Write yourself
——Read Sheng Xinfu's "Explanation of Doubts in Calligraphy and Painting" No. 8
Text/Ding Weiju
I especially appreciate Mr. Xu Yan's article "Wide Pattern, Perfect Realm" for "Interpretation of Doubts in Calligraphy and Painting", which evaluates Mr. Xinfu with great loyalty and appropriateness: Mr. Xinfu is "a pioneer and evangelist who practices individual calligraphy", and I would like to add one sentence: "Ascetic monk" of artistic exploration! He began to learn calligraphy and painting at the age of six, for more than sixty years, and wrote in the epilogue of his "Explanation of Doubts in Calligraphy and Painting": "Only then did I gradually mature, and only then did I realize how to adhere to tradition, how to write the times on the basis of inheritance, and how to find the convergence of talent and artistic language." ("Bogu Relax and Write Yourself") His every word and painting is soaked with his hard work of exploration and the courage to innovate, and finally explores a path of artistic creation: "Write yourself"!
Schema, inner page
If "revealing his true self" is the cornerstone of Mr. Shinfu's creative thought, then "writing himself" is the ideal realm pursued by his artistic creation, which has a high aesthetic theoretical value.
"Writing yourself" is not "Wang Xiao'er selling melons and bragging about himself", but is determined by the personalized characteristics of artistic creation. However, only good artists can achieve the artistic realm of "writing themselves".
Mr. Wang Chaowen, one of the pioneers and founders of modern aesthetic theory in the mainland, pointed out in "Introduction to Aesthetics": "All great artists are because they have their own distinct creative personality, they can make unique contributions to the development of art, enrich the treasure house of human art with their own distinctive works, and satisfy the diverse aesthetic needs of society." (Introduction to Aesthetics, People's Publishing House, 1981, first edition, p. 149, the following quotations are only marked with page numbers) In fact, Mr. Xinfu is also well aware of this, and his remarkable achievements and outstanding theoretical achievements in the creation of calligraphy and painting art lie in the fruitful results he has produced in the art of calligraphy and painting for more than 60 years of arduous exploration and unswerving pursuit of the artistic realm of "writing himself"! Even though "it's too long and too much to pay!" (Bogu, Relax, Write Yourself)
Mr. Shinfu advocates "writing oneself", which is to advocate the individualization of artistic creation. What is the "personality of artistic creation"? We may wish to compare Mr. Hinfu with Mr. Wang Chaowen's statement:
The essence of "the personality of artistic creation", Mr. Shinfu said: "It is not to repeat oneself, nor to reproduce the ancients, but to flow out of one's own new wine through one's own digestion and brewing." (Pen and Ink Codex 82)
▲ "Calligraphy and Painting Interpretation of Doubts" Pen and Ink Codex No. 82
Mr. Wang Chaowen said: "It is the sum of various stable and obvious characteristics of an artist that distinguish it from the subjective aspects of other artists, and it is the crystallization of unique life experience, ideological feelings, personal temperament, aesthetic ideals and creative talents formed on the basis of certain life practices, world views and artistic accomplishments." (p. 150)
A practitioner of calligraphy and painting and an aesthetic theorist are so similar in their expression of the individualization of artistic creation, which can be described as the same thing! Even the metaphor they use: one uses "new wine" and the other uses "crystal", which is also so similar, it can really be described as "having a spirit and a sharp mind"!
One of the main meanings of Mr. Hinfu's "writing himself" is: "Neither is it a reproduction of the ancients." This is because "every artist with his own distinct creative personality has a unique appeal to the beauty of objective reality that is different from other artists, and is particularly suitable for keenly capturing a particular beauty that moves him." (Introduction to Aesthetics, p. 150)
▲ "Calligraphy and Painting Interpretation of Doubts" Pen and Ink Codex No. 80
We may wish to further explore Mr. Hinff's paintings with "fish" as the aesthetic object.
Since ancient times, painters who have used fish as aesthetic objects include modern art masters Wu Changshuo, Zhang Daqian, and Qi Baishi. However, it is understandable that most carp, crucian carp and their mutants of crucian carp are used as objects of painting. The carp has two whiskers and has the image of a dragon, so the legend of "carp jumping the dragon gate" is worshipped by painters: crucian carp and its variant of the golden fish are more exquisite in their posture, the softness of the swimming lines and the brilliance of the colors, which have won the admiration and favor of the painter.
