Comparing the Similarities and Differences between Eastern and Western Art?

The Divergence and Integration of the "Concept of Form and God" in Chinese and Western Art History

Introduction: An Ancient Enemy - "Form" and "God "

"Shape" and "God", one is the rational treatment of the object; the other is the emotional treatment of the object. In the field of painting is an eternal topic. In front of this kind of problem, it is not possible to be sincere. The problem of size is the key to avoid getting lost; and the discerning analysis is the way out of the theoretical labyrinth. In this paper, I have no intention or ability to make an evaluation of this ancient theoretical case, but just want to rationalize the various types of views into a vein. Shape like (referred to as shape), as the name suggests is in the shape of the object similar. But this meaning in different environments (Chinese and Western, ancient and modern ......) is different. In Western Europe, during the ancient Greek and Renaissance periods, the status of resemblance was related to the success or failure of a painting. In ancient China, the status of resemblance was a bit more subtle. Gu Kaizhi was an advocate of both form and spirit. His: "Transmitting the spirit and writing the picture is in the middle of the a-witness." Quoted by later generations for ages. Later, Xu Beihong was also included in the "New Six Methods". This tradition was successfully maintained in the Song Dynasty painting academies. However, at that time, the rise of literati painting, the treatment of the shape of subtle changes. Under Su Shi's advocacy, painting was concerned with self-expression and the pursuit of mood and resemblance, which was generally recognized by the literati. Wentong, Li Gonglin, Wang Monk, Zhao Ling Rang, Mi Fu and his sons rose along the wave and practiced. Divine resemblance became a synonym for taste in painting (the divine resemblance here is different from that of Gu Kaizhi's.). That is, the difference between the God of the object and the God of the picture - the author).

So, the divine resemblance is far from being as simple as the formal resemblance. First of all, it is not only to grasp the charm of the object, but also to add one's own feelings to the art work, so that the art work has its own thoughts is also another kind of divine resemblance.

Fearing that the topic is getting bigger and bigger, I will stop here. Let's move on to the top.

The first part: a meaningful historical trajectory

-Comparison of the ancient (modern) Chinese and Western "concepts of form and spirit".

It is always interesting to compare Chinese and Western art history. It is even more meaningful to explore the reasons for the differences.

As mentioned above, form has been treated differently in different regions. But there is one thing that is common to both East and West. The first high point of painting in both Chinese and Western art was the figure.

Chinese figure painting developed through the Qin and Han dynasties, and finally reached a peak during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties. The three great masters, Gu, Lu and Zhang, influenced the development of Chinese figure painting.

Gu Kaizhi (346---407), with the character Changkang and the small character Hutou, was a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and was a scholarly and talented standing minister of the Scattered Cavalry in the middle of the Yihei period. He is a precocious painter. 20 years old Jiangning tile coffin temple murals, actually "light a temple, the giver fill throat, Russia and get millions of money" (Zhang Yanyuan "record of famous paintings of all times" cited in the "Beijing Temple Records"), and since then, painting fame. His status, in the three best, is the highest: "like the beauty of man, Zhang got its flesh, Lu got its bone, Gu got its God, God's marvelous unparalleled, to Gu for the noble." It is clear that in the Wei and Jin dynasties, the concept of Chinese painting has been y established "God" performance over the "form" performance.

After seeing the first climax of Chinese figure painting represented by Gu Kaizhi, I would like to look at the first climax of Western figure art. The first peak of Western figure painting was ancient Greek art. Sculpture Sculpture was the most important part of Greek art, and it centrally embodied the Greeks' ideals of beauty, extraordinary artistic talent, and profound study of the human body. Many of the best sculptures are unrivaled for their grandeur, perfection and refined style; countless painters and craftsmen have been inspired and influenced by them over the centuries; and their unique inner vitality and artistic charm still radiate a brilliant light today.

Ancient Greek sculpture went through three periods.

Ancient style period.

As the Archaic period sculpture, usually from the former 7th century. At this time, most of the portrait sculpture is an upright figure, in general, have not broken the rigidity of the form, modeling techniques are also more rigid. Until the sixth century, the art of sculpture has made significant progress, in the human body and dynamic expression are more free and dynamic.

