What are the characteristics and functions of comics?

On the Interaction between Comics and Japanese Culture

The choice of this theme is based on the concern about the phenomenon that Japanese comics and their peripheral products are flooding the market, but it is not just a fashion and game popular among teenagers, as people generally think. The birth of the cartoon "New and New Humanity" not only represents a brand-new way of life and life values, but also represents a strong cultural identity and even convergence of one nation to another in a specific period. Just as the recognition of European and American cultures in 1980s and 1990s was based on McDonald's fast food and Nike shoes, in the new century, the recognition of Japanese and Korean cultures has become based on comics. In this paper, I discussed the interaction between comics and Japanese culture. The purpose is not to discuss the pros and cons of this cultural identity, but to discuss how comics have influenced Japanese culture and how Japanese culture has transformed comics. Since cartoonization has become a trend of the times in China, understanding the interaction between them may really help to make the best use of the situation and avoid disadvantages.

First, the evolution of European and American cartoons

Before Japanese manga developed into an overwhelming trend, manga, in fact, was more generally defined as an exaggerated art, just like the definition of "unrestrained and casual" in Modern Chinese Dictionary and the definition of manga: the picture of life or current events was depicted in a simple and exaggerated way, and sharp satire was generally achieved by deformation, contrast and symbol. Mr Feng Zikai is a famous cartoonist in China. He once said that the guiding principle of cartoon creation is "simplicity, focusing on meaning". Therefore, traditional cartoon creation should generally follow three laws: first, exaggeration and deformation, highlighting the main characteristics; Second, exaggerate the subject image; Third, the extensive use of contrast techniques.

Although some data show that as early as prehistoric times, the creation techniques similar to cartoons were widely used in the rock painting art of ancestors, and the expression techniques of cartoons can be regarded as an ancient painting method (the painting method of highlighting the main image may conform to human instinct, because untrained children also have such a tendency to paint), but "the name and creation of cartoons did not appear until the end of 16, and the inventors of comic art did not use this or for centuries before that. Their cartoons are rarely confirmed now, but according to indisputable written records, they also invented a way of joking, drawing the victim's face as an animal's face, or even an inanimate device. Since then, this practice has become the habit of cartoonists. " E. H. Gombrich's Art and Illusion: A Psychological Study of Picture Reproduction.

After the Karachi brothers who laid the foundation of traditional comics, during the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci drew a large number of grotesque portraits and comic sketches. /kloc-In the 6th century, Italian painter Asin bardo created a series of cartoon portraits, including the famous Portrait of Vegetables. /kloc-At the end of 0/7, with the rise of the industrial revolution, the comic book center moved to Britain, and an outstanding painter william hogarth was born. His representative works, such as Sleeping Brother, Modern Marriage, Personality and Comics, mark the formation of modern western comics. Hogarth has a profound realistic skill, and his characters are vividly portrayed. He likes to depict scenes with many characters, and he also pays great attention to the environment and atmosphere of his paintings. This style has always influenced the creation of western cartoons today.

Perhaps the exaggerated deformation characteristics of comics are doomed to be both obviously rebellious and metaphorical to real life. Therefore, the early cartoons were almost duty-bound to shoulder the heavy responsibility of resisting reactionary political forces. Of course, there are a few cartoonists who are not sensitive to politics, such as Thomas Rolandson. Although greatly influenced by Hogarth, his character modeling is closer to the style of modern western comics, so he is known as the "father of modern comics". Rolandson doesn't pay much attention to political issues, and likes to satirize people's bad morality and style. Representative works include The Room of Genius and so on. After Rolandson, John Leach, the first British cartoonist, is also a cartoonist who pays more attention to social life. From 65438 to 0843, Li Qi held an art exhibition in London. These works are called "cartoons"-this is how the nicknames of modern cartoons that we are familiar with are formed.

When it comes to modern European and American cartoons, the word "modern" can generally be defined as European and American cartoons from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, among which American newspaper cartoons have the fastest development and the widest influence. At the beginning of the 20th century, "editorial cartoons" appeared in American newspapers. The so-called "editorial cartoon" is to comment on national policies, politics and social issues in the form of cartoons, without emphasizing whether it represents the opinions of newspapers. In the meantime, do what? Quot Comics, the expression form of story comics, have developed very rapidly. Many readers in the west often read cartoons instead of editorial cartoons.

