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Ｉｎｋ?。鳎椋簦琛。疲澹澹欤椋睿?/h1>
2008-04-05 10:05:50ｓｔａｆｆｒｅｐｏｒｔｅｒＨＵＯＪＩＡＮＹＩＮＧ
CHINA TODAY 2008年4期
ｓｔａｆｆ?。颍澹穑铮颍簦澹颉。龋眨稀。剩桑粒危伲桑危?/p>
IN the early 1980s, China issued a set of 16 stamps in commemoration of the artist Qi Baishi (1863-1957). Each featured a work by the great ink and wash master. The image on stamp number five was created in 1957, inspired by a line from an ancient poem: “Frogs are heard in a mountain brook miles away.” The story of how this work came about reveals much about the philosophy behind traditional Chinese painting.
The Poetic Themes of the Xieyi Masters
One day in 1957, Lao She, the celebrated writer and friend of Qi Baishi, dropped by the artists house for a visit. He flipped through a pile of books on Qis desk, then suddenly asked the artist if he could do a painting depicting the aforementioned line from a Qing Dynasty book of poetry.
The artist responded to the challenge of depicting something that could be heard but not seen with great interest. After three days, Qi unveiled the work Lao She had asked for. It was a vertical scroll. On it, a stream splashes its way down the rocky valley, and six tadpoles ride happily in its rapids. Though no frogs are to be seen, viewers can easily associate the playful tadpoles with their mothers upstream.
Depicting poetic themes was common practice amongst the literati as early as the Song Dynasty 1,000 years ago, when traditional Chinese painting was in its heyday. Emperor Huizong, also known as Zhao Ji, was an accomplished artist, though not a competent ruler. He established an art academy in the Song capital Bianliang (present-day Kaifeng) that selected gifted artists from around the country through art exams.
More often than not, the painting tests revolved around a theme based on a line from an ancient poem. One years theme, for example, read: “Horses return from flowering fields, hooves wafting with fragrance.” Most examinees presented the theme by painting horses running among flowers, with butterflies flying around. Zhao Ji shook his head when he saw such compositions. Finally, he smiled at the sight of a work containing no flowers. Rather, it showed a trotting horse, a few butterflies and bees chasing behind its hooves.
The theme for another year was “Temple Hidden in the Mountain.” Mountains and temples were common motifs for classical artists, but the question here was how to depict a temple concealed by a landscape. Many examinees conveyed the idea with a faint image of a temple, the corner of a hidden building, or simply a flying prayer banner in the depths of the mountains.
Only one examinee solved the riddle to Emperor Huizongs satisfaction. In his painting, a monk could be seen fetching water with a wooden bucket from a stream. A mountain path zigzagged and disappeared into the wooded rolling mountains in the background. The emperor commented with admiration: “The monk speaks effectively for the hidden temple, and the composition provokes the viewers minds-eye.”
These examples are typical of xieyi (freehand brushwork), a genre in which artists convey their feelings and thoughts through expressive and often exaggerated images done in succinct strokes.
A xieyi painting emphasizes particular moods, rather than the credibility of an images form. Crucially, these works also rely on the artists ability to evoke the unspoken.
To achieve such an effect, artists breach the confines of time and space, andalign natural elements with their emotional and social states. This approach gives free rein to the imagination of both artists and viewers.
Celebrated Xieyi Masters
The late Ming and early Qing dynasties in the 17th century saw a number of accomplished xieyi painters. Outstanding among them were Zhu Da (pseudonym Badashanren) and the “Eight Yangzhou Eccentric Artists,” represented by Shi Tao. Zhu Da and Shi Tao are celebrated as epoch-making masters in Chinese art history. Their artistic styles and achievements were closely related to their family backgrounds and the historic changes through which they lived.
Zhu Da (1626-1705) was a descendant of an enfeoffed prince who lorded over Jiangxi. His father and grandfather were both poets and artists, so Zhu Da started to study poetry at the age of eight and painting at the age of 11. He also passed an imperial exam and received an academic title at the age of 18.
However, before this brilliant young man could put his talent to use, the Manchus toppled the Ming Dynasty and entered the Imperial Palace in Beijing in 1644. Two years later, Qing forces marched into Jiangxi on a crusade against the remnant forces and imperial connections of the late Ming Dynasty. Zhu Da lost his family, though he managed to escape into the mountains. Having no place to go, he became a monk and lived a secluded life.
As a monk, Zhu traveled and vented his sorrow and resentment through paintings and calligraphy. Years later, he earned fame as an accomplished artist and calligrapher. However, he could not bring himself to accept the cruel reality that his Ming Dynasty had passed into history. He lived with a resentment and bitterness that finally led to a psychological breakdown.