Birthday 20.5x60cm
Due to the harmonic sounds of "fish" and "yu", "fish" has become the mascot of our nation since ancient times, and it is not surprising that the aesthetic object sought after by artists is not surprising. Mr. Hinfu is no exception, as mentioned above, his "fish" as an "aesthetic object" is also rooted in the pursuit of our nation's thousands of years of good wishes for "more than one year (fish)", and we can find his aesthetic trajectory from the inherent customs of his hometown where he grew up. In his hometown, the most noble form of blessing at the beginning of the year is the New Year's sacrifice ceremony, and on the altar of the sacrifice is placed a live fish, and the sacrifice is released into the "release pool" of the temple, and the pursuit of the nation's good wishes for "every year has more (fish)" in the form of religious worship of "fish", which undoubtedly shocks the young Shinfu's reverence for "fish", and the experience of hunger and cold that he endured when he was young also infiltrated the aesthetic concept of "every year there is more than (fish)" into the painting "fish". In the image, after becoming an adult, he sublimated the painting of "fish" to the lofty mind of "inspiring people to realize their dreams".
Slow life 20.5x60cm
Mr. Xinfu once told me the reason why his "fish" did not take the "fish" with three points of water: it was not uncommon for the ancients to use the name of "fish", such as the Qing dramatist Li Yu and the trumpet Kasa Weng. However, "fishing" has the meaning of "killing", for example, "fishing" is an ear, so it is intolerable to abandon "fishing" and use "fish" as a sign to show its protection, pity and respect for "fish", in today's words, that is, to protect the ecology, and human beings should coexist with "fish". From Mr. Shinfu's abandonment of "fishing" and the use of "fish", it can be seen that his feelings for "fish" are far beyond ordinary people's feelings!
However, in the specific aesthetic object of "fish", Mr. Shinfu did not throw in the interest of everyone and followed in the footsteps of his predecessors, but painted more "catfish". Although "catfish" and "nianyu" are also harmonic sounds, there are also many paintings of "catfish" by ancient and modern calligraphers and painters. However, the "catfish" in Mr. Shinfu's painting has a unique aesthetic taste that pins on him, his unique insight, from the strong feeling of the biological characteristics of the "life vitality" unique to the "catfish", and from the strong form of the "catfish", mr. Wang Chaowen said that "a certain special beauty that touched him": where there is a "catfish", there is a strong vitality of life and vitality, which is the spiritual pillar and aesthetic psychological basis of his special emotions of "catfish". Mr. Shinfu's "catfish" is unique from other painters in its clean and vigorous, energetic art form.
I once jokingly said to Mr. Hinfu: "Your love for 'fish', even the 'words' of your book, every stroke is like a 'fish' that jumps alive." Although it is a joke, I always feel that the lines of each of his words are dissolved into the "vitality" of "fish", which is the "special beauty" of "fish" that Mr. Shinfu is unique to and not what other artists can capture!
Old sentence cultivation simple grass 77x47cm
In the same way: Ju, Tao Qian's "unique aesthetic object", if there is no arrogance of "not bending his waist for five buckets of rice", how can he "pick chrysanthemums under the eastern basket, leisurely see the South Mountain" of the indifferent and idyllic beauty of "different streams and stains"; bamboo, is Zheng Banqiao's "unique aesthetic object", if there is no his experience of several degrees of eunuch sea ups and downs, how can the "bamboo" under his brush have the "Ren'er East, West, South and North Winds" and stand up and tough and tough.
The creative practice of successive generations of calligraphy and painting artists, including other arts, is enough to prove that "writing oneself", that is, writing oneself from the experience of social practice obtained from the unique aesthetic concept and aesthetic taste to form his unique and stable aesthetic object and aesthetic form, in the words of Mr. Shinfu, is to "flow out" the unique mellow "new wine".
