The Purpose of Life is the first part of the epilogue, the final chapter of Lin Yutang's My Country and Our People, published in 1935 by john day publishing company in New York.
Lin Yutang (1895-1976) was a Chinese Chinese linguist and writer. Because of the book "My Country and Our People", it has gained a reputation in the United States and Britain, and is one of the best interpreters of China and Chinese civilization.
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After outlining Chinese art and life, we have to admit that Chinese is indeed a master of the art of living.
They are devoted to material life with all their hearts, no less zeal than in the West, and more mature, and perhaps deeper.
In China, spiritual values are not separated from material values, but help people to better enjoy the life they are destined for.
This explains why we have a cheerful disposition and deep-rooted humor.
It is unimaginable for a Christian to have a rough passion for secular life in this world and to combine material and spiritual values.
We can live in both the sensory world and the spiritual world without thinking that there will necessarily be any conflict between the two.
For the human spirit is used to beautify life, to refine the essence of life, and perhaps to help life overcome the inevitable ugliness and suffering in the sensory world, rather than to escape from life or to find meaning in future lives.
Confucius, in response to a disciple's question about death, said, "Unknown birth, knowing death? This sentence expresses a vulgar, concrete and practical attitude towards the question of life and knowledge, and it is this attitude that characterizes our present national life and thinking.
This position establishes a multi-level scale of value for us.
This standard of living applies to all aspects of knowledge and life, explaining why we like and hate something.
This standard of living is already embedded in our national consciousness and does not require any written explanation, definition or interpretation.
I think it is this standard of living that motivates us in art, life, and literature to instinctively doubt urban civilization and to promote pastoral ideals; it prompts us to hate religion in our intellectual moments, to dabble in Buddhism but never fully accept its logical conclusions; to hate mechanical inventions.
It is this instinctive belief in life that gives us a firm sense of the inability to stand still in the face of the myriad changes in life and the countless thorny problems of wisdom.
It allows us to look at life calmly and holistically and to maintain our inherent values.
It also teaches us some simple wisdom, such as respecting the elderly, enjoying the joys of family life, accepting life, accepting gender differences, and accepting sadness.
It draws us to focus on the common virtues of patience, hard work, frugality, moderation and pacifism.
It keeps us from developing some strange and extreme theories, from becoming slaves to the products of our own wisdom.
It gives us a value that teaches us to accept both the material and spiritual wealth that life gives us.
It tells people that, in the final analysis, only the happiness of human beings is the ultimate goal of all knowledge.
So we were able to adjust ourselves in the ups and downs of fate and live happily on this planet.
We are an ancient people.
In the eyes of the old man, many of the past of our nation and the ever-changing modern life are shallow, and many of them have indeed touched on the true meaning of life.
Like any old man, we have doubts about progress, and we are a little lazy.
We don't like to compete for a ball on the pitch, but like to walk on the willow embankment and listen to the birds singing and the children laughing.
Life is so turbulent that when we find something truly satisfying to ourselves, we cling to it, like a mother clinging to a baby in her arms on a dark, stormy night.
We have no interest in exploring Antarctica or climbing the Himalayas, and once Westerners do, we ask, "What is your purpose in doing this?" Do you have to go to antarctica to find happiness? ”
We visit theaters and theaters, but deep down we think that the laughter of children in real life can also bring us joy and happiness compared to the illusions on the screen.
In this way, we prefer to stay at home.
We don't think that kissing one's wife is necessarily boring, and someone else's wife is even more touching just because she is someone else's wife.
We don't aspire to go to the bottom of the mountain when we are in the middle of the lake, and we don't aspire to the top of the mountain when we are at the foot of the mountain.
We believe that there is wine in this day and wine in this day, and flowers bloom to be folded.
Life is largely nothing more than a farce, and sometimes it's better to be a detached bystander, perhaps much better than to be involved.
We are like a sleeper who has just woken up, looking at life with a sober eye, not with the romantic color of last night's dream.
We are happy to let go of the elusive, desirable, but unattainable things, while clinging to a few things that we know will bring us happiness.
We often like to return to nature as an eternal source of beauty and true, deep, long-lasting happiness.
Despite the loss of progress and national strength, we can still open the window, listen to the sound of golden cicadas, admire the autumn leaves, and breathe in the fragrance of chrysanthemums. Under the autumn moon, we feel satisfied.
We are now in the autumn of national life.
At some point in our lives, both national and individual, we are permeated by the spirit of the New Autumn Festival: green is interspersed with gold, sadness is intertwined with joy, hope is mixed with nostalgia.
At this moment, the simplicity of spring has become a memory, and the flourishing of summer has become a faint echo of song in the air. We look at life, not to plan how to develop, but to consider how to really live; not how to work hard, but how to cherish the precious time of the moment to enjoy; not how to squander their energy, but to recharge their strength to cope with the arrival of winter.
We felt like we had arrived somewhere, settled in, and found what we were looking for.
We also feel that we have gained something, which, although insignificant compared to the glory of the past, is like fading away the lush autumn forest of summer, and there is still some afterglow that continues to shine.
I like spring, but it is too young; I like summer, but it is too arrogant.
That's why I love autumn the most, its yellowing leaves, its ripeness and its colours. It carries a touch of sentimentality and a harbinger of death.
The golden splendor of autumn shows not the simplicity of spring, nor the great power of summer, but the old age and wisdom that are close to the high age——
Understanding that life is limited and therefore content,
This perception of "life and end" and rich life experience transform into harmonious autumn colors: green represents life and strength, orange represents the content of gold and jade, and purple represents submission and death.
In the light of the moon, autumn fell into contemplation and revealed a pale look; and when the afterglow of the setting sun touched her face, she could still smile happily.
The morning breeze in the mountains blows, the autumn leaves fluttering between the branches dance and float to the earth, you really don't know whether the song of the fallen leaves is a song of joy or a song of parting tears.
Because it is the song of the spirit of the new autumn: calm, wisdom, maturity. This song confronts sadness with a smile and celebrates the uplifting, sharp and calm look that this spirit of Autumn is most appropriately expressed in Xin's pen:
The teenager does not know the taste of sorrow and loves to go upstairs. Fall in love with the upper floor, and worry about giving new words.
And now I know all the sorrows, and I want to say goodbye. I wanted to say that I would like to rest, but I said that it was a cool autumn.