“Language is inherently not concerned with logic. As an expression of the psychological activities of humankind, it simply follows a linear process as it seeks actualisation. Moreover, it does not obey the objective concepts of time and space that belong to the physical world. When the discussion of time and space is imported into linguistic art from scientific aims and research methods, that linguistic art is entirely reduced to trifling pseudo-philosophical issues.” WorldDoeArtLanguageProcessSpaceIssuesExpressionActivityResearchArt IsConceptsConcernedLogicPhilosophicalAimMethodObjectivesPsychologicalDiscussionHumankindTime And SpaceLinearPseudoTriflingConcept Of Time Author:Gao Xingjian
“If literature is to transcend political interference and return to being a testimony of man and his existential predicament, it needs first to break away from ideology. To be without "isms," is to return to the individual and to return to viewing the world through the eyes of the writer, an individual who relies on his own perceptions and does not act as a spokesman for the people. The people already have rulers and election campaigners speaking in their name.” PeopleIfsMenWorldNeedsFirstsDoeEyePoliticalLiteratureNamesIndividualBreakReturnPerceptionElectionIdeologyRelyRulersExistentialTestimonyInterferenceThrough The EyesIsmsPredicaments Author:Gao Xingjian
“Literary revolution and revolutionary literature did not create a beautiful new world but instead divested literature of its basic nature, promoted violence, and, by resorting to linguistic violence, made a battlefield of this domain of spiritual freedom.” WorldMadeBeautifulSpiritualLiteratureViolenceRevolutionRevolutionaryNew WorldDomainBattlefieldsSpiritual Freedom Author:Gao Xingjian
“The human species does not necessarily move in stages from progress to progress ... history and civilization do not advance in tandem. From the stagnation of Medieval Europe to the decline and chaos in recent times on the mainland of Asia and to the catastrophes of two world wars in the twentieth century, the methods of killing people became increasingly sophisticated. Scientific and technological progress certainly does not imply that humankind as a result becomes more civilized.” PeopleWorldHumansDoeTwoWarMovingResultsProgressCenturyStageCivilizationEuropeMethodSpeciesChaosKillingWar Of The WorldsCivilizedDeclineHumankindWorld War ISophisticatedTechnologicalCatastropheAsiaTwentieth CenturyMedievalStagnationHuman SpeciesTwo WorldsTechnological ProgressTandemMedieval Europe Author:Gao Xingjian
“You contemplate and you wander without any worries, between heaven and earth, in your own private world, and in this way you acquire supreme freedom.” WorldWayEarthHeavenWorrySupremeWanderAcquireContemplatingHeaven And Earth Author:Gao Xingjian
“In the century that has just passed, many of the intellectual elite went mad. It was as if, with the death of God, everyone suddenly turned into a saviour who wanted either to annihilate the obsolete world order or to establish a utopia. Naturally, there were writers among those who went mad. The fact that they had knowledge did not exempt intellectuals: there is madness everywhere. When one loses control over one's self, the result is madness.” IfsWorldSelfFactsWantedOrderLosesResultsCenturyIntellectualMadnessMadElitesUtopiaSaviourObsoleteWorld Order Author:Gao Xingjian
“You should know that there is little you can seek in this world, that there is no need for you to be so greedy, in the end all you can achieve are memories, hazy, intangible, dreamlike memories which are impossible to articulate. When you try to relate them, there are only sentences, the dregs left from the filter of linguistic structures.” KnowsWorldNeedsShouldTryingLittlesEndsLeftMemoriesImpossibleAchieveThis WorldStructureSentencesRelateGreedyFiltersIntangibleDregsHazy Book:Soul Mountain Source: Soul Mountain
“As a male writer, women are always what men pursue, and their world is always a mystery. So I always tried to present as many views as possible on women's worlds.” MenWorldWomenViewsMysteryMalesPursue Author:Gao Xingjian
“To subvert is not the aim of literature, its value lies in discovering and revealing what is rarely known, little known, thought to be known but in fact not very well known of the truth of the human world. It would seem that truth is the unassailable and most basic quality of literature.” WorldWritingHumansWellsLittlesFactsSeemsLyingValuesLiteratureQualityKnownTruth IsAimDiscoveringWell KnownRevealing Author:Gao Xingjian
