Butterflies are free (Chen Gang's musical essay)

Author: Chen Gang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: This series of books, titled "Great Art," aims to differentiate itself from typical art books by stepping outside the confines of pure art. It expands the scope of art to a broader field, extending its reach to areas previously not considered artistic. At the same time, it discusses art through fresher concepts, richer perspectives, and more diverse forms, striving to give readers a sense of novelty and unconventionality.
Butterflies are both a symbol of Chinese culture and an emotional signifier. In classical Chinese poetry, they sometimes appear as "lonely butterflies flying alone," while at other times they are depicted as "butterflies lingering among flowers and swans glancing by the pond." There are also the light and playful "delicate butterflies at play," as well as the mythically rich "Sun Wukong, who recites a spell and transforms into a butterfly." In his Dictionary of Chinese Cultural Symbols, W. Eberhard states that butterflies "symbolize a lover sipping nectar from a flower bud." In one oracle, we read: "Colorful butterflies dance among the flowers, while orioles sing on the willow trees." Here, both flowers and willows are symbols of women. A deceased wife can appear before her husband like a butterfly, and there is a well-known love story about a girl's soul transforming into a butterfly and flying out of her grave."
Here, the butterfly introduces The Butterfly Lovers. One summer night in 1981, I was staying with a musician in New Orleans, southern Louisiana, in the United States. The hostess was a renowned violin professor. With a mysterious smile, she whispered to me before inviting me inside, "What is that sound you hear?" I entered the living room, where a Japanese mural exuded an Eastern atmosphere, and the gentle melody of The Butterfly Lovers could be heard faintly from behind a screen.