Chapter 44 plantains in the snow

Wang Wei has a painting "Plantain in the Snow", which is a very controversial painting in the history of Chinese painting. He painted a green plantain in the heavy snow.Heavy snow is only found in the cold regions of the north, and plantains are tropical plants in the south. "How can a plantain not die in the heavy snow?" "Only take the distant spirit, not stick to the details." Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan" quoted Zhang Yanyuan as saying: "Wang Wei's paintings don't ask about the four seasons, peach, apricot, lotus, and the same scene."

But people who liked Wang Wei in later generations defended him more. Song Dynasty Zhu Yi's "Yi Jue Liao Miscellaneous Notes" said: "You Cheng is right, the outside of the ridge is like Qujiang, it snows heavily in winter, plantains are calm, and red bananas are blooming. Seniors are meticulous." Yu Bian of the Ming Dynasty wrote "Shanqiao Xiayu" about this matter, and also said that the governor Guo Hung was in Guangxi: "I have seen plantains in the snow, and the snow is not bad." Wang Kentang of the Ming Dynasty In order to defend Wang Wei, "Yugangzhai Bizhen" cited two examples. One is a poem by Xu Yuhao, a poet of the Liang Dynasty: "Pull out the broken heart in Gucui, and play in the winter after Zhiwan. The branches are blown by the wind The color is broken, the leaves are stained with snow and stand by the lonely" to prove that there are plantains in the snow.One is when Lu Wenyu of Songjiang lived in the Jianyang mansion, "It was snowing heavily in central Fujian, and the four mountains were white, but a plantain plant, reflecting the white wall across the river, was in full bloom with red flowers. It was named Canna, because it was covered with snowflakes to cover the real environment."

This turned out to be very strong evidence that there were plantains in the snow in central Fujian, but Yu Zhengxie's (Kui's manuscript) in the Qing Dynasty overturned the verdict. , although it exists in Fujian and Guangxi, how can it be tolerated in the extremely snowy place in Youchengguan?" Xie Zhaozhe also put forward an argument based on this, saying: "Painting is like writing poetry. If you are not careful, there will be paper leakage.  … ...Draw Zhaojun and have a curtain hat, draw Ershu and have awns jumping, draw Tao Mu with her hair cut and wear a golden tame, draw Han Gaozu's passing and have a monk, draw a bullfight and raise her tail, draw a flying goose and show her head and feet , Painting throwing dice and shouting six are all criticized by those who know, and it will be a waste of time.” Qi Qi believes that no matter what kind of painting he makes, he must fully pursue realism, including environmental, historical, and even geographical factors.

I sorted out the many discussions about a painting by Wang Wei. Everyone’s words are very reasonable. It’s a pity that Wang Wei has passed away long ago. Lots of arguments and annoyances. I think that Wang Wei may not have such serious thoughts when he made this painting. He was just painting. In the real world, maybe "snow" and "plantain" really cannot coexist, but why not in the painting? I remember a Zen conversation recorded in "Chuan Deng Lu": Lawyer Liuyuan asked Zen Master Huihai: "Do you still work hard when you practice Taoism?" The master said: "Eat when you are hungry, and sleep when you are tired."

Liuyuan asked again: "Do all people always work hard like a teacher?" The master said: "It's different. He refuses to eat when he eats. He has all kinds of needs, and he refuses to sleep when he sleeps. He cares about everything." This Zen saying can be used as a commentary for Basho in the snow. In the eyes of the great poet, painter, and musician Wang Wei, artistic creation is as natural as "eat when you are hungry, and sleep when you are sleepy". When people see his creations, they are not so natural. They must fight to the death for plantains in the snow. This group of people is exactly "refusing to eat when eating, having all kinds of needs, refusing to sleep when sleeping, and thinking about everything." ".Therefore, after thousands of years, we only know Wang Wei, and the people arguing for him are gone like sandstorms, without a trace.I don't want to reverse the case of "there are plantains in the snow", but I think that in this case, the people of the past dynasties are only arguing about geographical issues, and cannot really touch the inner world of Wang Wei's paintings. That is to say, there are two possibilities: one is There are really plantains that Wang Wei saw with his own eyes, which is a work of depicting scenery, and the other is that there are no plantains in the snow. Wang Wei combined them with his superhuman imagination as a work of allegory.That is to say, "those who are good at drawing things, don't