The second meaning of Mr. Shinfu's "writing himself" is: "Not repeating yourself." This is a higher realm than "not reproducing the ancients", as he puts it: creation is "written with passion, often new ideas, but not repeated." (Pen and Ink Codex 83) "Unrepeatable", that is, the originality of the artist's creation, not only refers to the artists who take the same aesthetic object as the creative theme, but also have their own "creative personality" characteristics for this "object", and each has "non-repeatable"; that is, the calligraphy and paintings of the same subject created by the same artist are also "unique", cannot be copied, and if they can be repeated, they are not art. In view of the solidification of the current themes in the art world, the assimilation of creative content, and the stereotyping tendency of creative forms, Mr. Hinfu said: "Art should not be equated with commodity attributes. If it is mass-produced, there is no spiritual core" (Pen and Ink Codex no. 35) He rebutts the "individual" particularity of art from the attributes of the commodity.
Old sentence on the garden cursive 77x47cm
Mr. Hinfer's "unrepeatable" creative philosophy has a deep philosophical foundation. The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, "Man cannot walk into the same river twice," as if there were no two leaves in the world. Imagine that when Mr. Hinfer created the first fish, it would be impossible to "repeat" the creation of the same fish. We appreciate Mr. Sheng's "fish", which can be described as "a thousand fish and a thousand faces", which is the artist's creative personality and the preciousness of art.
If artistic creation is to reach the realm of "writing oneself" without "repeating oneself", there is only one way to go: "always come up with new ideas"! Still as Mr. Hinfer said, "Every word is made by oneself." The so-called innovation is also in it. "(Pen and Ink Codex No. 80)!
Mr. Xinfu is no better than Mr. Xu Yan, who incisively outlined the uniqueness of Mr. Xinfu's art, saying: "There is not only traditional pen and ink work, but also unique paths, leading different standards and new, giving people a strong sense of strange beauty." Mr. Xu created a new aesthetic concept of "strange beauty" for Mr. Xinfu, and appropriately expressed the "personality characteristics" of Xinfu's artistic creation - "unique bread path, leading the new standard"!
Here, I greatly appreciate Mr. Xu Yan's statement on the connotation and essence of "strange beauty": "The foundation of 'strange beauty' is either in innovation or walking on the road of innovation. In other words, "writing oneself" is not only "not reproducing the ancients", but also "not repeating oneself", constantly "innovating", brewing "new wine", and presenting society.
To "innovate", let the works have "strange beauty", let the artistic creation continue to flow out of the "new wine", mr. Shinfu's "Calligraphy and Painting Doubts" of the "Afterword" of the seven words, it for the posterity to point out the mystery - Bogu release to write themselves
Bogu for the search for self
Release is the release of the self
(Explanation of Doubts in Calligraphy and Painting, p. 218)
Only "Bogu" and "Release" are the masters of the highest realm of "writing yourself" art!
First draft on December 20, 2021, revised on the morning of December 21, 2021.
(Author: Ding Weiju, 84 years old, graduated from the Department of Chinese of Hangzhou University in 1963, senior teacher of middle school Chinese)
Book Title: Calligraphy and Painting Explain doubts
By Sheng Xinfu
Xiling Printing Press
"Explanation of Doubts in Calligraphy and Painting" is Mr. Sheng Xinfu's traditional codex form, one problem at a time. Set the methods of thousands of years of ancient sages to solve the difficulties of today's people in learning books. It is an encyclopedia of doubts for learning calligraphy and painting. All the problems are basically answered. From beginner calligraphers and painters to high-level researchers, they will benefit from it.
This book starts from the more than 100 doubts of inheriting calligraphy and painting, takes the times as the foothold, takes the ancient sage classics as the basic theory, and takes the author's more than 60 years of reading history and calligraphy and painting practice as the foundation. It objectively analyzes and interprets the root causes and development possibilities in today's calligraphy and painting art. Quote the scriptures and convince people with reason. Sort out a practical and feasible path of artistic inheritance.
The book "Explanation of Doubts in Calligraphy and Painting" is a bilingual version of Chinese and Japanese. Japanese calligraphy and Chinese calligraphy are of the same origin and have commonalities, and the bilingual version is conducive to discussing the future of calligraphy, mutual benefit and complementarity, and common development; it is conducive to the internationalization of Chinese calligraphy and painting, and is conducive to the global sharing of Chinese culture.
On December 31, 2021, Sheng Xinfu signed an autograph for readers at Xiling Printing Press
On September 27, 2019, at the Seminar on Donation of Calligraphy and Paintings by Sheng Xinfu in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum
A corner of Yugong Academy, Daixi Villa