Oriental Health Aesthetics: The Time of Professor Qiu Zhenglun’s Explanation of the Book of Changes(13）

“The falsificationist philosopher, also known as a philosopher of science, Karl Popper, gave an excellent definition of science: What is science? That which is falsifiable is science. In other words, science is a field of knowledge with limitations; it is necessarily conditional. For example, Newtonian mechanics is scientific and approaches truth within the realm of gravitational space. However, beyond the gravitational field, in the face of Einstein’s relativity, Newtonian mechanics is proven to have limitations. Therefore, we must be clear about this point.

Victor Hugo, the great author who wrote Les Misérables, once said something very insightful: ‘Science is “we”; art is “I”.’ That is to say, the script (the written form) is ‘we’, the calligraphic styles are ‘we’, but the creation of calligraphy is ‘I’. Therefore, you must fully reveal your personal writing style.

When I discuss the beauty of  the Book of Changes (I Ching), I must repeatedly emphasize the concepts of science and superstition. Precisely because of art, it exists. Whether it’s the calligraphy we write, the paintings we create, the poems we compose, the essays we write, or the films we watch—what are these? They are expressions of our life’s emotions and manifestations of our life consciousness, not manifestations of logic. Everyone must pay attention to this point.

Therefore, we must not set science and superstition in opposition, making it an ‘either-or’ situation—where superstition is the enemy and science is the friend. That is wrong. Religion, art, and science are all spiritual achievements of humanity, embodiments of truth. However, religion and art are transcendent approaches to reaching the ultimate truth, while science is a secondary, lesser spiritual achievement—this is my view. Of course, many thinkers have expressed similar perspectives, and I agree with this interpretation.

Art, and calligraphy as art, carries the primordial emergence of truth. We must not think that truth can only be reached through science. On the contrary, the true essence of our lives is often reached directly through art and aesthetic experience.”