Chinese Art: Shen Zongqian: Part III (Inner Worth and Self-Development)
11. Inner Worth
All things that last have an inner worth and not merely a beautiful exterior. People always like to make good-looking things that please other people. In turn, the artist is pleased by the compliments he receives. This goes in a vicious circle, until the disease becomes incurable.
The beauty of substance is near archaic, whose stuff is like gold and jade, and whose tone is like marsh flowers. The luster is inside which shines forth to the outside. It has a quality of eternal beauty.
An artist who cuts out the superficial and meaningless frills in his work already understands something of the value of substance. He should try to capture the spirit and form of the subject and not labor after exact likeness at the sacrifice of rhythm and of brush-work. Those who wish to conserve substance in their work should first have a broad understanding coupled with fine observation and reinforced with learning and experience. Naturally they will exhibit an archaic beauty and a subtle rhythmic movement. This kind of art will have beauty and a quality which stands looking at again and again. It represents the peak of artistic achievement.
12. Copying the Masters
A student of painting must copy ancient works, just as a man learning to write must study good writing that has come down through the ages. He should put himself in a state of mind to feel as if he were doing the same painting himself. That is the way to learn with profit. Trying to make exact copies would be like plagiarism in writing. After copying one artist, he then should branch out to copy others, and then also feel as if he were breathing through the work himself and identify with what the artist was trying to communicate. Then he can find his own self. First he relies upon others, later he stands by himself.
13. Self-Development
Here I must emphasize that in developing one’s own imagination one must never forget for a moment the ancient principles. Imagination always changes and varies, but the principles never change. As they say, if one has “eaten of the ancients and digested them”, all new ideas may present themselves and one can easily paint in the ancient manner without correction. In regard to the old masters, the artist should copy not his known formulas, but his essential style and atmosphere.
14. Unconscious Rhythm
For the universe is formed by the accumulation of spirit, and this spirit (lingqi 灵气) shows itself in the forms and qualities of the mountains and streams, sometimes placid and broad, sometimes sharp and ragged. It is shown also in the infinitely, surprisingly and varying beauty of movement and connected rhythms and postures, contrasts and reflections. It is possible for an artist to capture this because of his innate spirituality.
For painting is only an art, yet it has the power to create a reflection of the universe itself. As the spirit creates living things in the universe, so in man the same spirit creates pictures. Both the things and the pictures are infinite.
When the artist is ready to start a picture, his mind can plan only the general type of brush-work and composition. Yet as the splash of ink descends upon the paper, guided by the artist’s spirit, it comes out in a myriad forms entirely beyond the original plan of the artist. It comes out one way today and another way tomorrow. If the artist insists on doing what he did yesterday, he cannot do it. The true artist starts out with nothing in his mind, but when his spirit begins to move the brush, forms of objects present themselves on paper. It is the circumstance of the moment, totally unexpected, and hard to explain in words. In a brief moment the depths and heights appear, all well expressed by the brush-work, and the disposition of different objects is perfect too, better than the actual scenery. This is because the grand idea (of the universe) has been thereby expressed.
Commentary:
Outstanding. These observations and their philosophy flow naturally from the great sage Laozi and his Dao De Jing. For the Chinese artists such as Shi Tao and Shen Zongqiao, their works are physical expressions and manifestations of the Dao.