Hesse's "The Glass Bead Game" is the most important work in his life. This work played a great role in Hesse winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. This is a huge work, with nearly 400,000 words in total. It is the crystallization of the spiritual experience of the old Hesse looking back on his life. The work was written from 1931 to 1943, almost simultaneously with Hitler's rise to power and his demise. The author's goals are clear: "The first is to build a spiritual space that resists poisoning to protect my survival, and the second is to express the spiritual thoughts of rebelling against barbaric forces." After twelve years of hard work, the author has used almost all literary means: poetry, aphorisms, letters, biographies, theories, etc., which can be said to be everything in this novel, and various themes are both integrated and relatively independent in the book, such as The three appendices, which describe believers from different countries in different historical periods, are unrelated to each other in appearance, but are essentially integrated with and closely echo the entire work.
The glass bead game has its own highly developed secret language, its own special game rules, and its own unique grammar. It is an art that integrates mathematics, language, philosophy, religion, music and other human knowledge. The essence of human culture and art is condensed in this game. Although the glass bead game combines various knowledge, music is its foundation. Western Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Chinese music are all included in the score of the glass bead game. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" is regarded as a model.
When the story takes place, several centuries have passed, that is, the future world in 2200. This future world is completely different from today's reality. There is no war, the moral edifice has not collapsed, and individualism has not yet become so rampant. In short, this is not an "era of supplementary writing" where the spirit is polluted and the thoughts are shallow and flashy. In the future world, there is a province called Castalien. Elites selected from schools across the country come here. The reason why they come here is because they see the decline of culture, but there is nothing they can do. They are in a completely desperate situation. . The goal of these knowledgeable people is to loyally defend their ideological positions, serve the inheritance of values, and build a new educational world. They are committed to the synthesis of all disciplines and cultures, and to achieve this goal, mastering the skills of the glass bead game is the only way to achieve this goal.
Judging from Hesse's later works, such as "Demian", "Steppenwolf", "Narcissus and Goldmund", etc., the outline of real society is indeed not clear enough, and "The Glass Bead Game" "This feature is the most obvious. The world of Castali is ambiguous. However, can we infer that Hesse's novels are separated from society and the world? This is debatable. Hesse's romantic way of dealing with the times and reality can certainly be traced in the literary tradition in which he lived, but after all, the spirit of the times he faced and questioned was completely different from that of the German Romantic period, and his stance was different from that of the German Romantic period. His position has also changed, which is highlighted in Hesse's attitude towards the secular world, that is, "real life".
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, in Hesse's works, there is always a tension between the spiritual kingdom and the secular world, spirit and nature. The protagonist's exploration and acquisition of the ultimate meaning of life is sometimes through nature, such as Goldmund's; sometimes it is through the spirit, such as Knecht's. But if we think more, we will find that even in "The Glass Bead Game", the meaning of life is not realized solely through the spirit. There is always a vast secular world outside Castali. Knecht himself is a child of this world. He was only cultivated to become a "spiritual aristocrat" of Castali, and finally chose to return to the secular world. world. In addition to Castali's "inspiration" to Knecht through the image of a music master, since Knecht entered the elite school, the secular world or "real life" has also frequently called him. The first few chapters of the novel have foreshadowed Knecht's subsequent changes, including Knecht's thoughts caused by his classmates being expelled and leaving school, including Walzell's initial impression on him; including Jacobs. The view of history shown to him by the priest is reflected in Plinio Tesignoli, who represents the secular world, and more concentratedly in Knecht's choice to resign as master and return to the secular world. This choice of the protagonist shows that although "The Glass Bead Game", like most of Hesse's later novels, has a tendency to explore the inner spirit, it never "breaks away from the world".
In fact, the term "secular world" has rich and complex connotations in Hesse, which not only gave birth to the era of supplementary writing, but also gave birth to the spiritual kingdom of Castalia. Castali is actually dependent on the secular world for its sustenance and cannot exist independently of the latter. So, in "The Glass Bead Game", how does the author describe a "nature" that contrasts with Castali? At the end of the biography, it is written that the protagonist enters the mountain world that represents nature, where the scenery is both vivid and ferocious. Although the method of description is still symbolic, it is obviously in sharp contrast with Castali's rigidity and rigor, such as the following: "After the car passed those farmhouses with high walls and small windows, it drove quickly. Entering a more rugged and rugged mountain world, there are many paradise-like green spaces among these hard and cold rocks, making the little flowers dotted among them look particularly cute. ”
The description of the two different landscapes in Castalia and the secular world metaphorically conveys Hesse's basic concept of "two worlds": the spiritual kingdom is orderly and harmonious but lacks rigidity, and the secular world is full of vitality. It is full of life but full of dangers. Knecht eventually died in the lake of the natural world. In this sense, "The Glass Bead Game" describes how a spiritual person moves towards nature and real life, that is, how a Narcissus enters from the spiritual kingdom. In the secular world, how to integrate spirituality into nature. Knecht tried to bridge the growing gap between the two worlds based on his willingness to serve and contribute. His ideal was to "inject the basic spirit of Castalia into the hearts of secular youth and turn it into their flesh and blood." . This actually tentatively answers Goldmund's question to Narcissus before his death: "But how do you want to die in the future, Narcissus, you have no mother? People cannot love without a mother. Without a mother, You can’t die either.”