Then, or it can be said that although cartoonists have been criticizing the shortcomings with their sharp brushes since the 20th century, with the advent of personalized society and people's increasing concern about their own lives and feelings, cartoons, once mainly used as a tool of political struggle, have to be put on a more humanized veil, closer to the daily life of ordinary people, in order to win more room for survival and development. It is in this sense that when we talk about modern comics, we mean "comic books" that have nothing to do with politics to a large extent. (★ See the note at the end of the article)

2. The most popular American comics and Japanese comics.

As mentioned above, comic books play a leading role in modern comics. Like novels, comic books are divided into long stories and short stories. Bateman in Britain, Sangong in France and Peter troup in Denmark are internationally renowned short cartoonists. Famous European comic strips include Genesis and Little Angels by Jean Effie of France, Frustrated Man by French female cartoonist Carrie Bettescher, Father and Son by Braun of Germany, Monica the Nurse by Schmidt of Germany, The Adventures of Tintin by Herge of Belgium, Alfredo by Moco of Denmark and Jakobson of Sweden.

Long serial comics are particularly developed in the United States, and there are more than 200 kinds of common serial comics: Peanut Comics by Schultz, Private Patel Bailey by Mott Wolger, and Goldilocks by Chuck Young. Which has the largest circulation? Quot "Peanut Comics" has been serialized for 40 years in newspapers and periodicals around the world 194 1 with a circulation of 300 million copies. Goldilocks, ranked third, has been serialized daily in 1500 newspapers and periodicals all over the world for more than 50 years. In addition, famous works include: The Pope with One-eyed Sailor by Siegel, ... (garbled omission).

An article entitled "Top Ten Classic Comic Characters in America" was published on American Comic Network, in which the author listed the top ten comic characters in America. Although this is just a family statement, we can also see the general direction of some American comic themes. The top ten most popular people in the world are:

Superman: Superman is the best choice for counting American classic comic characters, because Superman has been very popular since 1938. This almost perfect cartoon character inspired many later heroes, as if Spider-Man and Wolverine were inspired by Superman. He is a hall-level figure in American comics.

② Batman: Besides Superman, another classic American comic character must be Batman. Of course, Batman's worldwide popularity is largely influenced by the adaptation of Batman comics by Hollywood movies. However, compared with many comics that only talk about supernatural power in the same period, Batman comics combine super powers with detectives and use wisdom and technology to deal with enemies. That's why Batman can be a classic.

③ Spider-Man: Spider-Man Spider-Man is the most humanized hero in American comics. He not only has mysterious power, but also faces many problems that ordinary people have to face, such as graduation and wedding. And Spider-Man himself wants to be an ordinary person, constantly trying to balance the two completely different lives of Superman and ordinary people.

④ wonder woman: wonder woman wonder woman is an anomaly in the male-dominated American comic world, which appeared as early as 194 1 and was welcomed by many female readers at that time. And wonder woman cartoons have also brought a fairy tale craze, breaking the story bridge that always pays attention to logic and science. Recently, the story content has also blended different fairy tales, which is very creative!

⑤ Dr. Doom: The peerless traitor in the first comic book "Marvel Comics" is also a first-class master in American comics, and even Superman is no match for other powerful people. At the end of 1999, Dr. Doom was officially promoted to the leading role and continued the classics. In addition, the story about Dr. Doom combines witchcraft and science, and the content is very creative.

6 Flash: Flash is a turning point in American comics. In the early 1950s, American comics entered a dark period, because the scientific bridge of comics at that time was not ideal. It was not until the emergence of the second generation of Flash that the comic industry was revived, so the top ten classic characters naturally could not do without Flash.

⑦Spawn:Spawn's main pen, Todd McFariane, the son of Satan, was already half the sky red when filming Spider-Man and Batman. The leading role of the two comic book companies is unshakable. Later, he created "Spawn from the dead", which created another peak in the painting world with exquisite painting skills and a little evil spirits. The star lead writer and the ghost talent role quickly upgraded the classics.

8 Wolverine: Wolverine, formerly known as Lugan, is an agent of the Canadian government. She was transformed into a killing machine with a metal skeleton because of Superman's experiment, and later escaped from the killer organization and became a member of the justice organization X-Men. In the X-Men comics, the werewolf is a character with high human tolerance, and his mysterious identity and the concept of mutant make people very curious.

Professor 9 X: Professor X is an important member of the X-Men. Without Professor X, the mutant mutant story and even the whole X-Men comic book would not appear. Because Professor X's ideal is to make mutants and humans * * *, if Professor X doesn't exist or dies, mutants will get out of control and the strong will be eliminated.

