A friend is someone I like and don’t mind hanging out with. People come and go in the course of a lifetime. There have been a few instances when I became close to someone and considered the person my “best friend”. But circumstance changed. Time and distance took away the intimacy and often best friends became stranger than strangers.
Best friends think of each other constantly. They share secrets and have the capacity of deep understanding. It is an emotional and spiritual connection. Although lovers are not always best friends; best friends are most definitely lovers.
While I move from one “best friend” to another, the ancients were more passionate about this very special relationship.
According to Qin Shi, Liezi said:
“Bo Ya was good at playing the qin (seven-stringed zither). Zhong Ziqi was good at to listening to the qin. When Bo Ya’s will was towards high mountains in his playing, Zhong Ziqi would say, ‘How towering like Tai Shan (mountain)!’ When Bo Ya’s will was towards flowing water in his playing, Zhong Ziqi would say, ‘How vast are the rivers and oceans!’ Whatever Bo Ya thought of Ziqi would never fail to understand. Bo Ya said, ‘Amazing! Your heart and mine are the same!’ When Ziqi died, Bo Ya broke the strings (of his qin) and vowed never to play again.”
Quoted passage taken from Wikipedia.
Image from: http://www.chinancient.com/guqin/guqin/