Two, the classical period

From the first 490 years began the classical period of Greek art. With a strong body, high spirit and elegant and beautiful modeling, is the classical period of sculpture *** with the characteristics of the Greek city states in the years of victory over the invasion of foreigners and build their own strong country, the people of the ideal of the heroes embodiment; but also the formation of the corresponding norms of beauty.

Three, the Hellenistic period

Greek sculpture after the peak of the development of the classical period, to the Hellenistic period, the center moved to the western part of Asia Minor and some of the islands of the Aegean Sea. This period has seldom built a grand temple, that kind of solemn and noble atmosphere in the sculpture is also gradually weakened, while the tendency of secularization has developed. However, in some outstanding works, still maintains the spirit of the classical period of the atmosphere of the valiant. But in the late period (represented by 〈Laocoon〉) sculpture has lost the spirit of the sublime.

Ancient Greek sculpture. Although also emphasize the human spirit and anger. But more obviously show the spirit of science. The precise grasp of the proportion of the human body (represented by the golden rule) clearly brought European art on the road of realism. This difference can be clearly seen when juxtaposed with the above-mentioned masterpieces of Chinese and Western painting.

Let's compare Gu Kaizhi's painting of Aphrodite of Milos with the masterpiece of Greek sculpture. Gu Kaizhi's painting method was the typical wire drawing of the time. The painting method of Gu Kaizhi was typical of the time, which was to use lines to shape the painting and then add color. The Luoshen Fu is a long scroll, based on Cao Zhi's Luoshen Fu. The first section is "Amazing", depicting Cao Zhi and his party coming to the waterfront of Luoshui, and suddenly seeing the God of Luo appearing as if she was surprised. The second paragraph is "Love", which describes Cao Zhi's love for the God of Luo, and the third paragraph is the ending. The third paragraph is the ending. He changed the ending a little bit, Cao Zhi and the god of the Luo River went away in a boat together. The Luoshen Fu painting is very mature in characterization. The picture not only depicts the god of Luoshen's chu-chu style and Cao Zhi's disappointment that he "can't go to the disappointment hovering around", but it also depicts the whole picture with mountains, mountains and other scenery. Moreover, the whole picture is connected with the background of mountains, streams, and woods, so that the space of the painting can be skillfully extended and transformed, and the development of the plot can be advanced in a very natural way. Gu Kaizhi was good at poetry, calligraphy and painting, so he was able to put a whole piece of "Luoshen Fu" on the screen and still be touching, and the whole painting is permeated with a Wei and Jin Dynasty atmosphere of relaxation and ease. This kind of relaxed atmosphere is the ultimate aesthetic goal that painters of later generations dream of achieving. This can also be seen here. Although classical Chinese figure paintings at that time also emphasized "resemblance", but the overall charm and the character of the charm of the grasp of the poetic treatment of the entire work of art is the most important. The treatment of painting "God" is the first factor in the success of the painting. It can be said that. The painting and aesthetics of the Wei and Jin dynasties influenced the direction of the entire history of ancient Chinese painting (which emphasized charm over resemblance).

Now it is possible to travel thousands of miles across time and space to ancient Greece. Aphrodite of Milos is named for its discovery on the island of Milos in 1820. There are different opinions about its production date, its solemn and elegant, majestic style, seems to be close to the works of the classical period; and from the remains of the pedestal inscription deduced that belongs to the late 2nd century BC made. Statue for the marble carving, 2.04 meters high, head, body are complete, but the left arm from the shoulder has been lost, the right arm only half of the upper arm. Statue of the upper body for the nude, the lower half of the body around the loose skirt; goddess left leg slightly raised, the center of gravity fell on the right leg, head and upper body slightly right, and the face is turned to the left front, the whole body to form a natural S-shaped curves; long stature, dignified and beautiful appearance, full and firm body shape constitutes a beautiful, elegant, mature female image, is regarded as the expression of the Goddess of beauty of the paradigm work. This work represents the Greek aesthetic interest. The proportions are well-balanced and aesthetically pleasing. We can even feel the body heat from the marble. It certainly succeeds in representing the goddess as well. There is no doubt about that. The expression of the divine is the aim of the plastic arts. But in Greek art it was all tied up with "form" resemblance.