The young Tessignoli once described the difference between him and Knecht: “You stand on the side of cultivating the spirit, and I stand on the side of living in line with nature. It is your duty to point out that a natural life without spiritual nourishment will sink into the quagmire, will turn into bestiality, and will inevitably sink deeper and deeper. Therefore, I have to remind you again and again how risky and terrible a life based purely on the spirit is. In the end, we will definitely get nothing. Well, we each debate on the merits of our own beliefs, you for spiritual thought, and I for natural life."
The split between spirit and nature is an important topic in the history of Western thought, and it is also an important topic in Germany. Problems that Romanticism tried to solve but failed to solve. This legacy question appears repeatedly in modern literary works, such as Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain", where spirit and nature were the two core terms in the debate between Settembrini and Naphta. So, what is spirit and what is nature? American scholar Ralph Freedman briefly summarized the connotations of the two concepts when analyzing Hesse's works:
Spirit is both spiritual and intellectual, and it includes It has multiple connotations, from patriarchal control and regulation to the destruction of rational culture, but usually it means more clarity of the divine rational spirit. Its opposite, nature, is both sensual and spiritual, associated with sex, indulgence, sensation, and identification with the mother figure or the collective unconscious.
This summary reflects the complexity of the relationship between spirit and nature: spirit and nature are opposite and complementary to each other. At the same time, because spirit also includes reflection on rational culture, there is a possibility of intersection between spirit and nature. possible. In "Narcissus and Goldmund", Narcissus is the son of spirit and Goldmund is the son of nature. Their natures determine their respective paths. In "The Glass Bead Game", Hesse's exploration of the relationship between "spirit and nature" seems to go even deeper. The relationship between Tersignoli and Knecht is not the relationship between Goldmund and Narcissus. A simple copy of. Although Tersignoli and Knecht had their own paths at first, in the second half of the article, when Tersignoli was traumatized in the secular world, he used Knecht's guidance to The Castalian spirit was injected into his life and he gained physical and mental peace; and Knecht, under the influence of his personal awakening experience and the influence of Tesignoli and others, finally entered the secular world with the will of service and dedication. . It can be said that a neutralization between Tersignoli and Knecht occurred to some extent that was beneficial to both parties. The author seems to want to imply that a life that is too spiritual or too natural is problematic, and a more balanced and harmonious path should be explored between the two.
At the same time, the title, subtitle, epigraph and epilogue of the novel all provide a hint: Castalia is indeed a utopia, but it is a utopia that has entered the chilling autumn. Like the split in Knecht's personality and the duality of the Glass Bead Game, this Utopia is also a representation of a bipolar universe and a symbol of a bipolar spiritual life. As soon as the novel came out in 1943, two opposing views immediately emerged on the question of what Castali meant: one was that it was a reappearance of a utopian country, and the other was that it was a symbol of decline and decadence. If we look at it from the perspective of the "two-pole split" that embraces all things, encompasses the universe, and dominates the soul, the two schools of thought each hold their own ends, and if they unite, they will be perfect - Castalia is a declining utopia.
As the game master Knecht grew up, studied, succeeded, and finally was crowned, Castali gradually became desacralized. In this religious organization, individuals are insignificant and anonymity is their basic practice. Writers who wanted to write about the Game Master's life did not have easy access to the secret archives, and could only obtain scraps from the Game Master's students. Even Knecht, who is crowned the Game Master, must undergo strict supervision in his daily behavior. In Castalia, only subordinates address their superiors as "you" or "Your Excellency", and superiors are always used to bossing their subordinates around in a condescending manner. What’s even more frightening is that people always use ironic rhetoric when talking to each other. The words are here but the intention is there. The listeners are surprised and the speakers are confused. This shows the lack of sincerity in Castalia. The eyes of Grand Master Alexander, the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Castalia, can radiate both the vision of giving orders and the vision of pious obedience. However, for ordinary members of this religious group, they can only radiate pious obedience and never give orders. . Grandmaster Alexander, Master of Music, former Games Master Thomas, Knecht's faithful servant Deglarius, and Knecht himself were some of the solitary geniuses, solitary pioneers, and unconscious nihilists for whom In other words, even if it is "arbitrary", it is essentially a slave-like obedience. Knecht shouted to Grand Master Alexander in his imagination: "(I) am not looking for freedom, but some new, unknown and secret restraint; (I) am not a deserter, but a person who responds to the call; not an arbitrary and arbitrary person." Do it, but obey orders; not to be a master, but to be a devotee!"
