Fu Baoshi

Recently, foreigners' criticism of China's national character is always inseparable from saying that China is a "self-respecting" and "arrogant" nation. They don't know that China people's "self-esteem" and "arrogance" are justified. To some extent, we should also maintain this good national character of "self-esteem" and "arrogance". Today's China is in urgent need, which is of great significance.

Art alone, the essence of its ancient development and creation, is hard to find in the world, let alone in the East. On that day, when I was still inviting China people to take charge of foreign affairs, we had already eaten the art of the western regions. Spit out the brilliant flowers of Tang and Song Dynasties. Egypt is the oldest. But if we compare that clumsy description with the jade and bronze wares of our three generations, according to his relics, it is impossible for him to develop at the same time as the three generations. In the "bronze age", which nation can get such a magnificent, great and indescribable treasure? Although one or two things have been left behind, their value is nothing except the study of Moho by archaeologists and the objects themselves. But there is no doubt that the Chinese nation has made the greatest and most advanced creation in the world art history. Although many scholars insist that our ancient treasures were learned indirectly from Persia and stolen directly from India, in a word, it is useless to say that we China people, but this is nothing more than because our treasures are too expensive, scaring them to say nothing. Seeing how poor and weak China is, they still have to say, "What can China do? The three biographies of tortoise shell bronze wares in Spring and Autumn Annals are completely forged. What else can you Han people do? "

Although, despite their insults, if someone gives them a porcelain of Tongzhi Year or a carved lacquer of Qianlong Year, it is guaranteed to play an incredible role in his mind and have a deep admiration for him. Is this stolen from Britain and France again?

Let's take a look at the oriental art system diagram. The so-called "ancient school", "Greek school", "Indian school" and "China school" are actually only two schools: China and India. If the Chinese nation had not assumed the responsibility of absorbing, melting and creating, would there still be art in North Korea? Are there any fine arts in Japan? How many steps has the "Indian system" taken? Regarding these theories, let's leave them alone for the time being. In short, we are saying that it is not an exaggeration for the Chinese nation to organize East Asian art, and it is a well-deserved ancestor of East Asian art..

The uniqueness of our Chinese nation lies in that as long as we meet other cultures, we can not only know everything, but also create a better culture than others. Art historians generally refer to China's period from the Three Kingdoms to the Five Dynasties (about 2000- 1000) as the "Buddhist Art Age" (Hirth's in Germany) or "Classical Age" (Bushell's in Britain) or "Western Region Art Grabbing Age" (Tadashi Ito in Japan), and do not talk about the art after that time alone. I can give a very simple example to prove that this statement is not accurate. China's fine arts are really influenced by many Indians. But we must understand that these influences were cleaned up by the clever brain of the Chinese nation in the early Six Dynasties. For example, Zhang Kaizhi's Vimal in disguise and Infinite Life Buddha are all Indians? Is there one in India? Are the Maitreya Buddhas in Buddhist caves such as Yungang, Longmen and Gongxian like India with their feet crossed? Is the statue of Maitreya in India hung with feet crossed or side by side? There are countless examples of this. One or two scholars think that China people are too unpredictable, so they try their best to drag out the predecessor of Buddhist art in China from Buddhist classics. He seemed to be in tears, cursing and saying, "How clever China is! What India doesn't have will be built! Look! " Where in India is the round light behind the head of a bodhisattva? "We don't deny that people are so sarcastic, which is what we are happy to see. What is art? What is Buddhist art? The ancient fine arts of Korea and Japan are descendants of China's fine arts, but it cannot be said that Korea and Japan do not have their own fine arts. All this is a particularly great performance of the Chinese nation in art! It is the most brilliant page in the history of world art!

Just creating, it is impossible to create badly; It is not enough to just absorb and swallow. The Chinese nation has made great achievements to prove its highest culture. One thousand years before the era, we could make "forms" and "patterns" that are still regarded as standards even after five thousand years. Grape grain always says that it is foreign goods, but "moire", "thunder", "plain" and "gluttonous" are always made by ourselves! Moreover, the shape is well prepared, the craftsman is perfect, and the words will be engraved on the bricks! Will put a pair of birds, standing on the back of the tortoise as lamps! The eaves can fly! Columns can be carved! Everything related to life is not beautifully designed. It is not surprising that the Great Wall of Wan Li, built by Qin Shihuang to prevent the Hu people, is unparalleled in its grandeur?