Greek art is also extremely important in the history of European art. Just as Gu Kaizhi's paintings influenced the whole concept of Chinese painting, Greek art also influenced the whole concept of European art, and Chinese art later took the path of emphasizing the charm and weakening the role of "shape". European art emphasized the illusionistic picture of objects on a flat surface (marble). Chinese and Western art in the Greek and did not, Wei Jin period showed different qualities.

This difference was more evident in landscape painting, which later became mainstream in China and achieved great success, and in landscape painting, which flourished in Europe.

Chinese landscape painting sprang from the Wei and Jin dynasties. Gu Kaizhi illustrated his exploration of landscape painting in his essay "Notes on Painting Yuntai Mountain". No purely landscape subjects or later imitations of Gu Kaizhi's works have survived. But his skill in landscape painting can be seen in the landscape background of the Luoshen Fugu: at that time, landscape painting was still just budding, and the technique was still very childish. The mountains and rocks are purely sketched out with lines, the near trees are roughly represented by branches and leaves, and the far trees are represented by a small fan. But from the picture between the landscape can be felt out of a relaxed and free rhyme. Wei and Jin masters skillfully avoided the weakness of the technique, in the charm of the landscape to travel freely.

If Gu Kaizhi's landscapes were characterized by the limitations of technique, Zong Bing, another landscape painter and the founder of the theory of landscape painting, showed the way to the development of landscape painting at the very beginning of its germination. Zong Bing (375---443), with the character Shaowen, was a native of Nanyang Nieyang. He came from a scholarly family but did not want to be an official. At that time, when Liu Yu, Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty, and Liu Yi Ji, King of Hengyang, recruited Zong Bing to be the chief official, lieutenant, crown prince, Tong Zhilang, and counselor, he refused all of them. When asked why, he replied, "I have been living in a hill and drinking in a gully for more than thirty years, how can I bend my back as a mandarin at the king's gate?" He joined Huiyuan's White Lotus Society at Mount Lu, and authored The Treatise on the Buddha. Born like roaming the landscape, his wife Luo's death, he is "love forest and gulch, to the piano and wine and fear of suitable, vertical smoke and Xia and alone", only the West Jing, Wu, South ascent of Asaruyue, there Jieyu residence. Later, because of old age, only had to return home to Jiangling, sighed: "the old disease fear to, the famous mountain is afraid difficult to see, only to be clarified to view the road, lying to swim."

Zong Bing painting landscapes emphasize the function of "free from God", can be said to have opened the Yuan dynasty Ni Yunlin's "write the chest in the gas" of the precedent. And his "clear mind to view the road, lying to swim" painting method, also requires the painter to clear his mind, play by memory, the life of the trail one by one into a picture. Here, although based on memory, but more emphasis on the role of subjective ideas, giving full play to the function of writing. Later generations also Zong Bing's "lying tour" of the painting is very appreciated from the Yuan, Ming, Qing Dynasty to modern times, many landscape painters, such as: Ni Zan, Shen Zhou, gradient Jiang, Shi Tao, as well as modern Huang Binhong, etc. or poetry to be appreciated, or follow the example of the lying tour picture. In Chinese landscape, and even the entire history of Chinese painting, smooth God, the pursuit of the realm of vivid chiaroscuro has always been the highest standard of painting aesthetics.

From the point of view of the brush of landscape painting, it can also be clearly found that it is characterized by the importance of God and the importance of meaning. For landscape painting, the most representative characteristic technique is chapping. The chapping method matured from the Five Dynasties, through the interpretation and development of successive generations of painters, forming two major schools and dozens of chapping methods. In the Song Dynasty, the chapping method also retained many realistic features. For example, the south of the "Dong Ju" Phi Ma chafing is very expressive of the earthy mountains of Jiangnan and the characteristics of the air in the dense water; and the northern Guanxia school of Fan Kuan's raindrop chafing of the Loess Plateau is very expressive of the characteristics of the mountains. But the Yuan Dynasty to will, chapping the expressive power of the literati landscape was greatly explored. Ni Zan studied Guan Tong and painted Taihu Lake. The folded belt chapped has not the slightest bit of the Chuanxia style of Guan Tong. The cool and distant flavor of his brushstrokes comes out from every brushstroke. It is said that Ni Zan's paintings have fewer brushes but more ink, and the atmosphere is quiet and transcendent. In addition to the composition, the relationship between the chapping is not to be ignored. Early qing dynasty one of the four monks of zhu da's landscape is more upside down, the mountain is no longer the mountain, but the sign of the mind (zhu da's achievement is the biggest in the bird and flower, here only say its landscape). In Chinese landscape painting, the mountain is still a mountain, but not just a part of the mountain. He also contains the painter's feelings, the soul of the mountain.

