Third, the beauty of Chinese painting cares about the freedom of emotion
(Content compiled from the Internet; illustration: Fan Zeng's works)
Lecture 3
Hao Hao is ignorant and does not know where to go: the beauty of Chinese painting cares about the freedom of mood
The key to painting is to be in a kind of enthusiasm that runs under the high constraints of reason, that is, the freedom of mood, which is the nature of Chinese painting. There is no higher freedom in man's mood than that of an ignorant child, and a child's emotions are absolutely free.
A good work of art is the result of a high degree of rationality and a high degree of perceptual concentration, and the most wonderful result of the combination of reason and enthusiasm, just like the god of light and literature in ancient Greek mythology. Apollo, the god of Apollo's body, is the representative of rational restraint, while Dionysus, the god of wine, is full of darkness, he never lies, he is bright, so he is full of passion and vitality. The key to painting is to be in a kind of height also known as the God of Truth. In the rush of enthusiasm under the constraint of his intellect, which is also in charge of music, medicine, art, and fables in the middle of the limelight, it is the ancient Greek godland - the freedom of mood. Always maintaining the freedom of the mood of one's own soul is the most talented in poetry, and it is also the judge of intention.
What is freedom? There is a saying that goes, "There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people," just as there are a thousand understandings of freedom in the eyes of a thousand people. There are often students who miss class and then tell me that I am the God of Dionysus in Greek mythology. He is "an independent will and a free spirit", but this is not the case. There are three kinds of freedom that not only hold the intoxicating power of wine, but also give pleasure and seed: the freedom of reason, the freedom of contract, and the freedom of the mood of the heart.
Rational freedom is directed at nature, the god of the power to recognize the laws of science, who promoted the civilization of ancient societies and established consciousness. If you follow the laws of nature, you will feel that there is no obstacle, and this is the law of reason, maintaining the peace of the world. In addition, he also protects Yu. For example, if you want to learn to swim, you must have a certain understanding of the nature of water in ancient Greece agriculture and drama. Someone might argue that I don't know physics, but I'm a strong swimmer. The understanding of the law does not necessarily form a theory. The understanding of water, not that you must know how buoyancy is generated, how to calculate, but that you know how to float in the water, this is the use of buoyancy, although you do not understand this theory, but you know the law, on this basis, you may learn to swim, play freely in the water, without feeling restricted.
Freedom of contract is for society, especially for the law, and refers to the observance of social rules such as law and morality. Man is a social animal and cannot live in isolation. In the early days of human society, people needed to form groups to fight against the harm of nature such as flood beasts and continue the race; in the mature period, human beings could not meet the needs of life on their own, even the most basic survival needs, so they depended on society. In social interaction, people cannot do whatever they want, because resources are extremely limited. If everyone lives casually and has no scruples, then there will inevitably be scrambling, struggle, and finally it will become what Hobbes called "the war of all people against all people", the society is in chaos, and in the end no one can survive. Therefore, in order to live in harmony with each other, everyone made some contracts, pointing out the norms that everyone must follow, and in modern society, the most basic contract is the law. In a society governed by the rule of law, as long as you follow the law, you don't feel constrained.
The modal freedom of the mind, on the other hand, is for the individual, freedom without external restrictions. The freedom of mood is that poetry is like a horse on the shore of the sky, and your thoughts are like galloping horses on the shore of the sky, just like Su Dongpo on the river, "as vast as the wind of the void, and do not know what to stop."
Painting is to be in this high degree of modal freedom, which is the nature of Chinese painting. There is no higher freedom in human mood than a child who does not understand things, and the emotions of a child are absolutely free. The famous German philosopher Nietzsche said in "What Zarathustra Said", Zarathustra told the people of the five-colored cow village that life has to go through several stages and several states: at first it is the state of a camel, with a long way to go, walking slowly in the desert without complaint and no regrets; secondly, the state of the lion, the storm, the wind and sand, and the roar of the lion; the third is the state of the naked child. The naked state was later borrowed by Wang Guowei in "Human Words" to study Chinese lexicology, believing that Chinese poets are "those who do not lose the heart of the child", and this heart of the child is exactly what Chinese painting needs.
