''Wind Search Record'' () is a short story by

Victor Pelevin Victor Olegovich Pelevin ( rus, Виктор Олегович Пелевин, p=ˈvʲiktər ɐˈlʲeɡəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈlʲevʲɪn; born 22 November 1962) is a Russian fiction writer. His novels include ''Omon Ra'' (1992), ''The Life of Insects' ...

, published in 2003.

Plot

Victor Pelevin's works are characterized by numerous implicit references to various aspects of

Chinese literature The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 ...

and

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

. There are also texts explicitly devoted to

Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy (Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 中国哲学; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 中國哲學) refers to the philosophical traditions that originated and developed within the historical ...

, and this story is one of them, written in the spirit of Eastern philosophical narratives that appeal to various semiotic codes and

simulacra A simulacrum (: simulacra or simulacrums, from Latin ''simulacrum'', meaning "likeness, semblance") is a representation or imitation of a person or thing. The word was first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to des ...

that substitute reality, but do not seriously assert the validity of these codes and images. The narrative is written in the form of an Eastern letter on behalf of a Chinese student of Gradual Ordering to his teacher named Elegance of Wisdom. The narrative traces an obvious orientation to the stereotypical notion of the epistolary genre. The story is told that a sage living on a holy mountain treats his disciple to a powder of five stones, after which the disciple has a miraculous stream of

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

. He tries to write a literary work about comprehending the Way and ends up thinking that any addition of another symbol (image, word) will move him further and further away from the truth. All this resembles a treatise of

Taoist philosophy Taoist philosophy () also known as Taology refers to the various philosophical currents of Taoism, a tradition of China, Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the ''Tao, Dào'' (, Daoism–Taoism romanization issue, also romaniz ...

transformed by the author into a story. In the story, the principle of the mapping of reality, meaning, and signification, obscured by a multitude of signifiers, is interpreted by an ancient Chinese man and takes on the status of a Buddhist truth: "The most monstrous conspiracy that ever existed in the Middle Kingdom was revealed to me... The world is but a reflection of the hieroglyphs. But the hieroglyphs that make it up do not indicate anything real and only reflect each other, for one sign is always defined by another. This transcoding of Western theory appeared to be mystical and "Oriental" in a sudden way after the use of some suspicious remedy. Researchers of the writer's work conclude that the key word "way" in Pelevin's story is directly related to the main concept of the Taoist doctrine, the "

Tao The Tao or Dao is the natural way of the universe, primarily as conceived in East Asian philosophy and religion. This seeing of life cannot be grasped as a concept. Rather, it is seen through actual living experience of one's everyday being. T ...

Lao Tzu Laozi (), also romanized as Lao Tzu #Name, among other ways, was a semi-legendary Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosopher and author of the ''Tao Te Ching'' (''Laozi''), one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the ''Zhuangzi (book) ...

believes that the nature of the Way and the highest level of practice is to achieve "ultimate impartiality" and to preserve "peace," which is the essence of life. All material things only conform to nature and preserve inner peace in order to obtain infinite vitality. The concept of "all things" in this case implies man as well. Pelevin interprets this idea in his own way: his hero believes that "one should not strive too much for peace; both peace and excitement are manifestations of the same thing. "Refusal to use arms" in the protagonist's reflections points to a specific way of following the principles of nature. The story says that the constructions of the mind can be likened to ladders, but it is impossible to climb these ladders to the castle of truth, nor even to approach the truth. From this point of view, the ladder is the "tool" we want to use. Pelevin has it that "the longer our ladders are, the higher the walls will become. When we lower the ladder and no longer intend to storm the castle, the castle of truth will disappear. "Refusing to use weapons" will help us learn the truth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wind Search Record 2003 short stories Short stories by Victor Pelevin Existentialist short stories