While recovering from his illness, a relative sent him a Buddhist sutra. Part of its title read “Badaren.” It taught readers how to find peace of mind and soul under any circumstances. Zhu Da loved the book very much and adopted the pseudonym Badashanren. He designed the first two characters of his signature as a human face that seemed to laugh and cry at the same time, and the last two characters as an adjective suffix.
With the consolidation of Manchurian rule, the social and political environment gradually relaxed. After 27 years as a monk, Zhu Da, now in his 50s, took off his monks robe and became secularized. He married and made a living by selling his paintings until his death in 1705.
Zhu Da excelled at landscapes, flowers and birds. He carried forward the work of master artists before him and developed his own styles, particularly a bold expressionism using splash-inks. He used as few strokes as possible, and peoplelater referred to his style as “simplified strokes.” He also employed exaggeration. For hundreds of years, he has remained peerless in the genre he created – no artist since has managed to surpass him.
Zhu Da was a master at expressing his state of mind through images. His landscapes are always composed of fragmentary mountains and rivers, old trees, dry branches, and withered flowers, reflecting his deep sorrow over the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. His birds always hold their heads high and have inflated bellies – full of pride and indignation, like the artist himself. Theyalways stand on one foot, revealing the artists refusal to fall in step with Manchurian rule. His fish are always goggle-eyed, looking at the sky with a cold stare.
Shi Tao (1636-1707) was also a descendant of a Ming prince, and like Zhu Da experienced the collapse of the Ming Dynasty and the destruction of his family. But unlike Zhu, his father was not killed by the Manchus, but died during infighting among enfeoffed princes trying to restore the Ming Dynasty by making themselves emperor. Shi was 10 when his father was killed. With the help of a servant, he fled into the mountains and also became a monk. However, he did not feel as strong a hatred for the Manchus as Zhu Da, for he was only eight when they toppled the Ming, and it was his own uncles that had rendered him homeless.
In his temple shelter, Shi Tao studied poetry, Chinese classics, painting and calligraphy. He also traveled widely, and derived inspiration from beautiful landscapes around the country. He once said that mountains and rivers invited him to be their spokesman, and that his landscapes were a result of his encounter with these natural formations in the spiritual world.
Modern Followers
Zhu Da and Shi Tao have influenced the development of famous traditional artists in modern times, such as Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Liu Haisu, Li Kuchan and Pan Tianshou. Qi Baishi in particular looked up to the two 17th century artists with great admiration and reverence. On one occasion, he said he would rather have been born 300 years earlier, so he could have ground the inkstick and laid the paper for the two masters; he even claimed he would have been content just standing outside their doors.
Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) was also a great contemporary master of traditional Chinese painting, renowned both at home and abroad. He and Qi Baishi are celebrated as landmark figures in Chinas modern art history. Zhang represents the southern school and Qi the northern. Zhang was a devoted admirer of Shi Tao, and studied him closely when he was young. Finally, he could produce duplicates of Shi Taos works that would escape the scrutiny of even master art connoisseurs.
Once, the artist and art collector Chen Banding obtained an album of Shi Taos works. To celebrate the happy occasion, he hosted a banquet for his friends. When Zhang Daqian heard of the event, he decided to attend even though he had received no invitation.
No one noticed the young man in his mid-20s. When all the important guests had arrived, Chen presented his treasured album for the admiration of his guests. Seeing the work, Zhang Da-qian laughed. Chen asked the reason. “I know the album very well,” answered the young man, who then detailed the content, seals and inscriptions of every page. “Was it in your collection?” asked the surprised Chen. “Oh, no. I did it myself,” replied Zhang. He then duplicated one of Shi Taos works in front of the astonished Chen.
Zhang Daqian copied Shi Tao in order to study him. Years later, after establishing his fame in the art world, a collector solicited his signature on one of his Shi Tao replicas. Zhang wrote, “Back then I was eager to get in, and now Im eager to get out.” By “get in,” Zhang meant he had sought to acquire Shi Taos skill at handling imagistic form. By “get out” he meant he knew he had to master his own skill at communicating via images, just as Shi Tao had.
Like poetry, music, calligraphy and other art forms, traditional Chinese painting is a spiritual activity and product. It requires artists to first identify, or “mingle” spiritually, with the objects they are to paint. The effectiveness of the communication has to do with how the artist handles the relations between the form and spirit of things. In Shi Taos words, form and spirit should have a “dissimilar similarity.” Qi Baishi interpreted this as keeping a balance between “similitude and dissimilitude.” Over the centuries, these ideas have informed the works of many Chinese artists.