European landscape painting was also separated from the background of figure painting, the first half of the 14th century Italian frescoes, such as the Siena Town Hall of the Good Governance, and the early 15th century Netherlandish codices decorative paintings, there have been a large proportion of landscapes in the picture work. Pure landscapes without figures on the scene first appeared in the form of sketches and other small pictures. From the 15th century onwards, landscapes were separated from the background of figure painting and became a separate genre. In the watercolors of the German painter Dürer and in the oil paintings of Altdorfer, topographical landscapes appeared that defined the artist's point of reference. Landscape painting matured artistically in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Restall, Vermeer, and Hobbema contributed greatly to the development of landscape painting. At this time, seascape paintings, nightscape paintings, street scenes and other subdisciplines arose from landscape paintings. Carracci and others in Italy also developed "ideal landscape painting" at that time, presenting pastoral idyllic scenery. In France, Poussin and Claude Lorrain used ancient mythological figures as points of view in their landscapes, which were called heroic landscapes. Claude Lorrain used backlighting to show the morning or dusk scenery and showed characteristics. In Spain, Greco and Velázquez left masterpieces of landscape painting.

In the 18th century, the emergence of John Constable in England made landscape painting a decisive development, and the real founder of European landscape painting in the 19th century was John Constable (1776-1837), who deserves to be called a brave and witty innovator in art, and opened up a new world for art, especially for the art of landscape painting. a new world. A master landscape painter par excellence, he has long been little known in his native country. The first of his works to be accepted by the National Gallery in London was donated by a friend of his after his death. Even though it was a free donation, the gallery hesitated, fearing that the painter's bold and innovative spirit might cause trouble. Fortunately, Constable's art was recognized by the French public during his lifetime. A French journalist advised Constable to send his works to Paris for exhibition, based on the comments of the famous painter Ricoeur. It was only then that four of Constable's works, including The Hay Wagon, appeared at the 1824 European Masterpieces Exhibition in Paris. They left a deep impression on the audience in Paris. The painter's deep feeling and passion for nature; his simple, fresh and original technique of expression; and his skillful and perfect oil painting technique all made French painters fall for them. At that time, the famous French writer, the author of the novel "Red and Black" Stantec wrote an article about Constable and his landscape paintings Constable's landscape paintings represent the characteristics of European landscape paintings. Emphasis was placed on the use of light and the matching of colors. His landscapes directly influenced the French Turner and Impressionist painters, whose paintings were becoming more and more extreme in the direction of a purely objective representation of nature. Constable's landscapes absorbed the bright colors of nature, while Turner's landscapes focused on the turbulent natural and man-made landscapes. Impressionist paintings pursued the change and flutter of natural light and color in a single moment. Compared to Chinese landscape paintings, European paintings up to the Impressionists were more and more objective and realistic (Post-Impressionism began the process of modern Western art).

From the above, we can see that the development of Chinese and Western paintings is similar, firstly, the figure painting is the only one, and then the landscape (landscape) painting from the figure painting out of the big popularity. However, the development of Chinese and Western paintings in the ancient (the West is ancient and modern) band is diametrically opposite. The West has always been based on the basic of resemblance. It can be described as scientific painting. China, on the other hand, has gone from expressing the charm of external objects to expressing the charm of internal mind. It can be described as poetic painting.

With the rise of modern painting in the West, this phenomenon took a surprising and interesting turn.

(1): Lower: A Century of Cultural Collision

-The Intermingling and Misalignment of Eastern and Western Painting in the Modern Era

First of all, it is important to make a point: the relationship between form and god is only meaningful in figurative painting, and it is futile to talk about form and god in abstract painting. There are so many different kinds of European modernism that it is impossible and unnecessary to list them all. Here is only a sequence of the most representative styles in the figurative field.