⑩ Snoopy: Snoopy appeared in Peanut Comics at 1950 and has always been loved by people. Up to now, it has been translated into 40 languages and published in 75 countries or regions, half a century ahead. Snoopy is like a jingle in Japanese comics. Its classicality and loveliness are beyond doubt, even the national treasure of America.

The so-called classic figures are generally the epitome of social and cultural conditions in a certain region in a specific period. On them, it embodies the conflict and integration of the historical accumulation of local customs and the current values. It is precisely because of this that they will cause the residents in this area to sing and be widely accepted and deeply loved by them.

From the top ten classic characters of American comics mentioned above, we can have a general impression of American comics and even American culture. Just as European and American games always like to create a "world of swords and shadows" (magic is actually a more advanced weapon than high-tech weapons), the sci-fi characteristics of American comics are very obvious, and the imaginative power seems to be inextricably linked with the extensive use of high-tech products. Heroes often rely on the help of advanced weapons to defeat their enemies. It is also obvious that American cartoons advocate super power, and the existence of super power just enhances the hero's sense of mission, helps him to complete the task of "breaking into Longtan alone" again and again, and completes the perfect interpretation of personal heroism again and again. In contrast, let's take a look at 10 Japan's far-reaching popular comics: (from personal website: Fengqing Station-Animation Station)

⑴ Robot Cat (Ding Dong): A rare masterpiece for all ages, its total circulation in Asia is by no means inferior to that of any other comic book, and the fact that it is constantly innovating today also proves that Japanese comic circles intend to make it a symbol of Japanese comics.

⑵ Dragon Ball: Toriyama Akira's masterpiece after The Doctor, based on the Sun Monkey in The Journey to the West, tells the story of a brand-new Isaiah skirt Wukong. This novel has been serialized for seven years in the Jump of Youth. In the story, the Monkey King and his son and the seven dragon balls that can satisfy people's wishes lead readers from mountain villages to cities, from the earth to aliens, from now to the future. Because of the strong popularity, even if the original author died, there was no desire to change the story.

⑶ City Hunter: It created the classic image of detective Han, and it can be called the representative work of Kitano Tsusaka. Like Toriyama Akira's Dragon Ball, it is a landmark work in the history of Japanese comics. Among them, the delicate and touching emotional portrayal and the humorous humor vividly displayed complement each other, which makes people unforgettable.

(4) The Adventures of Jojo: Needless to say, this work has been shocking for more than ten years. The bizarre fashion style and the confusing and fantastic storyline alone are enough to rank among the masterpieces, not to mention many interesting episodes that make readers indulge in them and linger.

⑸ Luanma 1/2: It is also a story about shapeshifters. A man and a woman's chaotic horse, a panda's chaotic horse father and a duck's chaotic horse friend's good teeth have made so many jokes ... Rumiko Takahashi has always been regarded as a witch because she can express ordinary interests in an exaggerated way and manipulate them freely. Ma 1/2 Rebellion may not be as funny as Fuxing Teenager, nor as sensational as Apartment at the Moment, but it is a masterpiece with Gao Qiao's mature creative style, and its influence exceeds any previous works of Gao Qiao.

[6] Strange Dragon: Jack and Avery may be Shimizu Reiko's favorite characters, right? This work reveals Avery's mysterious life experience to readers, but to know the subtle relationship between them, we have to read more series of short stories by Shimizu. There can be love between robots, right? Love is more important because we want to live forever. Who can live alone in this vast galaxy?

(7) Basketball trapeze: It is a classic in sports comics, and its influence even goes beyond the scope of sports comics. The kind of heat that swept across Asia is also rare in recent years since Dragon Ball. Mr Inoue quickly became a master of basketball comics, and the flying basketball player became an eternal "legend" in the hearts of chinese comic readers.

(8) angel sanctuary: fallen angels, decadent human beings, God who abandoned the world, love and tears, fire and wind ... all intertwined in Xun Yuji's comic works, as if the world had been completely occupied by despair, which has always attracted people's attention? Quot The shock brought by the theme of "forbidden love" is covered by its brilliance.

(9) Battle of X: Although all the works of CLAMP are famous, they can't hide the more dazzling light of X. It can be said that as long as readers love CLAMP, there is no one who doesn't like X (a bit exaggerated, right? )。 In addition, among CLAMP's works, X is also the most important and mysterious one, which can only be confirmed by the fact that the protagonists in Babylon in Tokyo and CLAMP Academy have joined X one after another.

