"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live"-Lin Yutang
We know that, today, it may not be politically correct to praise the Chinese or their accomplishments. At the same time, we also know that the regard for some people transcends space and time. Lin Yutang (1895-1976), Chinese linguist, writer, translator and philosopher belonged to this category.
It was my father, a voracious reader, who mentioned to me about the book “The Importance of Living “by Lin Yutang. At that time, I didn’t pay much attention to his words. It was much later, after his passing away, that I came across the book in one of the bookshops. Little did I know about its contents then. But when I started reading it, a new world opened before me.
Who was Lin Yutang? Lin was born in 1895 in the town of Banzai, in the Fujian province of China. His father was a Christian minister. Although raised as a devout Christian, he renounced Christianity. He studied at the University of Shanghai. He gave up his plan of becoming a Christian Minister and changed his major to language studies.
He married and went with his wife to Harvard in 1919. He did not complete his studies in Harward. Later on, he obtained a doctoral degree in Chinese philology from the University of Leipzig.
On his return from study abroad, he taught for some time in the University of Peking. Lin plunged into study of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
He published a satirical magazine The Analects Fortnightly (Lunyu Banyuekan, 1932–40, 1945–49). Lin's writings in Chinese were critical of the Nationalist government. He was one of those who introduced the Western concept of humour.
In 1933, he met Pearl Buck, the famous writer in Shanghai, who introduced him and his writings to her publisher and future husband, Richard Walsh, head of John Day publishers.
After 1935, Lin lived mainly in the United States, where he became a writer of Chinese philosophy and way of life. Lin wrote My Country and My People (1935) and The Importance of Living (1937) in English. Others include Between Tears and Laughter (1943), The Importance of Understanding (1960) and The Chinese Theory of Art (1967). In all he wrote more than 35 books in English and Chinese, and brought the classics of Chinese literature to western readers. His works represent an attempt to bridge the cultural gap between the East and the West. Lin remained a staunch anti-communist.
From 1954-55, Lin served as president (or Chancellor) of the Nanyang University, in Singapore, but soon left it. After he returned to New York in the late 1950s, Lin renewed his interest in Christianity.
Lin’s achievements include development of a workable Chinese typewriter and the compilation of a Chinese-English dictionary (1972), at the newly founded Chinese University of Hong Kong. He continued his work until his death in 1976. Lin was buried at his home in Yangmingshan, Taipei, Taiwan. His home has been turned into a museum.
The Importance of living
According to Lin “This (the book) is a personal testimony, a testimony of my own experience of thought and life. It is not intended to be objective, and makes no claim to establish eternal truths”.
The book is divided into chapters-The Awakening; Views on Mankind: Our Animal Heritage; On Being Human; Who Can Best Enjoy Life, The Feast of Life; The Importance of Loafing; The Enjoyment of the Home; The Enjoyment of Living; The Enjoyment of Nature; The Enjoyment of Travel, The Enjoyment of Culture; Relationship to God and the Art of Thinking.
Under these heads he has inter-alia dealt with an astonishing variety of topics like- On Having a Stomach, On Playful Curiosity, The Problem of Happiness, Man the Only Working Animal; The Chinese Theory of Leisure; On Lying in bed; On Sitting on Chairs; On Conversation; On Going About and Seeing Things; The Art of Reading; The Art of Writing; The Need for Humanized Thinking and The Return to Common Sense. Lin writes in a relaxed and informal style. His writing is scholarly, but at the same time, entertaining and enjoyable. Lin has a rare sense of humour, which is reflected throughout the book.
The book mentions simple pleasures of life, the little things that make life easy, beautiful and worth living. He advocated a relaxed attitude to life that it became unhurried and at the same time, enjoyable. He speaks about the pursuit of spiritual happiness as well. We can get a taste of the essence of his writing through many of the quotes from this book.
Lin’s Quotes
“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone”.
“The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.”
“There is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a world of quiet contemplation of life.”
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel, until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”
“I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So, I like best of all autumn, because its leaves are a little yellow, its tone mellower, its colours richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow and a premonition of death. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor of the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and is content. From a knowledge of those limitations and its richness of experience emerges a symphony of colours, richer than all, its green speaking of life and strength, its orange speaking of golden content and its purple of resignation and death”
“Those who are wise won't be busy, and those who are too busy can't be wise.”
“When Small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.”
“What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?”
“Culture, as I understand it, is essentially a product of leisure. The art of culture is therefore essentially the art of loafing."
Lin and the West Lin saw himself as a "world citizen," an ambassador who brought Chinese culture to the West. He served as a bridge between the east and the west. He was, nevertheless, a critic of western philosophy and culture.
In his book, Between Tears and Laughter, written during World War II, Lin appealed to the West to change its perspective of the world order. In that book he wrote: "The white man's mission has become a paradox and a boomerang. The white man gave the yellow man the Bible and guns. He should have given him the Bible, which he himself has no use for, and kept from him the guns that he himself used most expertly----- The Western man has tons of philosophy written by French, German, English, and American professors, but still he hasn't got a philosophy when he wants it”.
He was critical of the western work culture which always kept one busy all the time, and compared it with the leisurely way in which the Chinese led their lives.
According to him the essential difference between the West and the Chinese lies in their attitude towards age. Whereas, the Americans hate to be thought of as old and make every effort to stay and appear young, and insist on being busy and active, in China old age is considered to be a privilege---- “Old people, if they can, should go and live in China, where even a beggar with a white beard is treated with extra kindness”.
He wrote about the inhumanity of the western dress, especially that of the male. “---From Collar downwards, it is a story of continuous and unmitigated outrage of common sense----The clever foreigner who can invent Neon lights and diesel engines has not enough common sense to see that the only part of his body which is free is his head---the tight- fitting underwear, which interferes with free ventilation, the vest which allows for no bending of the body, and the braces or the belt which allow for no natural difference in different states of nutrition?”---.
Lin was proud of his Chinese heritage and preferred to follow a life style in tune with the Chinese way of life. He preferred to wear loose-fitting Chinese dresses for comfort, ate, thought and lived like a Chinese.
The book remained in the best seller category from the time it was published in 1937. It has inspired me personally. Under its influence I write blogs on a variety of subjects.
What we learn
Today, the number of people who read for ‘the sheer pleasure of reading’ is dwindling very fast, as people are mostly confined to their mobile phones. Moden science and technology have conferred upon us unprecedented prosperity. But they unfortunately, do not ensure our mental well- being and spiritual happiness. The book The Importance of Living may have long vanished from the book shelves, but we may have to go back to it from time to time, lest we forget the importance of living!
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