What is Akako's personality? There are seven points: if it is madness, if it is forgotten, if it is the state of the game, if it is the source of all things, if it is the wheel of rotation, if it is the first push, if it is the self-esteem of the divine.
If crazy also. Some people think that madness must be insane. But it is not so, madness is a state of mental fission. This is not much the same as when we usually say, "This person is crazy", Confucius said, "The madman is enterprising, and the cunning person does not do anything", a person who really has a little madness in his heart is brave and fierce, which is also an advantage in Confucius's view. If you are crazy, it means that you must have the realm of madness, and you must do your best when painting.
If you forget it, the person who draws the painting should be able to put it down, and the chest should be unencumbered, but only paint according to the feeling at that time. If you suffer from both gain and loss all day long, and you are preoccupied with it all day, then you will live in pain. If there is too much pain and entanglement, it is impossible to achieve emotional freedom, and it is impossible to paint good works. Now some young painters, from the beginning of the painting, think that the painting can sell for a good price, which is very ridiculous. The evaluation of the merchant is not an important evaluation, and the auction house is not the future of art.
Qi Baishi has a saying that says it well, "If people want to be praised, Fu Gu also; people want to destroy it, Fu Gu also; and ruin reputation is disregarded." "The painter should paint well by himself, don't care about these things, don't look at all, don't care whether he is shooting, whether he is successful, etc., neither happy nor disappointed, this is the mentality of the real painter."
If the state of the game also. Drawing is like being in a game, enjoying the process of painting with a relaxed heart. If a Chinese painter picks up a brush and is in pain and wants to commit suicide, then it is best not to learn to paint. Learning to draw is because picking up a brush is a happy thing.
If the source of all things also. In the second lecture, we said that when a Chinese painter paints, there is a difference between the bamboo in his eyes, the bamboo in his heart, and the bamboo in his pen. After the bamboo in the pen is formed, it is the source of this thing, a kind of regeneration of the real thing. You are creating, not just ingesting from nature.
If the wheel of rotation also. That is to say, painting must have its own personality, and your actions should be decided by yourself, rather than purely following a model and following an ancient person. Some people paint for society, some people paint for themselves, which is better? Different people have different ideas. I think you have to draw what you want to draw, draw yourself. Someone asked me, which is better to call me a painter, a calligrapher, or a poet? When I say that my name is Fan Zeng, this is more important in my mind than a painter, a calligrapher, a poet. Whether it is my paintings, calligraphy or poetry, in the end, it is to embody Fan Zeng, not to embody Li Kuchan and Qi Baishi.
If the first push also. The "first impulse" was first said by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, and in the Middle Ages, many theologians used it to argue for the existence of God, and Later Newton also used this word. The "first impulse" generally refers to the final purpose and ultimate cause of the movement of things. The same is true of painting, which should be the promoter of people's sense of beauty. After the painting is made, it is necessary to be able to open up the aesthetics of people's vision, do not cliché, and let others see it and feel tired.
If the divine self-esteem also. Through their own works, they fully demonstrate the sacredness of human self-esteem. I like the ink line drawing I painted, although it has not yet been universally appreciated by society, I like splash ink "Zhong Kui", splash ink "Lao Tzu", splash ink "Huang Binhong", splash ink "Einstein", these paintings express what I have dreamed of for many years, and this coincides with an idol I worship in my heart (Bada Shanren). If you look at the paintings of the Bada Shanren, you can see his personality, his personality, the Confucian demeanor, the humble gentleman's style jumping on the paper. In the paintings of the Bada Shanren, you can't see anger, you always relax for it, which is different from Xu Wei, Xu Wei is also a great genius, his paintings are very remarkable, but his paintings always have some failures, there are always some confusions, because he has anger in his heart.
