谈风流 Feng Liu: Romantic, the Chinese Way

华人讲到风流，自然而然想到流连于妇女间，和她们有亲密关系的男人。

风流不易讲清楚，因为它的含义丰富。

风流本来主要和道家思想相连。据说源自魏晋期间道家的清谈。清谈被认为是一种高水平的智力活动，只能在智力较高，或旗鼓相当的人之间进行。

‘世说新语’就记载了很多的清谈。这本书用语精简含蓄，渊博奥秘，意味深长和发人深省，成为了解‘风流’最好的资料。

就如西文的romanticism一样，风流现在用法含有性的元素。可是，原本这个词用于审美感多过官感。‘世说新语’记载阮籍的一个故事足以说明。

阮公临家妇，有美色，当垆酤酒。阮与王安丰常从妇饮酒。阮醉，便眠其妇侧。夫始殊疑之，伺察，终无他意。

在古代，醉后睡在美妇旁的这种行为，是不拘小节，也是所谓风流快活。

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In Chinese, when one mentions the term Feng Liu, it come almost immediately to mind a man who likes many women and has short sexual relationships with them.

But, what actually is the meaning of Feng Liu? It is one of those terms that conveys a wealth of ideas, but is very difficult to define exactly.

In China, Feng Liu is originally mainly connected to Daoism. The idea is said to have started during the Wei Jin dynasties by the Neo-Daoists who were famous for the art of Qing Tan (清谈), or plain conversation. Such conversation could be held only between people of a comparable or high intellectual level, and was therefore regarded as one of the most refined intellectual activities.

Many of these plain conversations were compiled in a book entitled Shi Shuo Xin Yu, A New Account of Tales of the World. The language of the book is concise and implicit, profound and mysterious, meaningful and thought-provoking and it has become a major source of Feng Liu tradition.

Today, like romanticism in the West, the term Feng Liu often has in it the element of sex. However, originally the term was used more aesthetically rather than sensuously.

As illustration, it is recorded in the Shi Shuo Xin Yu that Ruan Ji's neighbour, who was a wine merchant, had a beautiful wife. Ruan Ji used to go the merchant's house to drink with his wife. Ruan Ji would sleep beside her when he became drunk. The merchant was naturally suspicious. But after paying careful attention, the merchant found that Ruan Ji did nothing more than sleeping beside there.

In the ancient time, such behavour of sleeping beside a beautiful lady, even it was done after became drunk, was really something very unconventioanl, or being happily Feng Liu.