Of course, no matter how diverse the later styles may be, the style that marked the beginning of modern painting is the first to be introduced. The Post-Impressionists are not the later stages of Impressionism. They were three painters who, although associated with the Impressionist painters, went in the opposite direction in their art. They have their own understanding of painting. Although they are the same as the Post-Impressionists, they are not the same from the painting style to the painting concept. But one thing is the same: they didn't want to represent nature in the same objective way as the Impressionists. They wanted to add their own things to their paintings. Up to this point in the development of painting, realism has lost its challenge, and all kinds of realistic painting styles have been tried one by one by the predecessors. If you want to add something of your own you should explore beyond realism.

Paul Cézanne. This is a man who was unheralded in his lifetime, but afterward was named the father of modern painting. Paul Cézanne was born on January 19, 1839, in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, a banker. 1858 to Paris to study painting, and befriended the literary writer Zola, the poet Portmanteau, etc., in the early sixties, supported Courbet's struggle against the classical academics, and thus combined with Impressionist painters such as Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, etc., in 1872, Cézanne's family moved to the In 1872, Cézanne's family moved to the city of Pontoise in the valley of the Oise River, and under the influence of Pissarro, he actively participated in the Impressionist movement. However, Cézanne's efforts to explore the inner structure of the object made him skeptical of Impressionism, and he pointed out that "all the objects in the world can be summarized as spheres, cylinders, and cones," thus achieving a great generalization on the screen. He opposed the traditional concept of painting that separates drawing and color, and pursued the perspective of objects expressed through color. His paintings are harmonious and beautiful. Facing the objects in his sketches, he always observes, thinks and organizes the color tone of the picture with extreme prudence, and makes repeated refinements and revisions, so that many paintings always seem to be unfinished. In order to study repeatedly for a long time, the subject he often faces is still life painting.

It can be seen that his painting concepts and painting styles were very different from those of the Impressionists. It was Cézanne's belief that beauty could be generalized to produce a more sublime beauty. He investigated the form of "eternity" in his pictures. A form that distinguishes itself from the outside world, a form that appears to be both uncanny and aesthetically pleasing. We may not be able to associate this form with the divine, but this concept of painting touched the entire European painting world. More styles emerged more quickly.

In fact, modern European painting can be roughly divided into two categories. One is the rational analysis of beauty. One is the sensual expression of beauty. If Cézanne was the first of the former, then Van Gogh was the first of the latter.

Van Gogh was born in a Protestant pastor's house in Zandertown, Holland. Before he was 24 years old, he worked as a clerk in the Goupil paintings stores in The Hague, London and Paris. He later became a missionary, preaching in the Borinage mines in southwestern Belgium, and was relieved of his duties because of his sympathy and support for the demands of the poor miners. After a life of great disappointment and poverty, he decided to complete his self-relief in the search for art. 1880 onwards, he sought education everywhere, seeking instruction from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium and learning painting from the Dutch landscape painter Anton Mauve, but finally decided to study on his own. He overcame all difficulties and tried to represent the world as he knew it. Before 1886, his works were all in the period of exploration, with representative works such as The Potato Eaters and The Weavers, etc. In 1886, Van Gogh came to Paris with his brother, who was a senior clerk of the Goupil's paintings store, and became acquainted with Toulouse, Lautrec, Gauguin, Pissarro, Seurat and Cézanne, as well as participated in the gatherings of the Impressionist painters. Thus, his artistic horizons were greatly expanded, and he began to paint in a completely different way from the past, with strong colors and bright tones. 1888, in February, he accompanied Gauguin to Arles in the south of France for a year of sketching and painting. This was the most important period in the formation of his artistic style. The strong sunlight of the south and the sunlit towns, fields, flowers, rivers, farmhouses and churches made him shout over and over again: "Brighten up, brighten up some more!" He and Gauguin had by this time already diverged from the impressionist viewpoint, but at the same time became y interested in Expressionism or Symbolism. As a result, there were plans to establish a "Southern Impressionism" or "Impressionist Separatists". Later, their relationship deteriorated, with Gauguin leaving and Van Gogh becoming mentally disintegrated after the incident of cutting off his own ear. As a result, they did not form any group, and in 1890, after a long stay in the asylum of Saint-Rémy-des-Moiselles, Van Gogh returned to Paris, where he lived in Auvers-sur-Oise, under the special treatment of Dr. Gasset, and worked diligently on his paintings, such as "Portrait of Dr. Gasset" and "The Church of Auvers". However, on October 27, 1890, after a quarrel with Dr. Gasset, he suddenly shot himself and ended his life. Van Gogh left behind a wealth of works that were not recognized until after his death. In these works, the author prominently pursued the expression of his own spirit, and all forms jumped and twisted under the domination of a fierce spirit. Such art had a profound influence on 20th century Expressionism.