Only by achieving these "seven ruos" can we have the heart of a child and have a high degree of freedom of emotion. What kind of state is modal freedom? There is such a story in "Zhuangzi": "Song Yuanjun will draw pictures, all history will come, stand under the influence, lick pen and ink, and half of the outside." There is a history of those who arrive later, who are not inclined, who are not willing to stand, and who are therefore abandoned. When the minister sees it, he unties the clothes and folds the sleeves, and holds the tube naked. "What song Yuanjun said is that Song Yuanjun asked some painters to paint, and everyone was sitting precariously, standing aside, and finally someone came to perform basic etiquette, and then closed the door to paint inside. Song Yuanjun asked people to see what he was doing, only to find himself naked in the room, and quickly drew intentionally. I say that this is an extreme freedom of mood in China, which is out of the true performance, not to try to pass through this dazzling eye- For myself, the freedom of mood that I have shown is like this: I take a brush, look at the drawing paper, run to the picture, brush a few strokes down and don't know what it is, and then look at it from a distance, this is the character, this is the clothes belt, a deep action comes out, go up, as soon as it is completed, a very good big idea comes out.
This is the state of the true painter. Only when a true artist reaches the realm of selflessness can he have the freedom of the mind that is completely released when he swings. Shi Tao once admired the state of Xin'an Wuzi's paintings, "Whenever he arrived, he counted the wine, took off his towel, screamed several times, sent ten buckets of ink, and the paper would be exhausted"; Huai Su's self-described writing state "suddenly screamed three or five times, and the walls were full of tens of millions of words", and the two people's "screaming" and "absolute screaming" were the songs of forgetting love that returned to nature, they abandoned all the shackles of the world and escaped to the free state of their own hearts.
This is just like Ziqing cutting wood for (it is a musical instrument, belonging to a kind of bell), others see Ziqing made it, they are very surprised, just like nature created, asked its reason, Ziqing said: "The subject will not dare to consume gas, but will be calm." Qi three days, but did not dare to celebrate the reward of Jue Lu; Qi five days, did not dare to cherish the non-reputation of cunning; Qi seven days, suddenly forgot that I have limbs and shapes. When it is also, there is no gong dynasty. Its ingenuity and external bone dissipation, and then into the mountains and forests, looking at nature, forming the body to the end, and then becoming, and then adding hands, otherwise it is already. Then in the name of Trina, the reason why the instrument is suspicious of God is that it is related to! To explain it in simple and popular terms, it is that the mind gradually eliminates the interference and distractions of the outside world, and forgets the profit, name and body in turn, so as to enter the realm of "no waiting", to communicate with the heavens, to view nature with the mind of nature, and to achieve a ghostly work.
Of course, although there is no external constraint on the freedom of the situation, it is not arbitrary, it needs to be constrained by a high degree of reason. I once saw a German painter sitting upright, meditating, next to him stood a waiter with a bucket in his hand and a brush like a broom.
The painter jerked up, picked up the brush, stroked it, and threw the brush a mile away, and it was done. This painting is very visual and impactful, and putting it in any exhibition must be more impactful than other paintings. Why? Its lines are thick and black. But is that good? This is not good. Therefore, the modal freedom of painting must be detached from reason, not rejected.
Of course, this is not to say that the freedom of the mood will necessarily make a good painting. Modal freedom is a state, and there are states at all levels. You can't paint well, maybe you can paint better when you are free of mood; when you become a very good painter, you can paint better with emotional freedom; when you become a big painter, the occasional freedom of mood can make you paint a good work.
Gong pen painting should be pursued from the point of view of intention, not from the cumbersome point of view of pen and ink. Freehand painting should be required from the subtle, not just see the rough side.
Calligraphers and painters are of the same origin, calligraphers and painters, both chasing the great laws of nature and the great beauty of heaven and earth. It can be said that Chinese calligraphers are the forerunners of Chinese painters, and calligraphers' understanding of lines is ahead of painters. Calligraphers express everything in the universe through the most concise way, thickness, speed, thickness, thickness, and lightness can all be used in the pen (the virtual reality of the line, the length, the thickness, the painting theorist. He is good at genre painting and character painting. There is a great deal of meaning for improving Chinese painting, which is the most important relationship in China.