ｓｔａｆｆ?。颍澹穑铮颍簦澹颉。龋眨稀。剩桑粒危伲桑危?/p>
IN the early 1980s, China issued a set of 16 stamps in commemoration of the artist Qi Baishi (1863-1957). Each featured a work by the great ink and wash master. The image on stamp number five was created in 1957, inspired by a line from an ancient poem: “Frogs are heard in a mountain brook miles away.” The story of how this work came about reveals much about the philosophy behind traditional Chinese painting.
The Poetic Themes of the Xieyi Masters
One day in 1957, Lao She, the celebrated writer and friend of Qi Baishi, dropped by the artists house for a visit. He flipped through a pile of books on Qis desk, then suddenly asked the artist if he could do a painting depicting the aforementioned line from a Qing Dynasty book of poetry.
The artist responded to the challenge of depicting something that could be heard but not seen with great interest. After three days, Qi unveiled the work Lao She had asked for. It was a vertical scroll. On it, a stream splashes its way down the rocky valley, and six tadpoles ride happily in its rapids. Though no frogs are to be seen, viewers can easily associate the playful tadpoles with their mothers upstream.
Depicting poetic themes was common practice amongst the literati as early as the Song Dynasty 1,000 years ago, when traditional Chinese painting was in its heyday. Emperor Huizong, also known as Zhao Ji, was an accomplished artist, though not a competent ruler. He established an art academy in the Song capital Bianliang (present-day Kaifeng) that selected gifted artists from around the country through art exams.
More often than not, the painting tests revolved around a theme based on a line from an ancient poem. One years theme, for example, read: “Horses return from flowering fields, hooves wafting with fragrance.” Most examinees presented the theme by painting horses running among flowers, with butterflies flying around. Zhao Ji shook his head when he saw such compositions. Finally, he smiled at the sight of a work containing no flowers. Rather, it showed a trotting horse, a few butterflies and bees chasing behind its hooves.
The theme for another year was “Temple Hidden in the Mountain.” Mountains and temples were common motifs for classical artists, but the question here was how to depict a temple concealed by a landscape. Many examinees conveyed the idea with a faint image of a temple, the corner of a hidden building, or simply a flying prayer banner in the depths of the mountains.
Only one examinee solved the riddle to Emperor Huizongs satisfaction. In his painting, a monk could be seen fetching water with a wooden bucket from a stream. A mountain path zigzagged and disappeared into the wooded rolling mountains in the background. The emperor commented with admiration: “The monk speaks effectively for the hidden temple, and the composition provokes the viewers minds-eye.”
These examples are typical of xieyi (freehand brushwork), a genre in which artists convey their feelings and thoughts through expressive and often exaggerated images done in succinct strokes.
A xieyi painting emphasizes particular moods, rather than the credibility of an images form. Crucially, these works also rely on the artists ability to evoke the unspoken.
To achieve such an effect, artists breach the confines of time and space, andalign natural elements with their emotional and social states. This approach gives free rein to the imagination of both artists and viewers.
Celebrated Xieyi Masters
The late Ming and early Qing dynasties in the 17th century saw a number of accomplished xieyi painters. Outstanding among them were Zhu Da (pseudonym Badashanren) and the “Eight Yangzhou Eccentric Artists,” represented by Shi Tao. Zhu Da and Shi Tao are celebrated as epoch-making masters in Chinese art history. Their artistic styles and achievements were closely related to their family backgrounds and the historic changes through which they lived.
Zhu Da (1626-1705) was a descendant of an enfeoffed prince who lorded over Jiangxi. His father and grandfather were both poets and artists, so Zhu Da started to study poetry at the age of eight and painting at the age of 11. He also passed an imperial exam and received an academic title at the age of 18.
However, before this brilliant young man could put his talent to use, the Manchus toppled the Ming Dynasty and entered the Imperial Palace in Beijing in 1644. Two years later, Qing forces marched into Jiangxi on a crusade against the remnant forces and imperial connections of the late Ming Dynasty. Zhu Da lost his family, though he managed to escape into the mountains. Having no place to go, he became a monk and lived a secluded life.
As a monk, Zhu traveled and vented his sorrow and resentment through paintings and calligraphy. Years later, he earned fame as an accomplished artist and calligrapher. However, he could not bring himself to accept the cruel reality that his Ming Dynasty had passed into history. He lived with a resentment and bitterness that finally led to a psychological breakdown.