"Paint by hand, but draw with heart". Wang Wei is a rare genius in the history of Chinese literature, painting and music. In the history of literature, he is as famous as the poet Li Bai and the poet Du Fu, and is called the "Poetry Buddha".In the history of painting, he is as famous as Li Sixun. Li Sixun is the "ancestor of the Northern School", and Wang Wei is the "ancestor of the Southern School". "Yu Lun Pao" is famous as a public official.At the age of fifteen, Wang Wei wrote "Poems on My Friend's Mica Obstructed Son" and "Passing the Tomb of the King of Qin". At the age of sixteen, he wrote "A Journey to Luoyang Daughter". At the age of 19, he completed the poems "A Journey to Taoyuan" and "Li Lingyong"...all of them are classics of Chinese poetics. At the age of 19, Wang Weizhong knew Yuan, and at the age of 21, he was admitted to Jinshi. We know he's a great talent.

Wang Wei was also a man with rich emotions. He left many anecdotes, two of which are the most famous. At that time, there was a King Ning who had dozens of concubines, all of whom were beauties with both talents and looks.There was a woman who sold cakes near the palace. She was slim, charming, and very charming. At first sight, King Ning liked her very much. He asked her husband and gave her a sum of money. He took the woman home and named her "Mrs. Xi", a year later, King Ning asked Mrs. Xi: "Do you still miss your former husband?" She remained silent. So King Ning called her husband and met each other. Mrs. Xi burst into tears when she saw her husband, as if she was overwhelmed.There were dozens of guests in Prince Ning's Mansion, all of whom were celebrities at that time, and they all felt sympathetic.King Ning ordered everyone to compose poems, and Wang Wei impromptu wrote "Resentment to Mrs. Xi":

Don't forget the past and think about the past with the end of the present; Seeing the flowers full of tears does not share the words of the king of Chu. King Ning was greatly moved when he saw it, so he returned Mrs. Xi to her husband. The other is that during the Anlu Mountain rebellion, hundreds of Liyuan disciples were captured in the imperial palace. The bandits held a banquet at Ningbi Temple and ordered the Liyuan disciples to play music. Abandoning the piano to the ground, crying to the west, An Lushan was furious, and immediately dismembered Lei Haiqing in the horse test hall.When Wang Wei heard the news, he wrote a very profound poem:

Thousands of households are sad and wild smoke is born, when will all the officials go up to the sky again; The leaves of autumn locust trees fall into the empty palace, and the head of Ningbi pool is decorated with orchestral strings. Judging from many small things about Wang Wei, although he devoted himself to Buddhism and Zen in his later years and wrote pastoral poems on nature, in the depths of his soul, there is a sensitive, affectionate, compassionate heart. These stories also make us more convinced that he A good painting can't just describe the landscape in a realistic way, but there are inevitably lyricism and implication in it.

He himself said: "When painting mountains and rivers, the intention is to draw first." Wang Weiben in "New Book of Tang Dynasty" said that he said: "Painting contemplation, the mountains and the level are far away, the clouds and stones are colorful, the painters think that the secret is unique, and the scholars can't match it. Also." In my opinion, a painter who "intends to paint first" and "uniqueness of nature" planted plantains in the heavy snow in the painting is not a problem of reality, but a gift of genius. We have read a lot of Wang Wei's poems, but unfortunately, his paintings are lost in time and space.There is a picture of his work "Mountain Shade" in the Palace Museum. The flowers and trees are scattered, and the flowing water is clear and distant. In the left corner, there is a person boating on the lake, and on the right side, there are two people chatting.It is said that two of his paintings "Snow and Mist in Mountains and Mountains" and "Fu Sheng Sutras" were exiled in Japan, but unfortunately we never got to see them, which made us feel a mysterious memory of this great painter.

I have always felt that the great artists of all time are art in themselves.Take "Plantains in the Snow" as an example, the naked plantain reminds us of Wang Wei. Even in the boundless snow, he still has a moving green posture, and he can survive the frost and snow without fading.This kind of creation transcending time and space cannot be solved by geographical verification.In the cycle of good fortune, nature may be an unbreakable cage. We cannot really see plantains blooming in the bitter cold outside the customs; The cycle of life can also be changed, which is the lyricism, the implication, and the most valuable part of artistic creation.What is there to fear from ice?Wang Wei's "Plantains in the Snow" should be viewed from this perspective. — November 17, 1982