"Methinks he doth protest too much." How does Watts know the extent to which accidents are "controlled" in Zen art? How is it possible to control an accident? Is the accident desired, or accidental? What quality is more admired, the "fortuitous beatuy" or the accidental ness? And how to relate the kunstgewerbe of the potters to the sumi-e. These and similar questions must remain unanswered for the present. Cage simply answered Watts's diatribe (1961:XI):

What I do, I do not wish blamed on Zen, though without my engagement with Zen (attendance at lectura by Alan Watts and D. T. Suzuki, reading of the literature) I doubt whether I would have done what I have done. I am told that Alan Watts has questioned the relation between my work and Zen. I mention this in order to free Zen of any responsibility for my actions. I shall continue making them, however.

From recent statements, it is certain that Cage still considers his actions experimental; however, he stresses the need for subjective aesthetic appreciation of these actions. The haiku poet can imbue any landscape with poetic feeling, once that landscape has been appreciated aesthetically. The admission of aesthetic contemplation seems to be a mellowing in Cage's approach to music, but there certainly remains one element of traditional Zen arts missing in his work. And that is the concept of essence or eternal quality. Cage does not attempt to suggest, nor to restrict his means or materials. He has escaped so far from discipline that his chance elements more often than not operate in a completely free field, with no external restrictions whatsoever.

This is not Zen, because basic to Zen art is the restriction of means to an absolute minimum. Cage is admittedly eclectic; he feels no need to adopt an entire system of aesthetics for the sake of a few of its principles. He has thus taken the "anything goes" freedom of Zen and Zen arts and combined it with sensuous means surpassing the Wagnerial orchestra. The only self restriction is that of disallowing the composer's will to influence the choice of sounds. Thus, the all overimpression of Cage's aesthetics has the hydraulic flavor of classical Taoism rather than that of Zen.

The most important question at this point is: will Cage move in the direction of "musical patterns," or will he continue taking from Zen and find some way to "express the most with the least." It would seem that either direction is possible, but because of Cage's predilection against "patterns" (implying "meaning" and "symbol"), economy of means would be more probable. One can only wait and see.

Fredric Lieberman

REFERENCES

Blyth, R H.

1960a

Zen and Zen Classics: Volume I. Tokyo.

1960b

Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics. New York.

1962

Zen and Zen Classics: Volume 7. Tokyo

Cage, John.

1961

Silence. Middletown, Connecticut.

Chan Wing-tsit.

1961

An Outline and an Annotated Bibliography of Chinese Philosophy. New Haven.

1963a

A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, New Jersey.

1963b

The Platform Scripture: The Basic Classic of Zen Buddhism. New York.

Danckert, Werner.

1931

" Ostasiatische Musikasthetik, " Ostasiatische Zeitschrift n. s. 7:63 69.

Fung Yu Lan.

1952

A History of Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, New Jersey.

Gulick, Sidney Lewis.

1963

The East and the West: A Study of their psychic and cultural characteristics.