The painting has a calligraphic meaning. If a Chinese painter can't write and calligraphy can't, he definitely can't become an excellent Chinese painter. Nanqi had a great painter named Sheikh. He has six ways of painting. Among them, the first is vivid and vivid; the second is the bone method with a pen. This bone method uses a pen, and in the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yanyuan said in the "Records of Famous Paintings of All Dynasties": "The fu should be in the pictogram, the pictogram needs to pass on its bone qi, and the bone qi and pictogram are all based on the intention, but return to the pen." Whether this painter has a meaning, and finally it must be implemented on the use of the pen, which shows the importance of pen and ink in Chinese painting.
Chinese literati and inkers of all generations have said that books are used to paint. Zhang Yanyuan not only mentioned the importance of using a pen, but also put forward the theory of "calligraphy and painting", believing that "the painter must know the book, and the eight laws of the Ming and the six methods are the transfer of the penmanship". The Eight Laws are the "Eight Laws of Yongzi", that is, the eight strokes of the "Yong" character, side (dot), Le (horizontal), Nu (straight), 趯 (hook), Ce (oblique painting upward), skimming (skimming), pecking (right short apostrophe), and 磔 (捺), representing the general body of Chinese calligraphy strokes. The Six Laws are the Six Laws of Painting of the Sheikh mentioned above, "Who are the Six Dharmas?" First, the rhyme, vivid is also; second, the bone method, with the pen is also; third, the object, the pictogram is also; fourth, with the class, the color is also; fifth, the operation, the position is also; sixth, the transmission, the model is also. "'Vivid rhyme" means that the image portrayed in the work or the whole of the work should have a vivid temperament and charm, full of vitality of life." Bone method with the pen "means that the pen should show the power and beauty of the wind and bone, that is, the strength of the pen". "Object pictogram" means that the painting should be similar to the object reflected, but it must have a breakthrough, not a simple depiction. "Coloring with class means that colors should be divided into categories or even seasonal and climatic conditions, which is a relatively high artistic requirement." "Business position" means that the composition of the object of the picture should have a suitable sense of position. "Transferring mold writing" is simply to have the ability to copy, which is one of the basic skills of painting, and it is not even a creation, so it is placed at the end of the six laws but it is indispensable.
Only by understanding the eight laws of calligraphy can we understand the six laws of painting.
Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty believes that calligraphy and painting are not only the same technique, but also the same essence, as evidenced by poetry: "Stones are like flying white wood, writing bamboo should also be eight methods, if there are people who can do this, you must know that calligraphy and painting are the same." "When the Ming Dynasty calligrapher and painter Dong Qichang lectured on the paintings, when he painted with the method of grass and strange characters, the trees were like bent iron, the mountains were like picturesque sand, and the sweet and vulgar paths were eliminated, but it was for morale. Not to say that even if it is passed, it has fallen into the painter's magic world, and it can no longer be saved. Only by integrating books into paintings can we get rid of the sweet and vulgar atmosphere of the painter's paintings and paint literati paintings with "morale". Literati painting is an important and supreme field of Chinese art, and it is an irreplaceable and great painting in the treasure house of world art. This had a great influence on the painters at that time, many painters integrated the techniques and brushwork of calligraphy into their own paintings, Wu Changshuo even had the words that "the strength of life lies in being able to paint with the method of writing books", he integrated the calligraphy brushwork, chapter method, and posture into the painting, forming a unique painting style with a golden stone flavor. For example, his "Autumn Light" diagram, first use a large pen to pave the gourd, use the center of the seal book to draw chrysanthemums with a stroke, but also use the wild grass brushwork to write the vines of the gourd, and then use a large brush to draw the leaves of the gourd, it is precisely because of the use of various brushwork, so that the picture is ups and downs, the sense of layering is very strong.
The reason why the ancients paid so much attention to the use of the pen is because the pen is the backbone of painting. With the backbone, the veins can be connected, and the flesh and blood can be attached. The penmanship is messy and disorganized, like a high-rise building with unstable foundations, crumbling before it is built, and will one day become a pool of mud.
