The influence of Zen thought on Buddhist painting art? urgent

Perfect theory, perfect harmony, perfect body and use —— Analysis on the internal communication between China's painting art and Zen.

Text/Yang Bowen

Nowadays, the art is diversified, and the combination of form and expression, content and spirit of Chinese painting also presents diversified artistic style and flavor of the times. As Liu Xie said: "Times have changed and quality has changed", but no matter what kind of artistic style Chinese painting is, it should be rooted in the inheritance and development of tradition, life and sentiment. The amount of nutrients absorbed from tradition and life varies from person to person, and also has a certain relationship with individual nature and talent. As a Buddhism introduced to China from abroad, Zen has many internal relations with China's traditional painting artistic spirit and creative artistic thinking form in the process of conscious thinking cultivation. On the special relationship between this artistic spirit and thinking form, I will briefly talk about the following views and feelings.

First, let's look at the origin of the word "Zen". The word Zen comes from Indian Zen, which means meditation, static filtration and thinking cultivation. Chinese zen and Indian Zen are very different, so I don't need to say more here. Here I focus on the many internal relations between Zen and artistic creation. It is this inner connection that causes the special relationship between Zen and art.

First, both Zen and art aim to express people's self-awareness. Zen's self-nature theory and artistic creation have * * * identity, and self-awareness and self-transcendence are also the highest goals of Zen and artistic exploration. Zen's theory of self-nature and the subject of artistic creation are people's conscious pursuit and understanding of self-consciousness. The difference between Zen Buddhism and other religious practices lies in its theory of self-nature, which advocates seeking the nature and true colors of Buddhism from the inner world of human beings. As the Six Ancestors Tanjing said, "Self-nature contains all kinds of laws, and all kinds of laws are human beings", "All kinds of laws are self-nature, which means a clean dharma body", "Prajna exists without self-nature" and "Buddha is self-nature and all kinds of laws". The thinking process of the subject of artistic creation also needs to respect self, which is not only to seek the true self for tradition and life, but also to respect feelings. The original process of art and the original practice of Zen have proved that originality is not an artist's subjective arbitrariness, and originality must be based on the understanding of the essence of objective things and cannot be divorced from tradition and life. In Hegel's language, the real originality lies in "the unity of the artist's subjectivity and the real objectivity of expression", only "the fusion of subject and object in artistic expression". Zen also advocates that since the Enlightenment. We should have our own understanding and understanding of Zen, just like the old man Baishi said, "Those who learn from me live like me die." There is also a saying in Zen poetry that "the swordsman has been looking for 30 years, and he has fallen back several times, and he has seen the peach blossom and has no doubt." Then Zen also puts forward: teaching people to doubt and realize, teaching people to doubt and realize, and teaching people not to doubt and not to realize, which seems to be undoubtedly contradictory to the poems advocated by Zen. However, this "no doubt" is not another "no doubt". The former is to affirm the essence of things through repeated observation and exploration of the phenomenon characteristics of objective things, while the latter is to find problems in the observation of things, put forward their own doubts and opinions, constantly explore and demonstrate, seek the correct answer in their hearts, understand the mysteries of nature and explore the essence through phenomena. Zen opposes the verification of Buddha's nature from Buddhist classics, Buddhist idols and meditation. It advocates understanding the self by observing and understanding the perceptual world, and proving its true colors. It is believed that only by using the direct experience and enlightenment gained by ourselves can we achieve "self-confidence", "since the enlightenment", "beginning to see the overall situation" and record "five splendors meet one another". Zen emphasizes the role of subjective mind and does not deny real life. The feeling of art also has such a wonderful principle: "The value of self-expression of a real artist should lie in the discovery of society and self, and artistic talent, constantly surpassing itself, is the talent of discovery." The discovery of nature and self will bring distinctive personality to artistic creation and make artistic works have lasting aesthetic value. Second, the ideological origin of literati painting. The so-called literati painting does not mean that the people who painted it were literati in ancient China, but that this kind of painting absorbed the aesthetic thoughts of Zen and the philosophical thoughts of Taoism, Laozi and Zhuangzi into the traditional painting art of China, broke through the traditional creative thinking and artistic expression, and opened up a lofty and indifferent painting style with far-reaching artistic conception. Speaking of "literati painting", we have to mention Wang Wei, a famous poet and painter in the Tang Dynasty, who has always been regarded as the originator of literati painting in the history of painting. Wang Wei first integrated Zen thought and Zen artistic conception theory into China's painting context, and created with the aesthetic attitude of Zen "examining the heart", which made painting have artistic characteristics of artistic conception, painting and poetry. Wang Wei's paintings are full of mountains and rivers, focusing on verve, and changing the method of gouyan into ink and wash, so that the detached and ethereal mind is integrated with the landscape context of Xiao Shu and Qing Kuang, and Zen and painting are integrated into one furnace. He once painted a picture of Yuan An lying in the snow, and the banana