⑽ The White Paper on Wandering tells the legendary life of Yuusuke Urameshi, from ordinary bad middle school students to detectives in the spiritual world, and teaches four other psionics and monsters who dare to destroy the world. Finally, they fought a battle for the unification of magic and power to unify the division of the underworld. Wonderful characterization, delicate emotional depiction and unconventional story make Mr. Fujian a hot cartoonist. Of course, when "A Tour of Bai Shu" was a smash hit, it was particularly admirable that he gave up commercial interests and pursued artistic heights.

Japanese comics are developed on the basis of European and American comics, and the biggest feature of Japanese-style "takenism" is that it rarely does basic research in person, but is good at making its own inventions in other people's research results, and finally turns what originally belonged to others into its own specialty. Comics are no exception. Although Japanese comics started much later than European and American comics, it is certain that Japanese comics have replaced European and American comics to dominate the world in today's Asian comic market alone. The difference between Japanese comics and European and American comics is precisely where Japanese culture transforms and develops comics.

3. The influence of Japanese culture on the development of comics

In my opinion, the influence of Japanese culture on the development of comics can be summarized as follows:

(A) greatly expanded the scope of comic materials.

In the literary and art circles, where originality is the first life, whenever a work is created, it pays great attention to the choice of theme. If the theme is chosen correctly, the work is half done. For example, a very important basis for dividing the development stages of China's painting history is when and what kind of painting plays a leading role. Comics, too, want to survive and develop, first of all, we must constantly find a breakthrough in the theme. Japanese culture is both open and closed, and the closure is manifested in adhering to the so-called national characteristics, no matter what field; Its openness lies in its ability to actively absorb the excellent culture of other nationalities, as long as it does not have it, as long as it looks backward. The Japanese laugh at themselves that this is the "island root", but it is this "island root" that has greatly promoted the development of comics.

For example, Disney took materials from the folklore of China and filmed the annual masterpiece Mulan. Some people call it the "oriental culture fever" in the west. In fact, it is a necessity, not a fashion, for western culture to move closer to eastern culture. It is precisely because eastern and western cultures are two completely different types of cultures, so if we want to develop ourselves, we must first absorb nutrients from each other and achieve our own perfection through mutual communication and integration. This step of Japanese comics is ahead of western comics. It not only looks for themes from its own customs, but also excavates treasures from the history and culture of Asian neighbors and even European countries. For example, Chihiro Qi Teng's Corolla Angel is set in Renaissance Italy, while Ky?ko Mizuki's Britney Spears is set in early 20th century Scotland.

In addition, Japanese cartoons use these exotic themes in a compromise way, including direct adaptation of the original works, such as Disney, such as Romeo and Juliet by Igarashi Yumiko and The History of the Three Kingdoms by Yokoyama Mitsuteru. Almost all of them have real history as the background, so people can learn history while watching cartoons, such as Riyoko Ikeda's "Roses of Versailles" (a bit like Jin Yong's martial arts novels, the background is true and the specific story is false); Of course, more works are "borrowing scenery to express feelings", such as Waki Yamato's Beauty in new york, Uehara's Marianne, and Tomuki Liulixiang's Myth of Constellation Palace, all of which are based on foreign myths and cultures, but they are entirely based on cartoonists' own ideas.

I think that the reason why Japanese comics can be drawn from the world is due to two characteristics of Japanese society. First, a strong thirst for knowledge. Japan's translation industry and publishing industry are very developed. Valuable new books from other countries can be found on Japanese bookshelves in a few days, and cartoonists are not afraid to look for information if they want to master the background materials of their works. The other is rigorous academic thinking. When doing research, we must have a well-founded attitude to make the Japanese more serious even when facing a small problem. The expression of comics is very intuitive, unlike novels, which leave a lot of imagination for readers. If cartoonists choose foreign themes, they must draw exotic customs. Cartoonists in other countries may be afraid to write because they are not familiar with the situation in other countries, but Japanese cartoonists will not have such concerns. Not only do they not have this worry, but relying on these two advantages, they can even expand the scope of comics to other professional fields, such as cooking, sports, forensic medicine and finance, which have never been done by European and American cartoonists.

