Chapter 70 "Joy and Praise" Worthy of Joy and Praise

When I was a student, I read a sentence that my predecessors commented on Xie Lingyun, saying: "Xie's five-character poems are like hibiscus, naturally lovely." I felt that such a beautiful sentence was even more moving than Xie's poem itself. Later, when I read the words, I saw that Wang Guowei used Wen Feiqing's own sentence "painting a golden partridge" to describe his own style.He also used the same method to describe Wei Zhuang and Feng Yanji (taking their sentences as "Huang Ying Yu on the String" and "Trying Yan Makeup with Tears"). After reading it for the first time, he found it incredible, but he also thought Great, don't think there's anything wrong with that.

When I come into contact with Western literary criticism, I can't help but be shocked by the beauty of the sky. Such a detailed analysis is really quite satisfactory, and every minute comparison must be made.A young man's heart can't help but fall in love at first sight, and suddenly, people become heavy.It seems that the sentence "There is no literary criticism in China" is directed at me.At that time, newspapers and magazines gradually noticed that academic criticism gradually replaced perceptual comments. The so-called perceptual comments only need to memorize about twenty or so idioms, and there will be no disadvantages.When talking about mountains and rivers, it is said to be "amazing", when talking about food, it is "fat but not greasy", when talking about literature, it is "fresh and touching", when talking about vocal musicians, it is "free to retract and release", and "the lingering sound is lingering". "It is the mantra that must be sacrificed when discussing calligraphy and painting. ——In that era, all the reviews were rare that did not come from the same mold. The only difference was that the cigarette or betel nut vendors sold whoever occupied the seat first.

The so-called academics are just provoking another set of terms.That set of terminology is relatively inscrutable, and English is commonly used, and Latin and Greek must be added when necessary.And there must be an annotation in five steps, and an original text in ten steps (the so-called original, of course, cannot refer to the original Chinese text).Critics in that era who were obsessed with madness could not help being ashamed of their articles being understood. On the whole, critics in that era were still street vendors, the difference being that the stalls sold foreign tobacco and wine.

A few years ago—about five or six years ago, there was a foreigner who was very interested in art criticism. After staying in Taiwan for a while, he once made a statement that he thought was "shocking". He first thought that there was no art criticism in Taipei. Therefore, it is difficult to improve art. He even cited Lin Huaimin as an example, saying that almost all the artists in Taipei are his friends. Where can he go to accept severe criticism?Without harsh criticism, how can he improve? The words are so convincing that I can't help but calm down and think about this issue.

It is not wrong to say that China has no criticism in the Western sense.Just as Hu Shi believes that China lacks "philosophy" defined by Greece. Criticism is more or less related to the development of commercial society. The reason why Aristotle wrote the book "Poetics" and became the originator of Western criticism is because the works of the three major dramatists before him were completed. He was happy to follow behind to criticize.The three major dramatists were produced under the sale of tickets (if there are poor people who cannot afford tickets, there are other auxiliary measures) and the "Best Play Laureate Award".It is quite obvious that people have to pay for a ticket before they can speak.Otherwise, like Liu Jiujiu receiving Bai Juyi's poem "It's like snow in the evening, can I have a drink?" Never think about criticism, (if you read a poem in a magazine that you are not satisfied with, you may scold a few words because You have the right to think that the poem is too bad, and I’m sorry for the money to buy the magazine.) Another example is that a friend gives you a painting, saying that it is for you to "fill the wall" (paste the broken wall), and more modestly say that his poems will leave you "Covered ampoule" (opened to seal the mouth of the jar), at this time, what right do you have to criticize others?As for Zhong Ziqi listening to Boya playing the piano, he didn’t spend a penny, just stood outside the window and eavesdropped—this kind of listening method can only mutter to himself: "This is a high mountain." "This is flowing water." Or relying on the sixth sense , Knowing that the player who plays the piano must have non-Zen.As for talking about criticism, it doesn’t make sense. He is not a professional piano player, and he didn’t ask you to listen to it. Criticism has become a matter of fact. Cheng Zhi, he himself is a urchin, how can future generations comment on it?

Although China also has the characters for "criticism" and "criticism", but in terms of art, the character critique makes people think of "criticism", and the character "commentation" makes people think of "commentary novels". For literati who regard art as a "remaining matter", it is difficult to make professional requirements and precise criticisms, just because viewing art as a "remaining matter" has its own advantages, and it is not necessary to think that it lacks Western definitions There's nothing wrong with criticizing.