While recovering from his illness, a relative sent him a Buddhist sutra. Part of its title read “Badaren.” It taught readers how to find peace of mind and soul under any circumstances. Zhu Da loved the book very much and adopted the pseudonym Badashanren. He designed the first two characters of his signature as a human face that seemed to laugh and cry at the same time, and the last two characters as an adjective suffix.
With the consolidation of Manchurian rule, the social and political environment gradually relaxed. After 27 years as a monk, Zhu Da, now in his 50s, took off his monks robe and became secularized. He married and made a living by selling his paintings until his death in 1705.
Zhu Da excelled at landscapes, flowers and birds. He carried forward the work of master artists before him and developed his own styles, particularly a bold expressionism using splash-inks. He used as few strokes as possible, and peoplelater referred to his style as “simplified strokes.” He also employed exaggeration. For hundreds of years, he has remained peerless in the genre he created – no artist since has managed to surpass him.
Zhu Da was a master at expressing his state of mind through images. His landscapes are always composed of fragmentary mountains and rivers, old trees, dry branches, and withered flowers, reflecting his deep sorrow over the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. His birds always hold their heads high and have inflated bellies – full of pride and indignation, like the artist himself. Theyalways stand on one foot, revealing the artists refusal to fall in step with Manchurian rule. His fish are always goggle-eyed, looking at the sky with a cold stare.
Shi Tao (1636-1707) was also a descendant of a Ming prince, and like Zhu Da experienced the collapse of the Ming Dynasty and the destruction of his family. But unlike Zhu, his father was not killed by the Manchus, but died during infighting among enfeoffed princes trying to restore the Ming Dynasty by making themselves emperor. Shi was 10 when his father was killed. With the help of a servant, he fled into the mountains and also became a monk. However, he did not feel as strong a hatred for the Manchus as Zhu Da, for he was only eight when they toppled the Ming, and it was his own uncles that had rendered him homeless.
In his temple shelter, Shi Tao studied poetry, Chinese classics, painting and calligraphy. He also traveled widely, and derived inspiration from beautiful landscapes around the country. He once said that mountains and rivers invited him to be their spokesman, and that his landscapes were a result of his encounter with these natural formations in the spiritual world.
Modern Followers
Zhu Da and Shi Tao have influenced the development of famous traditional artists in modern times, such as Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Liu Haisu, Li Kuchan and Pan Tianshou. Qi Baishi in particular looked up to the two 17th century artists with great admiration and reverence. On one occasion, he said he would rather have been born 300 years earlier, so he could have ground the inkstick and laid the paper for the two masters; he even claimed he would have been content just standing outside their doors.
Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) was also a great contemporary master of traditional Chinese painting, renowned both at home and abroad. He and Qi Baishi are celebrated as landmark figures in Chinas modern art history. Zhang represents the southern school and Qi the northern. Zhang was a devoted admirer of Shi Tao, and studied him closely when he was young. Finally, he could produce duplicates of Shi Taos works that would escape the scrutiny of even master art connoisseurs.
Once, the artist and art collector Chen Banding obtained an album of Shi Taos works. To celebrate the happy occasion, he hosted a banquet for his friends. When Zhang Daqian heard of the event, he decided to attend even though he had received no invitation.
No one noticed the young man in his mid-20s. When all the important guests had arrived, Chen presented his treasured album for the admiration of his guests. Seeing the work, Zhang Da-qian laughed. Chen asked the reason. “I know the album very well,” answered the young man, who then detailed the content, seals and inscriptions of every page. “Was it in your collection?” asked the surprised Chen. “Oh, no. I did it myself,” replied Zhang. He then duplicated one of Shi Taos works in front of the astonished Chen.
Zhang Daqian copied Shi Tao in order to study him. Years later, after establishing his fame in the art world, a collector solicited his signature on one of his Shi Tao replicas. Zhang wrote, “Back then I was eager to get in, and now Im eager to get out.” By “get in,” Zhang meant he had sought to acquire Shi Taos skill at handling imagistic form. By “get out” he meant he knew he had to master his own skill at communicating via images, just as Shi Tao had.
Like poetry, music, calligraphy and other art forms, traditional Chinese painting is a spiritual activity and product. It requires artists to first identify, or “mingle” spiritually, with the objects they are to paint. The effectiveness of the communication has to do with how the artist handles the relations between the form and spirit of things. In Shi Taos words, form and spirit should have a “dissimilar similarity.” Qi Baishi interpreted this as keeping a balance between “similitude and dissimilitude.” Over the centuries, these ideas have informed the works of many Chinese artists.
