Silence
Zhao Lihong

Silence is soundlessness; silence exists in different forms.

An empty head or a blank mind which leads to speechlessness—that is silence.

Enthusiasm fades like dying embers and thus leads to cynicism and indifference to life, which arouses neither happiness nor sadness, neither worries nor anger, and which costs people their interest in and desire for anything—that is silence.

Despite all the experiences of love and hate, of disorientation and reorientation, of order-giving that was answered by hundreds and call-issuing that was not answered by a single soul, there is not a word uttered, but only a clam eye that watches on this world—that is also silence.

Worries and sufferings, tastes of changes and vicissitudes of the world, footprints left in mountains and valleys and noises of rivers and oceans cherished in the heart are all but hidden unrevealed—that is still silence.

Either an invaluable Italian violin or a reed whistle cut out casually would remain silent if they are not played, although the connotations of their silences differ greatly. For even though they are never touched by anybody, you can still imagine the vastly different sounds they can possibly produce.

A flawless jade ornament, or a coarse, gross brick will always remain silent if it is left untouched, but who can draw an equal sign between them?

Indeed, for a living being there is no such thing as true silence, for silence itself is a revelation of the mind and the heart, an echo of the soul of a different form.

Some people use silence as a disguise of the emptiness of the head.

Some use it as a means to depict their disorientation and melancholy.

And some use it as a way of expressing their angers and sorrows.

Silence usually is ephemeral. It reminds one of the bronze bells dangling from a pagoda's eaves; on windless days they are a decoration upon the age-weathered beauty, but with wind they give out wonderful tinkling and jingling metallurgic sounds, as if echoing age-old stories of long, long ago...

Do you not think the same of silent people?

They say that "silence is golden", but of what nature is this “gold”? It can include integrity, honesty and kindness; it can stand for indifference to and detachment from fame and fortune; but it can also act as an excuse for hypocrisy, slyness and cowardice... the glittering of gold may not necessarily be the most brilliant lustre in the world.

Can it be that permanent silence is only represented by death?

Perhaps even death cannot represent true silence, for the carrier of the soul can turn into dust, so that the sincere and wise voices from the bottom of the heart will trigger long-lasting echoes in the seas of human hearts...