Of course, the Chinese also discuss poetry, which is not called criticism, but "Shihua" ("Cihua" and "Quhua" also have the same meaning).The ones discussing paintings are "Records of Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties" (Zhang Yanyuan), "The History of Paintings" (Guo Ruoxu), "Hua Ji" (Deng Chun) or "Essays on Painting Zen Room" (Dong Qichang).Those discussing music and drama are called "Record Ghost Book" (Zhong Sicheng) or "Gu Qu She Tan" (Wu Mei). The entire literature, art and music have never been stagnant because of criticism that lacks Western meaning. On the contrary, these essays Or casually chatting works with a whisk in hand, it is normal to assist the progress of Chinese art.

In recent years, due to the awareness of local culture, critical literature has gradually returned from the far-fetched and one-sided Western system.Among them, Professor Kang Laixin's discussion of novels and dramas, and Professor Jiang Xun's discussion of fine arts, all returned to the grace and harmony of the poetic discourse system after reflecting and accepting the Western model, and insisted on mosaicing and wiping the sharp sword of criticism that cuts iron like mud. Polished into a gorgeous dance tool, the sword as a tool is not necessarily used to cut and kill, but can be used between point chopping and retracting, to resolve doubts and doubts with wisdom, and compare one stroke, one move, one style, all of which are unique in their own way.

I recently read Jiang Xun's "Joy and Praise", and I really want to say a few words about his "artistic talk": I can get rid of ignorant "perceptual criticism" and boring "academic criticism", and enter this new coordination. , for creators and appreciators, it should be a matter of joy and admiration. The author's "historical background" has a very obvious influence on his artistic outlook. For a nation full of historical sense like China, those who do not understand history can almost be regarded as "half illiterate". Jiang Xun's "historical sense" makes him His aesthetic system has a kind of "traveling to the poor place of the water" with a sense of profound exploration, as well as the mysterious mystery that can only be seen in the tranquility of "sit and watch the clouds rise".

In terms of categories, this book includes general art theory ("Tolstoy said: the art of the future...") architecture and gardens ("Hiding Sumeru in Mustard Seed") dance ("Cloud Gate's New Stage", "My Dancing Shadow") Messy) Drama ("Dolls and People", "Something Is Castrated" (Recreating the Climax of the Camel in Drama") Ping Opera ("Buqiao") Photography ("Knowing Our Land and People") Sculpture (" Joy and admiration", "Various Sculptures", "Crowds and Crowds", painting ("Painting Taiwan into Chinese Landscape", "Sorrowful and Beautiful") movies ("Watching Early Chinese Movies") music ("Long Road, Far Away, Soul Flying" ), etc., if you want to describe it as complex, it is okay. In fact, if this "Joy and Praise" can be seen in conjunction with "Meditation on Beauty" published last year, it will be more ideal, and the depth and direction of the author's thoughts can also be more comprehensive. The context is clear.