Pen and ink, pen and ink, pen and ink are not separated, Chinese painting is ink in the pen, ink in the pen. When the penmanship is determined, it is necessary to enrich its spirit with ink. How to use ink? There are two points: first, it is ethereal and does not use much ink; second, it is thick. Once, a graduate student asked me, "Mr. Fan, what is thick?" Is it that the more ink is more than the thickness? I said, "If you paint a place, it is called thick, and if you paint a place, it is not thick."
A Chinese weightlifting champion, big and physical, gritted his teeth and held a pen and ink. I could conclude that he must have been stronger than I was with the brush, but his lines certainly didn't have the same strength as mine. The strength of the line comes from the "wrist strength", but this wrist strength is not the same force that you show when you break your wrist. What is wrist strength? I once said in a book, "Wrist strength, non-horned people also have the power to break the wrist." Chang Ying and Xiao, holding at the end of the pen, hanging in the air, on the two-dimensional plane, with the pen to lift the pressure of the sudden setback, light and heavy virtual reality, showing everything in the three-dimensional space, Si Zhi is called wrist strength... Wrist strength is the power of Dantian Qi from the arm to the wrist, from the wrist to the finger, from the finger to the nerve endings to circulate and break through the reverse fold. ("Shenhui: Fan Zeng and the Bada Shanren") This force is not a physical, physical force, but an inner, qi-yun force, which comes from Dantian. A painter may be weak and can't help the wind, and his things don't use much ink, but you can feel ethereal, elegant, and heavy. You see his paintings calm, no irritability, no feeling of unease. A painter, painting things always make people restless, irritable, looking at his paintings is infuriating, is this a good painter? Of course not. The paintings drawn by good painters make people calm their hearts, willing to calm down and slowly understand, and then think and have some understanding, and have gains, physically and mentally healthy, and embark on a more brilliant life. The pen and ink that can produce such an effect is a good pen and ink. Good pen and ink pursue a harmonious, flushed, quiet realm, and is the master of the restless devil by the god of tranquility in the soul. What is bad pen and ink? Bad ink is the ink that jumps out of the picture, because it is not in a big order, not in the atmosphere you conceive.
The flow and turning of the line itself, the thickness and position of the ink color itself, constitute an important realm of beauty, and they are "meaningful forms". The beauty of form lies in meaning, and the root of Chinese painting lies in the fact that it is freehand, expressive, and vivid. Take Chinese figure painting as an example. Since ancient times, figure painting has emphasized the transmission of gods, Liu Xiang's "Beilu" talks about "painting its image", "Shangshu - Commentary" talks about "writing its image", "Hanshu - Su Wu Biography" talks about "Faqi shape", "Lu Lingguang Temple Endowment" says "writing about its shape" are all in this sense. By the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties, a peak was reached, called "photography". However, this "photo" is not at all the same thing as the photo album that some celebrities are competing to publish, and it emphasizes the similarity of looks and intentions. The word "portrayal", often mentioned in figure paintings, also means this. Li Zehou and Liu Gangji said in the "History of Chinese Aesthetics" that "the concept of 'portrayal' related to 'conveying god' is also related to the concept of 'photography' often said in Buddhism, and 'portrayal' does not mean to paint portraits... In Buddhism, 'illumination' refers to a miraculous and incomprehensible perceptual ability of the mind, which is inseparable from the human spirit... Therefore, 'portrayal' is not the meaning of the general portrait, but to write about the wonderful spirit, wisdom, and spiritual activity of man." The words "conveying god", "photographing" and "portraying" all reflect that Chinese painters are not satisfied with appearance, but aim to pursue the transmission of God.
Some people inevitably ask me, isn't that gongbi painter painting Chinese painting? is a Chinese painting. We look at the brush stroke to pursue from the point of view, rather than dwelling on its cumbersome brush and ink. For example, the Axis of Song Huizong Zhao Tuo's "Red Indigo White Goose Diagram", a red branch rises from the slope, the white goose lies quietly on the shore, leading the neck to look back, the picture is clear, far away, a late autumn killing atmosphere, triggering the infinite feeling of the human spirit, this is the freehand of the brush stroke. To look at freehand painting, we should ask for it from a subtle place, not just see its rough side.
