Divination as a Form of Self Conversation|占卜也是一種自問自答

Mountain River Jump!, Cards of Chinese Animal Idioms: Legends in Human World, 2017, © Mountain River Jump! Photo: Courtesy of the artists 山河跳!《人間傳説之動物成語占卜法》,2017年,© 山河跳!,圖片由藝術家提供

Cards of Chinese Animal Idioms: Legends in Human World knows how to catch your attention. The art installation by Mountain River Jump! (Huang Shang and Huang He) has a screen rapidly looping forty-nine cards, each with a QR code that links to a reading. This original divination system is based on animal-related idioms and proverbs in Chinese. It does not follow any prevalent school of divination, nor does it relate to any religious beliefs. Yet audience members still find its readings accurate. For Huang He, divination never offers a direct answer but, instead, provides another type of consideration. Ultimately, the answer can still come from the inquirer. 

一塊高速播放著四十九張啤牌的屏幕,一個鏈接著啤牌釋義的二維碼,就是「山河跳!」(黃山與黃河)的藝術作品《人間傳説之動物成語占卜法》(以下簡稱《占卜法》)。這個原創占卜系統以中文裡常用的動物成語、諺语等為内容,不繼承現有的占卜方式,亦不遵循現有的信仰和宗教,觀衆仍認爲它結果準確。對黃河來説,占卜從不直接回答人們的問題,而是提供另一個思考的角度,所以最終給出答案的仍可以是提問者自己。

A photo of Mountain River Jump! (Huang Shan and Huang He), 2022, Photo: Katja Hellkötter and Jan Siefke (C*SPACE, Berlin), Photo: Courtesy of the artists「山河跳!」(黃山與黃河)合照,2022年,攝影:Katja Hellkötter、Jan Siefke(德國柏林C*SPACE),相片由藝術家提供

Before the 1990s, the young Huang sisters used to frequent the Chinese Folk Cultural Village, where their mother used to work. They developed a great interest in animism and later studied the I Ching from a Jungian perspective. According to Huang He’s understanding, the I Ching encourages open interpretation. Whether the reading is auspicious or not, it does not lead to a definite outcome, which then allows room for change. In this sense, divinations based on this text do not determine people’s decision making but remind them to think carefully, to make clear their truest desires, and to embrace more possibilities.

Inspired by the I Ching, the readings in Cards of Chinese Animal Idioms simply describe the state of people and things, prompting audiences to rethink their situation and to consider what they truly seek. Huang He sees this as a process of self-discovery. Once people clarify their innermost desires, the next course of action will come naturally. In divination, as in fortune-telling, a process of self-questioning and self-answering is often at play. 

Chinese Animal Idioms: Legends in Human World is displayed at the Festival Lounge.

九十年代前,幼年的黃氏姐妹常去母親工作的華僑城民俗文化村遊玩,兩人因此對泛靈論產生了極大的熱情,並以榮格學派的視角研讀了中國古籍《易經》。在黃河的理解中,《易經》對事物的描述是開放式的,無論目前占卜結果是吉是凶,都不會對最終結局的判斷表達得過於絕對,保留了變化的空間。因此,書中的卜卦結果並不會替人們直接做決定,而是提示人們謹慎思考,釐清自己的真實想法,擁抱更多可能。

受《易經》啓發,「山河跳!」在《占卜法》中的成語解讀僅描述人或事的狀態,令觀衆重新考慮自己的處境和真正所求之物。黃河說,這其實是一個使自我認知更清晰的過程,人在明確内心真實所想後,如何定奪自是水到渠成。從問卜到占卜,通常是觀衆的自問自答。

《人間傳説之動物成語占卜法》於「電影節蒲點」展出。

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