ZANG Di: Golden Secret Series

　　　Golden Secret Series
　　　　　　　　　　　By ZANG Di (1964-)　　tr. FAN Jinghua
Head bent, I can see this chrysanthemum alone,
A golden guide, small curving arms extending like tentacles of a mollusc.
Only a glance unfocused may find them in the shape of yellow petals.

Now I am sensitive as if my mind is a broken string.
So well-nurtured, it must be savvy in politics,
And hence in the decorum of a plant lies the occult message of the cosmos.

Head up, I catch a glimpse of a figure that is watering the flower.
She is no gardener, and yet it appears she is equipped with a better way,
Knowing how to introduce water to the point.

A casual comparison may tell, most people have uncountable secrets behind their back,
But her secret is not hidden behind. It is there, between the flower and me. Voila,
Yes! Her secret is always there on her façade.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　December, 2008


　　　金色秘密丛书
　　　　　　　　　　　　臧棣
低头时，我只看见这菊花，
金色向导，小小的手臂曲张着，像软体动物的触须。
粗心看，才貌合成艳黄的花瓣。

而我现在心细得就像一根断弦。
养得这么好，一定懂政治，
于是，植物的礼貌就有了宇宙的深意。

一抬头，我瞥见了给它浇水的人。
她不是园丁，不过看起来她有更好的方法，
知道如何把水浇到点子上。

稍一比较，多数人的背后都有无数的秘密。
而她的秘密不在她身后，在我和菊花之间，
没错，她的秘密永远在她的前面。
　　　　　　　　　　　　2008.12.

Commentary
　　When one lowers his head to look at a flower, the gesture is a way to positioning the object. Lowering one’s head is a way of approaching, getting close and enlarging the object, therefore the seen flower here becomes not only a small world in itself (the cosmos in the forthcoming stanza) but also a guide for the world. This expression itself is discursive, which implies numerous (false) directions. Numerous hands (as of the thousand-handed kuanyin bodhisattva), numerous tentacles or receivers require one to distance himself in order to get a better view of the picture. Otherwise, he will only see the trees instead of the forest. Only when a flower is not a flower, can that flower become a(ny) flower or flowers, so that the flower carries the meaning of all the flowers.
　　The opening line of the second stanza proves a little slippery to translate. Literally, 而我现在心细得就像一根断弦 can be rendered as “And I now am thin-hearted (careful, meticulous) just like a broken string.” But it is obvious that the phrase bears more than this. On the one hand, it emphasizes that the gazer focuses on the details of the object; on the other hand, it implies that the gazer himself is made to be sensitive by the adjustment in the course of gazing. Of course, the visual implication is also suggested in the comparison between the flower with many thin arms and the heart. However, in Chinese, 心refers to both heart and mind, as in the ancient people believe that heart is responsible for emotion and thinking.
　　The phrase “so well-nurtured” is a little ambiguous as to what it refers. There, it can be understood as referring to the wisdom “sound mind in a sound body,” which I take as a step to understand the word politics, as politics is so abruptly brought into the poem. Here, I take politics as an ability to be graceful and easy in any situation. That is, politics may be understood as the decorum of a plant, which is the result of the shaping power of the cosmos, and the beauty of a flower is the embodiment of the occult meaning.
　　In the first two stanzas, the gazer is into or inside the flower, whereas in the coming two stanzas the gazer is distancing himself from the flower or standing outside of it. Now, he sees another person, and he claims that she is not a gardener though she is watering the flower. That is, the person does not belong to the garden (not a laborer or slave to the garden). When one looks at a flower (“I see this chrysanthemum alone”), he sees only that flower or at most the flower and subjectified flower (me into the flower, empathized flower or my flower). When he looks up and contextualizes the flower, he sees another (the other). Once one sees between the object and the subject the third party, he sees more than three.
　　Therefore, the gazer comes out from inside or behind the flower to the front, and the meaning between or behind them becomes explicit. This is the explication of meaning: meaning lies upon things, not behind. When the flower is not the flower, any flower is the flower. A flower is a flower, after all.

评读：
　　　　　俯仰、曲直、显隐与前后
　　观看者头的俯仰，作为一个外部动作，其实暗示了一种将被观看者positioning定位的方式。在此，俯视，成为一种凝视、专注、放大，因此一朵花不仅可以成为一个世界（后文的宇宙），而且还是这个世界的向导。这无疑是一种曲折的方式，无穷的手（千手观音）、无穷的方向、无穷的感应器管（软体动物的触须），这需要人们一定的距离化，否则便只见树木不见森林。花非花，一朵花便具有了所有花的意义。
　　心细，一方面是自己俯视时的专注，而同时也是一种对软体动物的触须的神入（empathy移情、共感），这里的心，可以是心软或者心思细腻。
　　养得这么好，心的健康要有身的健康，sound mind in a sound body，这本身就是一种政治。我在此将政治理解为一种游刃有余、进退自然的能力，可以说是下一行中的植物的礼貌、decorum得体，这一切是大自然的奥义，the occult message of the cosmos宇宙的玄妙寓意。
　　前两节观看者入花，后两节观者跳出花外。
　　这位浇花者并非园丁，亦即此人不附属于花，正因如此，她才有更好的方法。观看者抬头见到“他人”，此乃是说观者永远不止一人。一个人凝注的时候，只见客体或者被主体化的客体（花、我移情其中的花），这时候的花还不是所有花，只是我的花。但是抬头看到另一个人，观看者变成了技术化的批判性的抽象观者。一旦当一个人在观看的主体与客体之间看到第三者，那么他看到的就远不止三者了。
　　因此，观者从花的背后走到了前面，意义从隐变显，这是发现意义就在物本身，不必在物背后。花非花之后，花还是花；有人拈花一笑，有人看到有人拈花一笑。