Judging from the article "Tibetan Sumeru in Mustard Seeds" (the title itself is derived from Buddhist metaphors, which can already be seen as a localized criticism), the author aims to discuss the spirit of gardening in Suzhou, but in terms of materials, he starts with The Metropolitan Museum of New York started the grand event of building Suzhou gardens, and then talked about Chinese architecture first—he said that gardens are flexible spaces extended from buildings, and in order to talk about architecture, he talked about the status and division in Confucianism.In the end, he finally convinced readers that the specifications and scales of Chinese architecture come from Confucian ideas, while the Yixing Trent Fei of his forest garden comes from Taoism.It is unbelievable that, with a twist, the article ends in a startling observation. The following selected clips may be able to further present the ups and downs of the "beauty transmission method": As simple as a two-room private house, as complicated as the emperor's Sangong and Liuyuan, if we are not disturbed by the external decoration, we can probably find that the common principle among them is: a clear central axis, The order of symmetry is a simple basic space unit, with infinite expansion and continuation in terms of quantity.What it emphasizes is not the difference and change of each individual unit, but the relationship position of the same individual unit in the building group. Here, it does not so much emphasize the characteristics of individual buildings and individual buildings. , rather it emphasizes the order among groups. This type of building, anyone who walks in will know where he is. Its advantage is that it gives people a sense of security. Individuals retreat into the group, with the entire group as the backing, which reduces the individual's hesitation in the face of fate. With the feeling of loneliness, it regulates the behavior of individuals with strict order, so that there is no possibility for individuals to express themselves arbitrarily. We see that in such a building, individuals feel safe, orderly, stable center of gravity, clear and unchangeable relationship, but at the same time, individual individuality is sacrificed, and individual characteristics are suppressed. In the process, I feel a kind of distress of being arranged and determined everywhere, and sometimes I want to destroy this order and escape from this order. The Chinese fled from the human relations order of Confucianism and constructed another world for themselves, which is the nature of Taoism. This made us astonished, completely violated the rules of daily concepts, and shattered the immutable logic of thinking that we were used to. This is the source of what Liu Dunzhen said: "the contrasting technique of transforming small and large spaces", and it is also the source of Chinese classical poems and landscape paintings. And other literati arts, including the most fundamental aesthetic credential in the time and space of drama and architecture. If we want to find the central axis, balance, symmetry, and order of Confucian love in the garden, we will be completely lost.Gardens, like the philosophy of Taoism, liberate people from the strict order of human relations, allowing each individual—not a group—to face nature alone and gain a sense of relaxation.The repressed part of Confucianism in ethics can be developed in nature. In the world of Confucianism, we always have to find a position to place ourselves properly, but in the garden, what is reflected is no longer the order of the world, but the depth of the way of heaven. The purpose of quoting the original text above is nothing more than to let readers see the author's meticulous style, skill in explaining phenomena, and national sentiment beyond professional knowledge. In addition, the fragment analyzing the beauty of Buddhist sculptures in the article "Joy and Praise" can also be regarded as an excellent prose. When I went to Japan, every time I would go to the museum in Ueno. On the right side of the entrance hall, there is a spacious room displaying several Buddha sculptures from different regions from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty.I especially like a headless Bodhisattva, which is a work of Tianlong Mountain. It is comfortable and comfortable with one foot falling down. Although it has no head, it shows the awe-inspiring and inviolable human dignity and bearing in that calm sitting posture. I often sit for several hours, facing those broken bodies, as if reunited with long-lost relatives, I sit facing each other. At the time of parting, the bitterness and loneliness of each are unspeakable, and they just flow quietly. Wordless tears. The severed bergamot looks plump and plump. Many students do sketches and use western light and shadow processing methods to convey its volume and sense of volume. However, comparing with the original work, it can be found that the thick and full hand reveals the beauty of lines everywhere. And slender, like orchid leaves luxuriant, full of beauty on all sides.We went around it, and this hand was like a blooming lotus. In order to cover everything in posture, we did not hesitate to change the realism of the hand and exaggerated the lines at the fingers; On the one hand, the exaggerated fingertips open up another arc in the opposite direction to the nails, giving the hand a "blooming" posture like a flower.When the flowers bloom to the limit, the coquettish, snaky, and charming responses of the posture are often a kind of self-sufficient circle, indeed covering every aspect. This bergamot of the Tang Dynasty blooms in front of us with such beauty. The method used to describe the performance process of Cloud Gate Dance Theater in Meinong Town, where the Hakka people live in the south, is almost fictional—of course, it may be more like "Ancient Yuefu", like the simple and unadorned "sunrise southeast corner" The author also sees the whole performance from the eyes of a bean peeling woman: Meinong, a town with a population of only 58,000, is surrounded by the beautiful hills of Chading, Moonlight, and Dawu. The Meinong and Nong streams meandering past, irrigated a piece of green rice