing tranquility and practicality from a narrow space. In reality, there are many examples of Japanese people suffering from phobia.
The Japanese have developed this kind of spatial habit since ancient times. Starting from the existing narrow space, it takes a lot of effort to build their own world. This is a pleasure to enjoy. In the Middle Ages, the classical scholar Ya Changming described in “Abbreviation”: “temporary accommodation … like dew on morning glory”, “and taking fish and birds as examples, fish are not tired of water, and non-fish are unconscious; birds wish Trees become forests, and non-birds don’t even know it; it’s the same way to live in a house, and it’s hard to understand if you don’t live. “This may surprise foreigners.
Although there is also a case of the Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi’s “Inferior Chamber Inscription” as an example of indifferent ambition, I am afraid that the traditional and peaceful space of most Chinese and Japanese people is peaceful.The concept is still very different.
It is not difficult to explain why there are so many furniture brands in modern life devoted to creating all kinds of storage products, and housewives are also happy to share the experience of cleaning up small rooms.
“Narrowing consciousness” has been applied to modern life, which has made Japanese-made products popular in the world market. Manufacturers are keen to research a variety of miniature and practical products, micro radios, micro transistors, micro computers, small cars, small factories … save space, make full use of limited space, “small” but more “fine”, is The unique secret of the Japanese made to conquer the world.
The author mentions that the Japanese have their own unique “internal appearance.” “Inside” refers to the specific world that you know well, as well as the narrow world you have experienced and felt yourself; “outside” refers to the abstract and vast space.
Although Japanese perform well internally, dealing with “outside” issues on the international stage is often not satisfactory.
Writing in the text: If you look back at Japanese history, you will find that during the period when the “minification” consciousness was developed, society was generally more prosperous, but soon after success, it often began to expand like Hideyoshi and became “expand” consciousness.
In this way, it suddenly became non-Japanese, Japan’s delicate traditions were destroyed, it began to lose its judgment, and the sense of beauty became a cruel act. It seems that for the Japanese, “only sweeping the snow in front of their homes, and not asking others about the frost on the tiles” is a “no difficulty” (No criticism) Make a decision.
The references and references in this article are from the “Narrowing Consciousness of Japanese” published by Shandong People’s Publishing House in 2009 (translated by Li Yuning and Zhang Naili) )