The Other Shore Read Online Free PDF Page A

spirit, which resides as a sublimated effect beyond the language being used. [0-31]
    Gao Xingjian does not resort to yelling and screaming in his writings. He is not a revolutionary, and he refuses to fight other people’s war other than the one that resides in his heart. In concentrating on the self, Gao Xingjian’s writings can be regarded as subjective and individualistic. However, his is a distinctive kind of individualism, one that values the self but not at the expense of others. As he says of his novel Spiritual Mountain :
     
    My perception of the self has nothing to do with self-worship. I detest those people whose desire is to displace God with himself, the kind of heroism which aspires to defeat the world, and the kind of self-purgation which puts on the guise of a tragic hero. I am myself, nothing less, nothing more. [0-32]
    In this way he rejects Nietzsche and the individualism of the West, which he considers destructive. His attitude is not unlike that of the traditional Taoist or Zen Buddhist who, bent on seclusion or exile from society to cultivating his inner virtues and strength, still casts an indifferent eye to observe the world of humans in his somewhat aloof and detached position. However, while Taoism and Buddhism aspire to understanding the tao , Gao Xingjian insists on knowing and studying the self and its inner secrets in all its complexities; while the former represents inner peace, Gao Xingjian finds only pain and suffering, and unfortunately, there appears to be no salvation. The individual is helpless in the face of this predicament, for he is impotent to change himself or his world. He can assert his existence only by way of thinking and of the production of discourse (he once proclaimed: “I discourse, therefore I am” [0-33] ); ironically these tend to become as ineffectual and meaningless as the world he finds himself in—therein resides the frustration and insoluble dilemma of modern man.
     
    The Plays
     
    The Other Shore 彼岸 (Bi’an) ( 1986 )
    Written in early 1986, The Other Shore was originally scheduled to be performed by the Beijing People’s Art Theatre under the direction of Lin Zhaohua, but the rehearsal was suspended because the play was considered politically sensitive. This marked a turning point in Gao Xingjian’s thinking—he gradually came to the realization that the authorities would no longer allow his plays to be performed in China. ( The Other Shore was subsequently performed in Taiwan by the Taiwan National College of Art in 1990 and by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 1995. Both productions were directed by the playwright.)
    The Other Shore is a short but complex play. The plot is made up of disjointed narrative units that do not apparently or necessarily connect with one another, at least in a structurally coherent manner. However, each unit can be seen as self-contained and is interesting and meaningful by itself. Gao Xingjian considers the play as his attempt at “pure” drama:
     
    The Other Shore is different from conventional drama. One of the differences is that the play does not attempt to put together a coherent plot. I only intend it to be a revelation, to portray some of life’s experiences and feelings in a pure dramatic form, i.e., in the same way that music is pure. [0-34]
    The title Bi’an (literally “the other shore” or “the opposite shore”) refers to paramita , the land of enlightenment in Buddhism. According to Buddhist beliefs, one is able to cross the river of life—from the shore of delusion and suffering to the other shore of enlightenment—by cultivating and perfecting the paramita virtues of generosity, morality, patience, vigor, concentration (or meditation) and wisdom. The play reveals the fundamental tragedy of human life: even after crossing the river and reaching the other shore, the characters find that enlightenment is unobtainable, and that they are still trapped in the delusions and sufferings of