seedlings and tobacco leaves.From time to time, a heron flies by, as if deliberately using its clean and flawless white feathers to guide you to see the dazzling green around here. Most of the houses in the old streets of the town have bamboo curtains hung on their doors, with blue cloth borders and red flowers and leaves painted in the middle. A Hakka woman in an old-fashioned Tang shirt with wide-brimmed rolls opened the bamboo curtain and looked outside.The bright April sunshine in southern Taiwan made her squint slightly. However, she still came to the courtyard. Through the short earthen wall, I saw several neighbors' women and children standing on the street, talking enthusiastically.A large piece of red paper was pasted on the notice board on the wall, and a few flamboyant characters read: Cloud Gate Dance Theater, performed on April 18th at Meinong Junior High School.Ticket Office: Shanghai Feed Shop. As April 18 was approaching, this usually peaceful town had a little bit of excitement and commotion different from the past. "Cloud Gate Dance Theatre", the woman thought when she returned home to listen to it: "What exactly is the Cloud Gate Dance Theater?" There is a saying in Tang Dynasty Wei Zhuang's words that "April 17 is exactly the day of last year". Because of such a heavy and plain record, April 17, which was more than a thousand years ago, is still immortal.And the April 18th in Meinong Town in a certain year recorded by Jiang Xun should also be an eternal picture. Jiang Xun’s art criticism has another valuable feature. Generally speaking, art cannot be separated from artists. Artists are human beings, and art criticism is human beings. There is inevitably the pressure of friendship between people. However, Jiang Xun’s commentary method is more For "things" not "people".What is discussed is the common big phenomenon, rather than individual success or failure. For example, when discussing Shiy Dejin's paintings, the focus is on how to give new meanings to new landscapes, and how to use new techniques to convey new landscapes.The scope of the discussion stretches as far as the painters and painting theories since the Five Dynasties. The grandeur and depth of emotion are beyond human reach.Being free from "friendly support" and "enemy attack", and being able to establish Chinese aesthetic theory bit by bit at the same time, should be the success of Jiang's style of art criticism. The materials quoted below are on Shiy Dejin's An example of "affairs" as the axis of painting achievements: Fan Kuan's "Traveling in Streams and Mountains" is a masterpiece. It depicts the mountains in the Guanzhong area of ​​Shaanxi, rising abruptly from the North China Plain.This is the characteristic of landscape painting in the Northern Song Dynasty. At that time, the main area of ​​painters' activities was the North China Plain.From the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty, the northern territory was lost to the Jin Dynasty, the political center moved southward, and most of the painters moved to the south of the Yangtze River.Faced with the new mountains and rivers, the old techniques are no longer applicable. Lazy people still use the old-fashioned way of painting the mountains of the North China Plain to paint the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River. Naturally, it is difficult to move people, and they are gradually eliminated.Serious painters and creative painters face new challenges, strive to observe nature, and summarize new compositions from real landscapes. New textures and new painting styles have gradually emerged. The south of the Yangtze River is an area with many rivers. The vertical scroll paintings of the Northern Song Dynasty are very good at painting mountains, but it is not necessarily suitable to describe long rivers.As a result, there have been more forms of scrolls and banners, making me feel like I am on a boat. The feeling of going down the river, visually, turns towering into flat and wide.Rivers replaced mountains as the subject of landscape painting, or, at least, shared the world with them. Changes in the geographical environment have had such a major impact on the changes in Chinese landscape painting. Later, when I studied Zhejiang in the late Ming Dynasty, I also focused on the relationship between his painting style and the stone structure of Huangshan Mountain in Anwei. When I was in France, I once saw a copy of twelve album pages painted by Ma Yuan in the Southern Song Dynasty. All of them were painted with water. It was probably a sketch for students, showing the characteristics of the ripples of twelve rivers.I was very moved after seeing it, and I thought: As the first generation of painters who are establishing their homes in the south, Ma Yuan needs to work harder to shape the new mountains and rivers in this piece of painting!A river, due to the texture of the mountain soil and the steepness of the slope, may affect the turbidity of the water quality and the speed of the flow velocity, and the ripples it produces are also different.The painter observes one river after another, keeps experimenting, and finally summarizes the turbidity of the texture and the slowness of the flow velocity into an accurate line. He starts from "getting things" and establishes his rich and vast world of mountains and rivers.Looking at this set of albums, I seem to have endless respect for such painters.However, I am also worried. I wonder if Ma Yuan’s students will get lazy after getting such a drawing, stop looking at the real river, stop observing and analyzing nature seriously, and just draw according to the pattern The painting of the gourd makes a rich line that was originally generalized, and finally leaves a form, which is just a meaningless symbol. What I am more worried about is whether someone will still use this line to draw Zhuoshui River and Danshui River from Jiangnan to Taiwan hundreds of years later, so that our landscape world has not been updated and developed, and Taiwan—— ——The new mountains and rivers in Chinese paintings will never enter Chinese history. Since "Admiration for Joy" is a book worthy of "Admiration for Joy", it is as above for "Admiration for Joy".