Painting is a little later than technology. In ancient books, I don't believe the story of Shun Di's sister and the legend that "Cang Xie writes books and paints in stone". There are many ancient paintings of the Han Dynasty that can be seen today. The stone carvings of Wuliang Temple in Xiaotangshan are not easily available to European painters with the most developed designs in the 20th century, but the figures on a China portrait brick are enough to surprise modern painters in the East and the West. Hidden in the cupboard of the British Museum in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Gu Kaizhi's "A Woman's History" is a fourth-century painting with graceful and dignified characters and elegant lines. We don't know what figure painting in Europe was like at that time. In addition, it is said that there are still thirteen statues of Yan in the Tang Dynasty, the world-famous statues of emperors, in Linjia, Fujian (about Liang Hongzhi Temple). This rare treasure, the golden age of painting in the early Tang Dynasty, has been fully displayed. There is a portrait in the Japanese palace, in the middle, with Big Brother Wang and Chestnut Wang on the left and right. This painting has indeed been studied by many people. According to the old temple, it was painted by Prince Azo of Baekje, Japan. Many people don't think so, saying that the costume system of Shoto Kutaishi Statue is an "ancient musical instrument of the country"! But beyond that, there is no second painting, which forces Xiao. Did it fall from the sky? Gentlemen who seek truth from facts have to doubt and praise Yan's statues of emperors in previous dynasties. Because Yan's "Statues of Emperors in Past Dynasties" also painted the emperor in the middle and the courtiers and maids on both sides. Therefore, the origin (layout or brushwork) of Shoto Kutaishi Statue is inextricably linked with Yan's Statues of Emperors in Past Dynasties.

The flowers and birds introduced to Song Huizong in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, that is, the colors restored today, are printed on the paintings of ordinary Japanese primary school students. But don't say China's, say "there was an emperor named Zong more than 800 years ago". Hui Zong's paintings, regardless of flowers and birds, landscapes, and various departments, have outstanding figures, shining with the light of history! One hundred and twenty years after crossing the south, with a loud noise, the Mongols made up their minds about the world. They pitied the painters at that time, endured mental pain and tried their best to express their anguish, loneliness and anger to pen and ink! Huang Wang Gong, he shouted the slogan "I am willing to paint" to stimulate those unscrupulous elements. Ni Yunlin once said, "My painting is only sketchy. I just want to talk about it." ! The true face of this artist is also the antithesis of contemporary society. Let's take a look at the scenery of Ni Yunlin, what kind of realm exists! Among the four great families in Yuan Dynasty, Wang Meng went to Tai 'an for his mother's uncle. In the history of painting, although he is brilliant, sometimes he cannot escape harsh criticism. In the Ming dynasty, it was a product of the times, stable and interesting. As for Badashanren and Momordica Charantia monks in the early Qing Dynasty, are their actions and pen and ink just a matter of one mountain, one water, one flower and one bird? In particular, Shi Tao's poems, Plum Blossom and Adherents are often used. After 300 years, should we express our heartfelt respect to these national artists?

Carved relics, such as Tianlong Mountain in Yungang County and most other Buddhist grottoes, I really don't know how to accept the respect and worship of geometric people. Oriental solid is the first art, which has never been seen in the west. You know, these tens of thousands of stone buddhas were created by our ancestors over the years. If no great nation can do it, Yungang will not be allowed to monopolize an oriental sculpture history now.

This countless heritage is the sustenance of the Chinese national spirit. With these heritages, the Chinese nation can be proud of world art, and it is worthwhile for others to spend a long time studying a piece of paper or a stone thousands of miles away.

But what is the status of China's fine arts in the world? This can be divided into two aspects: on the one hand, with the relationship between different nationalities, you will naturally come into contact with works of art whose "shape" and "color" are absolutely different from your own. Or have a certain intention (for example, for handicrafts), so some people study hard. These people really hold China's fine arts higher than the sky. On the one hand, as far as the evaluation of works of art is concerned, China's works of art, ranging from a mountain to a hole to a fan and a wine glass, have an indescribable unique realm. This realm is the realm of the Chinese nation, the realm of the East and one of the two realms in the world. Therefore, we have clearly drawn a line with European art, which goes hand in hand.

Their paintings are a combination of "color" and "face"; China's paintings are symphonies of "lines" and "points". Accustomed to urban civilization, they now need dry and clear stimulation, which has been well proved in painting. However, out of appreciation interest or ability, some people are happy to see the rigor of Tang and Song Dynasties, while others are happy to see the idleness of Yuan people.

Most of their sculptures are nude; China's sculpture, put on more clothes. The curve of the human body is beautiful, but the clothes are floating and faintly visible. Isn't it beautiful? Most of their materials are metal and stone; China's materials are mainly wood, mud, hemp and lacquer, which is the difference caused by various environments.