The awakened Knecht felt that Castalia was not a paradise, but a mysterious bureaucracy and a strict system! A hell of hierarchical relationships. He wants to return to the secular world through this space that is covered with divine glory but is extremely cold, and transform from a meditator to a practical server. "In the eyes of the Castali people, life in the secular world is a life that is almost degenerate and inferior. That kind of life is disorderly, rude and brutal, chaotic and painful. It can be said to be a kind of complete loss. A poor life with no beauty and ideals.” However, the “outsider” Plinio asked:
Isn’t this a hypocritical, dogmatic, and sterile world? Isn't this just a false world where we live in an ignoble way? People here have no burdens, no worries, and are free from hunger, but they also have no juice or drinks. This is also a world without families, without mothers, without children, and almost without women! People's primitive instincts are controlled and tamed by sitting in meditation.
When Knecht, inspired by the Benedictine Father Jacobus, doubted Castali and whether this complex and sensitive machine was old and advocated resorting to secular history, Castalia Stari's loyal and lonely slave Deglarius told him: "The so-called history is ugly, terrible, and boring at the same time." Castali is becoming more and more refined and pure, and this sacred education area The abyss between the world and the outside world is widening day by day, to the point where it is impossible to bridge it. When the age of war and pestilence came, when the storms of history swept across the world, Castalia and its refined forms of games were no longer able to survive. People living in the sacred order of Castalia are like Mario described by Hesse in "The Story of a Ticino", suffering between two worlds that are divided but related to life and death. Struggling, but uncontrollably yearning for his youth and hometown. "My hometown is my mother and my aunt." "My hometown is picking flowers on the moist grass in February, and it is the bell at night. This hometown is real and beautiful, loved by others, and dominates his life." Knecht finally sank himself in a mountain ice lake, truly returning to the world. own hometown.
The boy Tito, naked under the newborn sun, danced a sacrificial dance, merging with the undulating light around him and becoming one with the flow of life in the universe. The game master also understood his heart in this magnificent scene. The most noble essence in the depths. He jumped into the icy mountain lake. The water seemed not to be bitingly cold, but to be a blazing fire burning his flesh and blood. He returned to his mother's warm and welcoming womb with no regrets. At this moment, he was bathed in the light from the east.
After Knecht's magnificent return, Castalia truly became a spiritual kingdom. It was "a great era of reconciliation" and "a prophetic creation" that Novalis expected. A time of miracles and healing, of comfort and of igniting eternal life.” In "Indian Biography", this is the world after Prince Dasa experiences the "Mayan essence" of the world. "The world does not exist at all and the cycle of life has no end." In a brief moment, the prince walked out of prison, lost his wife, son and a kingdom, but merged into the boundless love in the forest, transcending images and idols and entering the "world of the Holy Spirit". The world has transcended the radiance radiated by the benevolent, philanthropic and holy music of the master of music, transcended the ruins shrouded in war and plague, transcended the state of old age, mechanical indifference, withering and desolation, and entered the spring in the mythical world: beauty, A happy, holy, glorious golden age.
"The Glass Bead Game" describes the declining stage of Castalia and the autumn of utopia, but Hesse conveys the hint of the return of the divine in a subtle way. Castari, a purely spiritual form, and the Glass Bead Game, which takes the realm of classical music as its ultimate realm, are a utopia full of aesthetic temptations, and are essentially a form of slavery: “The temptation and slavery of beauty always weaken the value of individual personality, and It replaces the survival core of individual personality and distorts the whole person.” Castari, which is filled with patriarchal strong will, emphasizes service obligations, and constructs strict systems, is a symbol of moral consciousness in the 20th century and a ghost kingdom of totalitarian politics. "The violence of myth demands sacrifice," "the extermination of sacred life carried out by one's own preferences." Finally, Castali, redeemed by the life of the game master and bathed in the light of the East, is the "third kingdom", the spiritual kingdom, which is the hometown and youth symbolized by motherhood: "This third happiness from the Holy Spirit may be what Origen calls the restoration of all things." As Paul said: "Let God be above all things and Lord of all things."
In addition, "The Glass Bead Game" combines Western tradition and Eastern thought to build a bridge between two completely different spiritual worlds. Hesse regarded Eastern culture as his spiritual homeland, and the ancient and splendid Chinese culture provided rich nutrients and materials for his creations. However, what cannot be ignored is that for Hesse, finding a way out of the crisis of Western civilization has always been the first priority. He said "I must grasp spiritually and emotionally the true Europe and the true Orient." He learned from and adopted the essence of Eastern culture and integrated it with the still valuable things in Western cultural traditions, with the purpose of finding a path for harmonious development of the West.