For example, when I paint "Einstein", I start from the pupil of my left eye, because I never draw pencil drafts, and when a pupil is drawn, everyone is surprised that this black dot is what is going on? Then, I draw according to the shape of the eyes, the whites of the eyes, the eyeballs come out, then draw the orbicularis oculi muscles, the eyes come out, the eyebrows come out, and Einstein comes out. If you don't grasp this subtlety, you can't portray it very intently. For another example, when I painted "Huang Binhong", I started from painting glasses, and as soon as the glasses came out, my students were surprised, how come the glasses are so small? Wait until the glasses come out, the eyes come out, until Huang Binhong comes out, everyone understands, I have recreated a Huang Binhong, and what I grasp is not the image of Huang Binhong in the photo, but the image of the outside.
Sketching, according to the object depiction also; conveying the gods, getting the inner quality of the thing also. This is the different realm of painting. However, the transmission of the gods must be based on sketching, Zhang Yanyuan said that "the image must be in the shape", only after tempering, can we abandon the shape of the object in front of us and trace the results of the mind.
In the Song Dynasty Luo Dajing 'Helin Yulu -C Compilation', there is such a story: zeng undoubtedly painted grass worms, and became more refined in old age. Yu Yu asked what it was about? No doubt laughing: "Is there a law to pass on?" When he was a child, he took a cage of grass worms and looked at it, and he did not tire of it day and night. Fearing that his gods would not be finished, he would look at them between the meadows, and so he began to have his heavens. When Fang Qi's pen was written, I didn't know that I was a grass worm? Grass worms for me too? This is no different from the opportunity to create living things, how can there be a way to pass it on! "This was undoubtedly a Painter of the Southern Song Dynasty, especially good at painting grass worms, and the reason why he has a god in his pen is that he observes grass worms day and night, and with this accumulation, he can paint well." Historically, famous painters, without exception, have undergone hard training and study. The fifth generation of Jing Hao entered the Taihang Mountains to write Song Wanben, and began to have the posture of Ling Frost and Proud Snow; Xu Beihong wrote the male lion Junji, painted hundreds of thousands of drafts, and the hairy mane was moving, which was inevitable. Otherwise, there will be a joke. Five generations of huangquan painted birds, necks and legs are outstretched, people with life experience said, "Shrinking the neck will stretch the legs, shrinking the legs will stretch the neck, is there any one who stretches?" Huang Quan was ashamed. Emperor Huizong of Song once ordered the painters in the court to paint "Peacock Rising Pier", and after painting Song Huizong laughed and said: "Wrong." The painters did not know, so the Later Song Huizong pointed out that "if the peacock rises, it must first lift the left", and the painter suddenly realized, because all the paintings are lifted to the right.
The truth of details and the poetic pursuit are precisely the meanings of Chinese paintings "conveying god" and "freehand". Chinese painters always strive to express "inexhaustible meanings beyond words" just right. Deng Chun of the Song Dynasty told such a story in the "Painting Succession": "The subject of the test is like wild water without crossing, the lonely boat is full of days, from the second person below, mostly on the shore of the empty boat, or the heron is in the porthole, or the crow is perched on the back of the canopy; the duqu is not the case, painting a boat of people lying on the tail of the boat, horizontal a lonely flute ..." The Song Dynasty Xuanhe Painting Academy used Kou Zhun's poem "Wild water is not crossed, the lonely boat is full of days" as the title, let the test taker paint. Some paint an empty boat tied to the willow bank, some paint a heron standing on the side of the ship, and some paint a crow perched on the back of the canopy, all thinking that the title of the poem has been buckled, although it is intentionally rendered, but there is no novelty in the end. Only one painter painted a boatman lying on the stern, a lone flute, floating from the stream, anything, and the winner. Without people, the picture may produce a certain sense of desolation, more like the mood of "the cold kurama in front of the door"; "not a boatless person, no pedestrians", which appropriately expresses the idle, quiet, and comfortable pastoral picture contained in the poem. This is the realistic freehand of Chinese painting.
Chinese painting is based on the intention and returns to the use of the pen. Only through long-term accumulation, a deep grasp of the object of the painting, and then use the pen in the hand to write its charm, can make a good painting.