"Tsushiro": Fingers to the Moon

Davon 2022-02-07 14:44:40

Solo lau /

Akira Wen Kurosawa was born in a family of samurai warriors and practiced kendo since childhood. He is a true warrior, so when I first saw Tomita Changxiong's novel "Zi Sanshiro", I had a strong urge to make it myself film debut. One can imagine how excited he was after reading this story about growing up in high spirits at the time. Later, it was proved that "Zi Sanshiro" was indeed a classic movie, and the name Kurosawa was also associated with this movie. On the stage of history, and finally created the myth of Asian cinema.

Before talking about "Zi Sanshilang", it is necessary to talk about the different concepts of martial arts in China and Japan. The traditional Chinese view of martial arts is "strengthening the body by practicing martial arts, being a chivalrous person, and rejoicing in gratitude and hatred", and its fundamental spirit is resistance, which is very different from the Japanese martial arts spirit. This difference can be seen from the name. There are many schools of martial arts in China, such as Wing Chun, Hong Quan, Tai Chi, Baguazhang, Tan Leg, Qingping Sword and so on. But the last word of these kung fu can not be attributed to fist, foot, palm or weapon, which shows that martial arts is more used as a means in Chinese culture. In Japan, karate, kendo, and judo are all named after "Dao". In fact, not only martial arts, but also flower arrangement and tea making are honored as "Dao". Once a skill has been elevated to the realm of "Tao", it means that they do not regard it as a mere skill, but completely regard it as a very formal and sacred practice.

Of course, this is not to belittle Chinese martial arts. Our martial arts culture follows the eastern philosophy of the unity of nature and man. In the most fundamental cultural sense, it is a way to communicate between the self and heaven and earth, but not many people go to meditation and enlightenment. That's it. In contrast, Japanese martial arts are simpler, and more emphasis is placed on the practitioner's own understanding and breakthrough, so it is more obvious.

For example, Judo mentioned in the movie "Tsusanshiro" is a typical example. It emphasizes a spirit of self-discipline, tenacity, and freedom, and the way of practice is very similar to Zen, focusing on meditation and enlightenment. At the beginning of the film, Shisanshiro asks the jiu-jitsu master what judo is, and the narrow-minded ignorant guys don't answer the question, only perfunctorily saying that it's a dangerous thing. At this time, you can clearly see the frankness and doubts on Zisanshiro's face, but these old-fashioned jiu-jitsu masters are no different from hooligans to a certain extent, so how can they really know what judo is.

Until the sneak attack at night (the judo master said it was a competition, but it was actually more like a sneak attack), the judo master stopped his opponents one by one without saying a word, and everyone could not escape being thrown from his shoulders. Going into the water, and every time the throwing method is different, the whole scene shows the freedom and breadth of judo. This is also the difference between "shu" and "dao". "shu" is only a means and skill, while "dao" is a way of practice that has become a way of knowing oneself and the world. The former are superficial and selfish, such as contortionists, who are impetuous and impulsive. , The weakness is obvious, the latter is calm and calm like a judo master, free and rigorous. In the end, the judo master said calmly to Shisanshiro, "It's shameful that they don't use their energy and mind to develop jiu-jitsu." If the previous battle just showed the power of judo. , then this sentence completely points out the true spirit of judo, which is to abandon superficial concepts and secular illusions, and to understand and improve self-realm through continuous practice and enlightenment.

In the Japanese concept of martial arts, moves and skills can be learned, but a martial artist should pay more attention to self-comprehension, so Akira Kurosawa will make the impulsive and passionate Zisanshiro shout "I'm not afraid of death" and jump into the lotus pond , so the beautiful picture in the history of film was born. I saw him grab a bamboo in the water and stick his body tightly to it. His eyes were lost and confused, confused and frightened. There is a legend in Buddhism that he was reborn in holy water. At this time, Zisanshiro was truly reborn after witnessing a lotus flower blooming in silence and cold. Because he saw the true beauty of life, people should be like that. Like a lotus, it has nothing to do with foreign objects, does not love flashiness, and blooms quietly.

There is also a beautiful scene in the movie, that is the part where the girl prays in the temple. The girl kneels and prays quietly and peacefully. She doesn't say a word, like a beautiful sculpture, and her whole person exudes a kind of sacred and piety. temperament. As the old Zen master commented in the movie, "Look, how beautiful that is. Shisanshiro, do you know why? Because now she has no evil thoughts. She is praying, she has forgotten herself, and is completely intoxicated with the presence of God. in harmony". Judo is a martial art that uses the full power of the body and mind, and what it needs is the pure state of mind that forgets both things, so Shisanshiro seemed to have realized something when he saw the girl, but he actually found the similarities between himself and her.

Compared with Zisanshiro's two natural and pure comprehension processes, the final battle between him and his opponent on the grassland is full of sacred religious meaning. The sound of reading the decisive battle book has become an ancient and desolate chant. Just like swaying with the wind. The two men faced each other like sculptures, and the two sides suddenly made moves and became entangled. In the end, Shisanshiro finally won the victory after a lot of hard work, but he did not pursue the victory to kill the opponent. Of course, if the victor is replaced by his opponent, I am afraid that Shisanshiro will not be so lucky. Because Zisanshiro sees this battle as a challenge to himself, and his opponent wants to kill this young man who has overshadowed himself. This is the difference between the mind and the state, but the pure state of mind of Shisanshiro is also doomed to his victory at the beginning of the decisive battle.

I remembered what Mr. Bruce Lee said when he explained the essentials of Jeet Kune Do: "To understand Jeet Kune Do, it is like pointing your finger to the moon. Don't mistake your finger for the moon, and don't ignore other beautiful scenery in the sky because you focus on your finger." Its role is only to guide the light, as for how much you can get, or how far your vision is, it all depends on your own understanding and efforts." This sentence has been regarded as the truth by the warriors to this day, and it applies to everyone as well.

Because all of our lives are actually a process of continuous comprehension and self-improvement, but the "dao" we take is different. Zisanshiro practiced judo, and Bruce Lee founded Jeet Kune Do. The fundamental purpose is to point fingers at the moon and tell Whether you can see the moon on the path of your cultivation, whether you can enlarge your vision, and enjoy the infinite scenery of the entire universe and starry sky, you can only rely on yourself to comprehend it.

It's just that most people are exhausted and have no time to reflect or comprehend, so although there are many fingers pointing to the moon, there is only one Bruce Lee, and Zisanshiro is just a character on the screen. In reality, people often don’t even have the time to look up at the moon in order to make a living, let alone look up at the starry sky. This is the true meaning of “all living beings are suffering”.










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Extended Reading
  • Elenora 2022-02-07 14:44:40

    Director Ozu said at the time that he could score 120 points for his debut. Akira Kurosawa: "But whether there is a sound or no sound when the lotus opens is irrelevant to the small plot of Sanshiro jumping into the lotus pond. It's a performance issue, not a physics issue. Think Sanshiro makes some kind of wonderful sound when he hears the lotus blossoms. It's ridiculous, and he's not related to the movie."

  • Robyn 2022-03-19 09:01:09

    Included in CC's "Early Works of Akira Kurosawa" collection, although it is a story that is too thin to tell thoroughly, there are still many action scenes full of tension and frames of flashes of inspiration. CC's preference for AK is true love...