◆ Jiang Feng, chief writer of "Japanese Overseas Chinese Daily".
Speaking of "iron man", Chinese of my age will naturally think of the "Wang Iron Man" of Daqing Oilfield. The spirit of "when the oil workers roar, the earth will tremble" is so strong and exciting. However, the "Tetsuman" to be talked about here is Tomioka Tetsusai, who is known as Japan's "last literati painter". The reason why I wanted to write about him is because the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, Japan, is about to hold the exhibition "100 Years After the Death: Tomioka Tetsusai". In 1986, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his birth, the Tomioka Tetsusai Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition was held in Shanghai and Beijing, China. At present, the Japan-China Friendship Hall Art Museum in Iidabashi, Tokyo, is holding the exhibition "Commemorating the 180th Anniversary of Wu Changshuo's Birth: Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy in the Past Dynasties", and Tomioka Tetsusai has exchanged letters with Wu Changshuo.
Tomioka Tetsusai, a literati painter who lived from Meiji to Taisho in Japan, was born in Kyoto and was called Tetsusai, alias Tetsuman, Tetsushi, and Tetsuya. It seems that he has a special fondness for the word "iron". Of course, it may also be a kind of mentorship, because his teacher, the ancestor of the Nagasaki Southern School, is called Tetsu Weng.
Tomioka Tetsusai's background is a bit special, it looks like he was born in a family of clothing manufacturers, but in fact, he specialized in making robes for temple monks. He is the second in line, a little behind his ears since he was a child, and he is more elegant and called "deaf". Such children will naturally be neglected in the family, and the neglect and indifference of the family are often the "runners" for a child's future success. It is said that at a very young age, he began to study the "Shimen Xinxue", which is different from the "Yangming Xinxue". Of course, the people who prayed for success in their studies at that time were inseparable from Sinology. Tomioka Tetsusai has worked Yangming and Chinese poetry.
When Tomioka Tetsusai was young, he was a famous nun and female singer Otagaki Renyue's "waiter". It is said that his personality growth was heavily influenced by this born nun. There is no gossip here, it can only be said that Tomioka Tetsusai learned to draw with Otagaki Renyue.
At the age of 24, Tomioka Tetsusai went to Nagasaki to study under Tetsu Weng, one of the "Three Brushstrokes of the Southern School of Painting", and from then on it was an official entry. He believed in "reading 10,000 books and traveling 10,000 miles", to put it bluntly, he didn't want to stay at home, he liked to travel to various places, he once went to Hokkaido, and created the "Old Ezo Customs Map" that reflected the customs of the Ainu people, so that the people of mainland Japan really understood Hokkaido. You know, at that time, Hokkaido was a "barbarian land" for the Japanese.
Tomioka Tiesai was a "fan" of Tao Yuanming in the Jin Dynasty and Su Shi in the Song Dynasty. In 1920, to commemorate the 1,300th anniversary of Prince Shotoku's death, he exhibited "Su Dongpo Tu", in 1922 he published a collection of paintings "Baidongpo Tu", and in 1923 he painted "Wuling Taoyuan Tu". Japanese art critics say that his paintings are "mainly based on classical Chinese themes." Chinese art critics put it more thoroughly, some saying that he "studied the works of Zhao Mengfu, Shen Zhou, Tang Yin, Xu Wei, Dong Qichang, Chen Laolian, Shi Tao, Bada Shanren, and the Yangzhou School of Painting"; others pointed out that "he admired Su Shi all his life, had contacts with the Chinese literati of the time, such as Luo Zhenyu and Wang Guowei, and also exchanged letters with Wu Changshuo to learn calligraphy and painting skills." He dabbled in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shinto, and was especially proficient in Chinese poetry. The painting can integrate Japanese ink painting with Chinese literati painting of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He has about 20,000 paintings, including scrolls, barriers, albums, and fans, most of which are based on Japanese and Chinese classical literature and legends, and are known for their grand compositions and rough brushwork. ”
Some time ago, the Asian Culture and Arts Association of Japan held an exhibition "The World of Fan Calligraphy and Painting" at the Chinese Cultural Center in Tokyo, and while I was paying attention, I saw a fan painted by Tomioka Tetsusai entitled "Nine Layers of Spring Drunken Peach" on the Internet, which was priced at 8,000 yuan. While I was "looking at the fan and sighing", it was also a little eye-opening.
I admire Tomioka's self-confidence, saying, "I never paint a picture that I think is meaningless," and he says, "When you look at your own paintings, you first have to give yourself a compliment." Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why he is called "the last literati painter", because he has the "character of a literati". (Written on April 25, 2024 in Tokyo "Rakuhosai")