The expression of self-spirit is a major feature of Van Gogh's paintings. Physical accuracy took a back seat. The expression of self-spirit in painting became the core of painting. This kind of painting idea and the oriental painting idea of pursuing the "rhythm" expression in painting gradually came together. In fact, Van Gogh was influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e in his paintings. In some places, there is even a little bit of "chapping" flavor in the lines. As a matter of fact, when Western painting came out of the labyrinth of "resemblance", it was influenced by Oriental painting (and other non-European arts). This influence opened the prelude to a cultural fusion and collision.

In modern China, too, the influence of Western painting has been felt.

The earliest proponents of the idea of studying Western painting were the Kang and Liang men of the Restoration School. But they didn't make this point because of painting. They believed that the spirit of the West was more pragmatic than that of China. And it was this pragmatism that put the West ahead of China in modern history. Painting is an important expression of the national spirit. In order to change this impractical national spirit, it was necessary to learn from the West in all aspects. Politically, it was a constitutional monarchy. Culturally, it was the opening of Western studies. Artistically, of course, it was to learn Western painting. However, they considered politics and culture to be the key, and they did not have the skills in Western painting to promote it widely. So this kind of advocacy remains on the slogan.

The real extensive study of Western painting was during the New Culture Movement. At this time, the spiritual leader Chen Duxiu also vigorously promoted democracy and science. In painting, Western painting was also promoted as "scientific" painting. It was regarded as the centralized expression of the Western spirit. On the other hand, traditional Chinese painting was considered to be the cause of China's modern decline. Nowadays, this kind of argument is radical and na?ve. However, at a time when several generations were searching for a way to save the country, this slogan was very inspiring among young students. A large number of people went abroad to study. Among them, the young painters who went abroad to study painting later became the backbone of Western painting in the Chinese painting world. Xu Beihong was a leading member of the group of painters who studied Western painting at that time. When he arrived in Shanghai at the age of 21, he stood out in the competition for the Cangjie portrait, and was invited to paint and lecture at the St. Cangjie University, where he met Chinese scholars and scholars, and was able to broaden his horizons and improve his skills. In 1918, he returned to Beijing after an examination of Japanese art, and although he was only 23 years old, he had already become a tutor of the Peking University Painting Method Research Society. In the ranks of China's New Culture Movement, he issued a deafening voice to revolutionize Chinese painting, and put forward the famous "Theory of the Improvement of Chinese Painting", which centered on the idea that "the best of the ancient methods should be abided by, those that are dying should be succeeded, those that are not good should be changed, those that are not good should be added and those that are not good enough should be added, and those that can be picked up by the Western paintings should be integrated into the core of Chinese Painting". In 1919, with a sense of mission to find a way for the development of Chinese art, he went to study in Paris, and was enrolled at the highest fine arts institution in France In 1919, with a mission to find a way for the development of Chinese art, he went to Paris to study and enrolled at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the highest art school in France, where he diligently studied drawing and oil painting, and studied under the great French realist painter D'Ayan, who was renowned for his depictions of Breton peasants and fishermen in Europe and America, so that he could grasp fully and y the skills and spirit of the excellent European painting tradition. He also traveled around the major art museums in Europe in eight years, copied the masterpieces of Raphael, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Pluton, Delacroix and other masters of various schools of art, and was well versed in the essence of Western art.In 1927, he sent all the nine oil paintings to the National Exhibition of Fine Arts of France to be selected, and surprised the French painting world by the excellent talent of the Chinese painters and the unique oriental flavor. After returning to China, he devoted himself to establishing a scientific and modern art teaching system in China, and transformed Chinese painting with Western painting. It is based on sketching, created a combination of anatomy, perspective and "mimeograph" teaching methods, established the "exhaust the wonders of creation, to explore the essence of life", "to the vast, the subtle", "rather square than round, rather dirty than clean, rather clumsy than clever" and other teaching principles. Xu Beihong emphasized the learning of Chinese and Western, according to the teaching of the material, requires those who are good at Western painting more copy Chinese ancient paintings, those who are good at Chinese paintings to study sketching, in order to integrate. He especially emphasized the depiction of people's lives, make a lot of sketches, after rigorous training, so that students do not feel bound to any subject matter after leaving school.

