Xiao Zhan's tragic beauty has an artist's desolate loneliness

The writer Jia Xingjia wrote after seeing the play Dream of Dreams: Each one of them says that they wish Xiao Zhao "a bright star", I think, why not wish Xiao Zhao "a bleak state"? I also wrote similar feelings in the afterthoughts of Dreams of Dreams: If a play, under the bright and lively appearance, hides a quiet and subtle core, it is the best work. As in the case of Dreams of Dreams, the top and bottom of the book, through the occasional hustle and bustle, I clearly see the quietness, persistence, waiting, faith, and silence throughout everything that makes me want to cry. Xiao Zhan said the root of comedy is tragedy. He once faintly said he preferred twilight. The quiet and subtle kernel makes me feel that he has a great tragic beauty in the stage of life that is surrounded by flowers and applause. The tragic beauty of Xiao Zhan has an artist's sense of loneliness with a bleak mood. "In the innermost spiritual life, everyone is alone, and love cannot eliminate this loneliness. But it is precisely because one comprehends the loneliness of others from oneself that one's heart is filled with sincere love for others. We walk side by side in the darkness, on our respective pilgrimages." This passage by philosopher Mr. Zhou Guoping is a sympathy for loneliness. This compassionate sentiment also makes us extra heartfelt (go away) to tragic beauty. The glorious and dazzling appearance makes people stop. But what makes the heart have a long stay, must be the beauty of the spiritual core. Xiao Zhan both comedy and tragedy beauty, after laughing and crying, there is a long aftertaste of deep thought, and nostalgic emotional ties. It is only when you have been drunk that you know how strong the wine is, and only when you have loved that you know how important it is. You can't be my poem, just as I can't be your dream. -- Hu Shih, "Dreams and Poems