[Laos] Laeni Housok, Jiangsu Vocational College of Information Technology
There is a particularly interesting phenomenon in China. If you pay just a little attention, you will find that where there is water, there are people fishing. I have a hard-fishing senior professor. Every time when he returns from his winter or summer vacation, it will take me quite some time recognizing him due to his “meaningful” tanned skin naturally nourished by the outdoor climate. Gradually, I have had a special affection for people who love fishing.
There are always such people around me. Besides my professor, my family also love fishing. They are willing-hearted to stay with their beloved fishing rods in and out the water for a whole day despite the fact that they may eventually get not a single fish. My professor once told me that it was the delight and the placid state of mind that made fishing so attractive. I didn’t quite understand it then, but I became even more curious about fishing.
One Chinese New Year holiday when my classmates had returned home, I bought a fishing rod from Taobao (a popular ecommerce platform in China) and began to learn fishing seriously. It was a sunny day in early winter. I put on my heavy winter coat and carried a small stool to the pond. However, fishing was not as interesting as I had expected-the wind was too biting for me to stay on, so I had to give up without experiencing the placid state of mind and the delight depicted by my professor.
In fact, the Chinese people have loved fishing since ancient times.
When I studied Chinese literature, I was most fascinated by Jiang Shang (or Jiang Taigong, a legendary character, statesman and strategist who became adviser and prime minister to King Wen of Zhou and helped the young King Wu overthrow the Shang Dynasty and established the Zhou Dynasty) who left behind him the famous idiom “Only the willing fish caught by Jiang Taigong.”
I heard from my professor that Jiang fished with a hookless and baitless line,waiting for the willing fish to be caught. The later King Wen was such a “willing man” and together they made a great story in history. I find this story bizarre but interesting. It seems that the Chinese people do not go fishing for fish – my professor fished for the delight and the state of mind, Jiang Taigong fished for his great success.
Liu Zongyuan, a famous writer in the Tang Dynasty, was a very special fisherman. When I first read his poem “From hill to hill no bird in flight; from path to path no man in sight. A lonely fisherman afloat is fishing snow in a lonely boat,” I was very puzzled. Why did the old man fish on such a bleak and chilly winter night? For me, it is neither a delight nor a state of mind. It is a misery. Later my professor took me through this poem. He said that the artistic conception and the emotion in Chinese poetry always coexist. Emotion arises from the artistic conception but does not stop with it.
There is a Chinese saying, “The hope of survival comes after an impasse.” The miserable situation tends to symbiose with a kind of indescribable emotion. It seems to be bleak in this poem,but actually it produces the similar effect as in the verse “With willows shadowy and blossoms bright, there is another village ahead.” (by Lu You, a poet in the Song Dynasty). Those who own such state of mind often possess great unrestraint, unworldliness, and wisdom. Winter fishing is like this.
Zhang Zhihe, who called himself the “fisherman on the mist-covered waters,” is another poet in the Tang Dynasty. He was also fascinated with fishing. I like his poem “In front of the western hills white egrets fly up and down. In peach-mirrored stream mandarin fish are full of grown. In my bamboo rain hat and green straw raincoat, I’d fain go fishing careless of slanting wind and fine rain.” His picturesque poem shows me a lively and vibrant Jiangnan (an area south of Yangtze River). The whole poem is pleasant to read, and it vividly depicts a delighted and lighthearted lover of fishing. It seems that fishing not only shows wisdom but also creates happiness.
Now I am eager to go fishing again. Although I cannot understand the meaning of fishing as deeply as most of the Chinese people do, I believe that hobbies like singing, dancing, calligraphy, painting, etc., restful or vigorous, must have many similarities such as delight, persistence, enjoyment... Fishing is the same. And I think I have already fallen in love with it.
The story is from "My Beautiful Encounter with China" Essay Competition organized by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchanges (CSCSE).