In all fairness, Xu Beihong's contribution to Chinese painting is indelible. The achievements of modern Chinese realistic painting are largely related to his efforts. He aimed at the Chinese painting world on the one-sided imitation of shi tao, zhu da; big make it become the new "four kings" phenomenon, vigorously advocate realistic painting. However, this advocacy was later mistaken by some people as "realistic painting is scientific painting, Chinese painting is not realistic painting (at least many people thought so in the 1950s), so Chinese painting is not scientific." This view brought great harm to the development of Chinese painting. After this, Chinese painting unilaterally pursued realism and the unification of politics and artistry. This was originally correct, but it was only a slogan. It was not easy to put it into practice. Later on, it became "figure painting, political painting leads the way". Compared with the dilemma of the western painting out of realism, the east and west painting in the occurrence of "fusion" at the same time, but also morbidly occurring "dislocation". But on the other hand, when Western painting started to pursue the charm of the picture beyond the scope of resemblance, in China, it returned to the path of painting based on realism. This dislocation can be understood as a kind of intermingling.

As I said at the beginning of this article: from a higher level, resemblance is the object of scientific expression, the rational spirit of painting; resemblance is the object of sensual expression, the humanistic spirit of painting. Painting is nothing but the development under the interweaving of these two spirits. Compared with the East, the basic spirit of Western painting is rational. This is still true when it comes to modern painting (although there is sensuality along the way, the keynote of modern painting is the study of beauty, which in itself is a rational attitude). Learning something from Eastern painting is a way to refine oneself through it. Its basic spirit never left the West. China's situation is a little more complicated. The humiliation of the modern era has led to the search for a way to save the country in all fields, including politics, economy, culture, and art, and when art is burdened with the task of saving the country, it inevitably fails to develop in accordance with the path it should take. Under such circumstances, the pursuit of realism was an inevitable choice. If we put this aside, the spirit of Chinese painting is still the spirit of traditional Chinese painting.

Lin Fengmian was such a master: he returned from his studies in France at a young age, and immediately became the principal of the Beiping National Art College, where he began to realize his ideals of blending the East and the West, and giving new life to the outdated Chinese painting. Lin Fengmian's paintings were a far cry from traditional Chinese paintings, and the forms of expression he used were to a large extent "Westernized," but the effect of the images and the mood of the works embodied Oriental poetry, with a strong sense of traditional Chinese aesthetics. Lin Fengmian did not use the traditional brush and ink, did not use calligraphic brush as a means of modeling, he used a more brisk, lively and powerful lines - these lines in the shape at the same time, conveys a kind of vitality and music-like rhythm. He is accustomed to using large blocks of paint, like watercolor or gouache, as in most of his landscapes, for example. Although he does not appear to have inherited the traditional methods of expression of Chinese painting, his paintings in general convey a strong flavor of Chinese painting, which is ethereal, subtle, poetic, and rich in meaning. Although he says that "traditional Chinese painting should come to an end", his paintings are in the bones of China.

At that time, there were still many painters who held Lin Fengmian's concept of painting. Like the painters of the Decisive Lan Society. It can be seen that the development of a nation's painting is centered on the spirit of its own painting, if it is not influenced by external causes. From this point of view, while Chinese and Western paintings are superficially dislocated and intermingled, they are actually taking the opportunity to develop in their own original direction. Painting is originally like this. The cultural spirit of a nation is the fulcrum of painting. No matter how the style of painting changes, the spirit will never change. And the resemblance of form and resemblance of God continues to be interpreted at a higher level.