The article "Foreign Things" in Zhuangzi says: "The person who weaves the basket is caught in the fish and forgets it. The hoof was on the rabbit, so he got the rabbit and forgot the hoof. The speaker was so concerned that he forgot his words proudly. I am confident that my husband will forget what he said and talk to him! " If you talk to someone who forgets your words, you don't talk.

The famous sentence is so in the fish that the fish is forgotten; Hooves are such in rabbits, he got rabbits but forgot hooves; The speaker was so concerned that he forgot his words proudly.

To annotate ...

Something from a foreign country in Zhuangzi.

Quan: Pass "Dong". Bamboo cage for fishing.

Hoof: A rabbit trap, such as a net rope, that can entangle a rabbit's foot.

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When Zhuangzi talks about the relationship between content and form of his works, he uses analogy. He said:

"Xiao Ting, so in the fish, the fish forgot Xiao Ting; Hooves are such in rabbits, he got rabbits but forgot hooves; The speaker was so concerned that he forgot to say it proudly. "

It means: baskets are used for fishing, and you can forget them when you catch fish; Hooves are used to catch rabbits. If you catch rabbits, you can forget them. Language is used to express ideas. Once you understand ideas, you can forget language.

Zhuangzi compared language to "being proud" (getting ideas). They are just tools to help people understand and gain "meaning". When the purpose is achieved, you should throw them away. This is like catching a fish to forget the basket, and catching a rabbit to forget the hooves. You can't be "proud" if you insist on "speech" and don't forget it. Only if you forget it first can you really be "proud", that is, the truth of its language expression.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Wang Bi of Wei further explained in the Book of Changes: "Therefore, those who speak clearly understand their images and forget their words; The elephant was so interested and proud that he forgot the elephant. " "Image" refers to the tangible description in artistic works, which, like "words", is a means to obtain "meaning".

When "forgetting words with pride" or "forgetting images with pride" are used in poetry criticism and appreciation, there are usually two understandings: one is that poetry seeks "implication beyond words" and "implication beyond images". "Speech" and "image" are the means to express one's will, just like a raft crossing a river. After reaching the other shore, you should disembark and build a raft, so as to achieve the "artistic conception". Therefore, forgetting words and abandoning images is the correct way to appreciate and acquire poetry. Second, "meaning" is the content, "words" and "images" are the form. The form is content service. The perfection of form lies in that people see the content, not the form, and forget the words and images. Therefore, "forgetting the words with pride" has become a high standard requirement for the formal beauty of poetry.

Both of the above explanations show an aesthetic attitude of emphasizing "meaning" over "words", which accords with the law of literary criticism and appreciation that form serves content.

Guo Pu in the Jin Dynasty said in "The Bridge of Gifts" that "words can be forgotten, actions can be forgotten", which means that you can understand the meaning expressed by language, friends can be made, and relationships can be long-term and solid. Its source is this sentence from Zhuangzi Foreign Things.