(B) the focus of attention from high-tech to the return of human emotions

Such subtitles may not be appropriate, because many European and American cartoons are based on interesting things in life, such as the famous Father and Son and Peanut Comics. There are also many representative works of science fiction in Japanese cartoons, such as Yoshiki Tanaka's Legend of Heroes in the Galaxy, Miyazaki Hayao's Valley of the Wind and City in the Sky, which are also quite sci-fi. However, in comparison, there is no doubt that Japanese cartoons pay more attention to people's emotional life, such as passionate juvenile cartoons and romantic juvenile cartoons.

Of course, this is the result of Japanese culture.

A big difference between orientals and westerners is that the emotional expression of orientals is more implicit. They are not used to expressing their inner thoughts and feelings naked through language or body language. Confucius said, "Don't say anything if you are indecent". In daily life, people often pursue a state of "not saying enough", the so-called "I am the only one". Compared with China, the birthplace of Confucian culture, Japanese kungfu is undoubtedly better. Benedict once explained what "honesty" is in Japan, saying, "It is a shame to show your feelings, because it will" expose "yourself. When the Japanese use the word' sincerity', the basic meaning of this word refers to' Tao' marked by Japanese moral precepts and Japanese spirit (chrysanthemum and knife: P183); Self-esteem means "you must estimate all the factors involved in this situation wisely and do nothing that will cause criticism or reduce your chances of success" (P 185).

The indifferent expression, ambiguous language and ambiguous attitude led to a problem. If the Japanese are really like Benedict XVI, "the primacy of humiliation in Japanese life means that everyone pays attention to the public's judgment on their actions." He only needs to guess what judgment others will make, and then determine his own action party according to other people's judgment (P 189). So, how did he guess what judgment others would make? The answer given in "Ambiguous Japanese" is that because Japanese feelings are not easy to be exposed, over time, their sensory organs are extremely developed, and they can feel the subtle relationship between each other and make appropriate responses.

Therefore, we can also get a reasonable explanation for the question raised at the beginning of this paragraph: Why do Japanese cartoons pay more attention to people's emotional life? Because this is the focus of Japanese life, they live in the eyes of others all the time, they don't care about others' evaluation of themselves all the time, and more importantly, their sensory organs are more developed than those in other countries, their grasp of their relationship is more accurate than those in other countries, and their portrayal of emotions can be more delicate than those in other countries. Therefore, Japanese cartoonists focus on people's emotional life in their cartoon creation.

Another reason that can explain why Japanese comics focus on the theme of life rather than science fiction comes from the overview of Shintoism in Hard Map of Japan. "If you don't talk about death, the real world is the display of God, and living fully is the greatest meaning of life. Regardless of the future, I don't believe in reincarnation, the cemetery is a permanent residence, but the soul still lives in this world "(P56544 Shintoism is an authentic Japanese religion, and its teachings can best reflect the characteristics of Japanese culture. Since the teachings of Shinto do not consider the future but only value real life, how can Japanese comics focus on science fiction?

3) From individual hero to group hero

This feature should be very obvious in Japanese comics. From saint seiya, a saint, to the Dragon Ball, from a football teenager to a flying basketball player, many cartoons of hot-blooded teenagers are about the whole idol group, but there are few heroes like the lone ranger in American cartoons. Moreover, American heroes often rely on the use of high-tech weapons to defeat their enemies, while Japanese heroes rely more on tenacious will and close cooperation among their comrades to win. In order to highlight the effectiveness of willpower, cartoonists often set up a sword and a sea of fire for the protagonists to charge, and focus on how they remember their mission and comrades' entrustment at the critical moment, and finally turn the tide at the critical moment.

Benedict's enthusiasm for Japanese willpower is very thorough, so she wrote two paragraphs that hit the nail on the head in Chrysanthemum and Knife:

People think that it is a particularly virtuous behavior for children to learn calligraphy until their fingers are numb and frozen. Modern primary schools are not equipped with heating, which is very commendable, because it enables children to exercise to withstand all kinds of difficulties in their future lives. (P 152)

The recognized principle of Japanese mind control law is that the will is higher than the almost infinitely plastic body, and the body itself will not be harmful to health if it is not paid attention to. The whole theory of "human feelings" in Japan is based on this assumption. When it comes to the really important things in life, the requirements of the body should be completely subordinate, no matter how necessary these requirements are for health, and no matter how they are recognized and carefully cultivated in peacetime. No matter what the cost of self-cultivation, we must play the Japanese spirit. (P 194)

Japanese culture is superstitious not only about the power of will, but also about the power of groups. In this regard, Benedict and gorrell have their own wonderful exposition:

The education of Japanese children deliberately cultivates the horror of ridicule and disgust. When the child knows that he is being teased is unclear, but it will be understood sooner or later. Once they know that they are being laughed at, they are afraid that they will lose everything that is reliable and familiar. When he is an adult, when he is laughed at by others, he will remember this feeling in his childhood. (Benedict's chrysanthemum and knife: P22 1)

..... In most large families or other small social groups, when members of a group are accused or attacked by other groups, the group will unite to protect it ... However, the situation in Japan seems to be just the opposite; Only when people get the approval of other groups can they be sure that they will get the support of this group; If outsiders object or accuse him, this group will turn their backs on him and punish him until I can get other groups to withdraw their accusations. Because of such a mechanism, the recognition of the "outside world" is of unparalleled importance in Japan than in any other society. (gorrell Jeffrey, Japanese personality structure: P27；; Quoted from Chrysanthemum and Knife: P230)

Why do juvenile comics emphasize the importance of groups so much? Why do juvenile comics always show the pity of girls with plots abandoned by small groups? These two reasons can be found in the above two paragraphs. In short, the Japanese are worried that they will be abandoned by the whole world.

(D) morbid melancholy beauty

When the book Ambiguous Japanese mentions why Japanese people prefer cherry blossoms, it explains that this is because the collective beauty of cherry blossoms is the best symbol of Japanese culture and Japanese spirit. A cherry tree full of flowers is thin even if it is beautiful. Only the cherry blossom forest full of flowers can make people feel the pressure and beauty of spring. The same is true of Japanese culture and Japanese spirit. It does not advocate independence and freedom, because a Japanese can't live. It advocates coordination and cooperation, because Japan has collective strength, which is the most powerful. However, in addition to the beauty of collection, cherry blossoms actually have another feature, just? Quot Instantly Brilliant ",after the flowering period, it is convenient to fall completely in a short time, and the overwhelming loss of English is spectacular at that moment. Speaking of it, this is also a feature of Japanese culture and Japanese spirit: not afraid of destruction, and even enjoy it calmly.

But when it comes to this feature of Japanese culture, it has to be linked with the previous discussion.

First of all, Japan's unique geographical environment is an island in the vast sea. The Japanese call the red heart on their national flag "Japanese pill", and the modern Chinese dictionary gives the explanation that "pill" is "spherical little thing". "The consciousness of' Japan Maru' ... makes the Japanese have an unusual sense of crisis, making them live in anxiety all the time, trying hard and diligently to prevent the ships of the Japanese archipelago from capsizing ..." ("It's hard to draw a Japanese" P46)

Japan's unique geographical environment and natural environment (beautiful scenery but frequent disasters) have many influences on Japanese culture, one of which is the unique religious view embodied in Shinto doctrine, which only pays attention to this life and ignores the afterlife. Reality is hard to grasp, and no one will think about things so far away in the future, so the Japanese respect reality; The other is the Japanese's admiration for willpower. Since natural disasters are inevitable, we should face them bravely. By enhancing people's crisis awareness, we can improve people's ability to cope with the crisis and weaken the destructive effect of disasters on social productive forces. Therefore, the Japanese are willing to practice masochism in order to cultivate Yamato's unique Taishan heroism. Quot How did the Bushido spirit come from? That's how it happened!

When explaining the relationship between Zen Buddhism and Bushido, Suzuki Teitaro Daisetz once said that Zen Buddhism's support for samurai who realize Zen Buddhism has both moral and philosophical significance. "Morally, once you decide to enter the Tao, you should go forward and never retreat; Philosophy is to let the samurai know that there is no difference between life and death "(Zen and Japanese culture P36), but in fact, as Benedict said," Japanese samurai turned Zen into their own religion ". "This is the cultivation of efficiency. This is self-reliance. The advantages it gives are the advantages of today's world, because it enables people to make appropriate efforts accurately in dealing with any situation, neither more nor less; It enables him to control the capricious mind, and no matter the external danger to his body or the inner passion, it will not make him leave the righteousness. quot。 (Ju Yu Dao: P203) Of course, we should pay more attention to her sentence: "They said that at the beginning of practice, he might find it unbearable, but this feeling will soon disappear, because he may eventually enjoy it-he may give up practice. “(P 197)

This seems to be in response to Bai's sentence: "Pain and happiness", but this is indeed the Japanese aesthetic, a melancholy beauty and decadent beauty that people in other countries, especially westerners, see as morbid. Benedict was once a model of Japanese aesthetics.