China's fine arts, regardless of architecture, sculpture, painting and technology, have made great contributions to creation, which is also an unprecedented development in the world in theory. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was Gu Kaizhi's On Painting, and in the Southern Qi Dynasty, there was Sheikh's On Six Laws. When such a perfect painting theory appeared in the fourth and fifth centuries, it was an amazing success. For example, Gu Kaizhi said, "It is the most difficult for a painter to paint landscapes, dogs and horses and pavilions. It is easy to be good when it is difficult to achieve, and it is wonderful to be unmoved. " Wang Wei said: "The purpose is extreme, so what we see is not thorough;" As a result, it is too empty to use a tube of pens; How thorough and reasonable it is to judge the body and draw a clear picture of the eyes! Art is not like science. You don't have to look at theory to make it, and you don't have to have theory to make a work. However, world art historians often belittle others and praise themselves. I think these exquisite works deserve to be published specially. No matter what prejudice they have, they can't be shaken slightly.

On the other hand, the term "China Fine Arts" is a bit confusing. Its meaning seems to add a layer of restrictions. The so-called "China fine arts" in Europe and America include at most before the family. Not many people have been to China at that time. They just accepted the baptism of China's fine arts from some cloth teachers or businessmen. The Japanese don't say the word "China Fine Arts" at all. Although it is an atlas or treatise, it is China's art or research from the preface of the copyright page, but its general name is "the East", or "the ancient art of zhina", which is placed between India and North Korea. For this phenomenon, we should understand the western and Japanese views on China's art, and if possible, they'd better not mention it. There is a simple reason.

Isn't that China art despised by the world? Sure! Who will say a good word to us China people in this era of national competition? As a matter of fact, we have long known that there are a group of "China hands" selling China's fine arts to make a living by talking about China's fine arts! To be more specific, China's art is so good that everyone who doesn't want to talk about it will talk about it. What's more, China's art should be used as a different kind. The passenger list printed on the mail ship of Diners Company in the United States is also decorated with the Buddha statues of the Six Dynasties in China, and the worthless camphor box in Jiangxi will become the supreme work of art in Chicago. Needless to say, Japanese artists have never studied China's fine arts, so it is very difficult to be an artist. In recent years, the cover of Ueda's "Zhina Arts and Crafts Illustration" is eleven characters: "Zhina Arts and Crafts that shocked the world". This also shows the strength and position of China's national art in the world.

The development of China's national art is like a winding line, which twists and turns with the strength of artistic departments and national consciousness. We should study the traces of its tortuous development and the reasons for its rise and fall, so as to make reference for the future national art construction.

Art is a mirror of society. Everything dominates its occurrence, growth, or extinction, so that it has to follow the same step and advance and retreat at the same time. As mentioned above, the earliest developed art in China is craft, such as jade and bronze, and exquisite works have appeared in three generations. Because the imperial court set up the Jade House, many people who cut jade were invited to engage in research and production, and bronzes also had systems, shapes and sizes, and so on, all with certain standards. Under the guidance of this unified organization, it was a period of extremely prosperous technology. Later, Qin and Han dynasties inherited three generations of organized macro-rules, which became a great and beautiful outline of Chinese national independence, and its modeling style became more and more complicated, meeting the needs of life. Painting can also prove its ups and downs in this way that can only be developed under unity. Tang and Song Dynasties, the golden age of painting, had the good art of Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, which gave birth to many exquisite painters in ancient and modern times, the prosperity of landscape painting, the transformation of Li Sixun Buddha painting and Wu Daozi. Isn't this all due to Xuanzong? The Song Dynasty deserves our admiration. Hui Zong not only expanded the organization of the Hanlin Painting Academy, but also allowed senior officials to take painting exams. At that time, how many civil servants and military attaché s could not open their papers? Because of this, by the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty, the number of talents and the speed of development were of course beyond the reach of Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, that is, how can the Jin and Six Dynasties compare? Secondly, sculpture, the prosperity of Buddhist statues in Sui and Tang Dynasties, and Youchong Buddhist Temple in Liang Wudi are something we can't forget. As for the last three Qing dynasties in Kangyong, it was not a reward from the imperial court, so the art history of China can be divided into the Ming Dynasty as the last stage. Now we have the most abundant and reliable artistic reference materials, most of which are the results of these three dynasties.

Now we believe that the construction of China national art is to undertake the mission of the times first, and then there is art at all; It is a tendency to create unity, and there will be "broad", "solemn" and "forever" gains. The traces of our past are clearly in front of our eyes. The ancients said, "Remember the past and learn from the future." What is the mission of China's fine arts today? What is the tendency of unification? The former can look at the art in recent decades and naturally find the way to go. The latter is to assess the current priorities and decide which one to take. How to get there?