he painted in the snow was quite different from the common scenery: he painted flowers, bloom flowers fell, regardless of the four seasons, and painted peaches, apricots, hibiscus and lotus flowers together, which can be described as a hundred flowers blooming, influenced by the natural fate of Zen Buddhism, breaking the time and space and not falling into the conventional pattern. "What you want is easy to get and really interesting." Another painter, Wen Tong, also used cinnabar to write the extraordinary artistic conception of bamboo heart, which can often be seen in ancient works. Third, the realm of Zen and painting. Artistic conception is also called realm. In the "Poem Zhou Song Si Wen" recorded in China ancient books, it is said that there is a boundary. "The Warring States Policy and Qin Ce" contains: Chu made Jing Li in Qin and met Wang Wei, the king of Qin. But the "realm and realm" here has nothing to do with the artistic conception as a category of artistic ontology. The real artistic conception appeared in Zhouyi, and the relationship between "image and meaning" was first put forward. Image and meaning are related to artistic conception. Images in Zhouyi refer to divinatory symbols, not artistic images, but have something in common with artistic images. The image mentioned in Zhouyi is a simulation of real life, and at the same time, "image" has a beautiful meaning. I ching thinks that image is the best, which means that it is not a simple concept that can be summarized in language, but has infinite meaning. Undoubtedly, the idea of establishing an image and doing one's best means doing one's best, which is similar to the freehand brushwork spirit in China's traditional painting. Dong Zhongshu's words in the Western Han Dynasty: Poetry is meaningless, easy to be meaningless, and meaningless in the Spring and Autumn Period. In Yan Tingzhi's letter to Liu Song painter Wang Wei, he also said: Painting is not only an art, but also an image. However, Wang Wei thinks that the noumenon of artistic spirit is a perfect expression. He said: "Moreover, the paintings of the ancients did not take the case domain as the unit, distinguishing the state, the standard town and the immersion of painting. This is based on the integration of shapes, and the mind of the spirit has changed, so the spirit sees it, so it does not move: the eyes are extremely extreme, so it cannot see clearly. As a result, a pen with a tube is in space, judging the shape of the body and bright eyes. Wang Wei's "quasi-too-empty style" is the theory of writing the mind, which is a key supplement to Zong Bing's view of "writing the shape with the shape" in Preface to Painting Landscape. In Painting Theory, Zong Bing put forward the view of landscape deity that "the husband should be clear about his eyes, be clever in spirit, have the same eyes, have the same mind, feel his spirit, and his heart is beyond reason", and Wang Wei's view that "the undergraduate leaves the body, the spirit changes, and the heart is also", all of which emphasized the dynamic role of "the heart" in artistic creation. These viewpoints have played an important role in the formation and development of the theory of artistic conception in Yijing. In addition, Buddhism also put forward the viewpoint of "sticking to reason outside the image". In Master Zhu Daosheng's Biography, Shi Huilin said: "The reason of image is false" and "the reason of image is stated", and Wei Yan, a monk, said: "Mystery is better than the sound of image, and fluency of words is better than image". Seng Zhao said, "If you are poor, you can't be wise, you can't say anything, and your mind will be destroyed. "It is these concepts that can achieve some fundamental characteristics of artistic conception. Especially after the mid-Tang Dynasty, Zen prevailed, and some outstanding literary thinkers and artists conducted in-depth discussions on artistic conception. They further integrated Taoism, Confucianism and Zhouyi in China's traditional culture with the Zen thoughts of foreign Buddhism, established a Chinese-style Zen practice system, and also formed one of the unique aesthetic theoretical thoughts-artistic conception. Wang Changling, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, first used the word "artistic conception" as the guidance of artistic theory. In his poetic theory, he said "three realms", that is, if you want to be a landscape poem, you must strengthen the realm of the peak of the spring stone. The extreme beauty lies in your heart, in the realm, you can see the realm in your heart, in your palm, and then you can understand the image of the realm with your thoughts. This is almost the same. Second, the situation: entertainment and resentment are all in the body, and then think about it and get its feelings. Artistic conception: if you think about it in your heart, you will get its truth. Another famous Buddhist monk, Jiao Ran, also thinks that artistic conception has three basic characteristics, namely, taking the environment, creating the environment and predestinating the environment. The so-called "taking scenery" means that the artist thinks and conceives about various factors such as emotion, scenery, interest and image when creating. Creating environment means creating artistic conception on the basis of taking environment. So, what is creating artistic conception? Jiao Ran put forward that "the husband's condition cannot be mentioned in the same breath, and it is difficult to understand with an open mind, which is obvious and undesirable. The scenery can also be smelled but invisible, and the wind is close to my shape, but it is wonderful to use the body, the heart is also positive, and it is colorless. "These can be even numbers or even numbers." Jiao Ran's artistic conception here is not a direct reflection and simple imitation of objective reality. But it is an image that exists between subjective and objective, virtual and real. It is nothing, and it has the duality of reality and reality. The so-called "edge" is the ultimate embodiment of creating the environment. Liang Su, a master of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty, thinks that this is: "The mind is moving, the mind is relaxed, things are uncertain, and the mind is uncertain" (Quan Tang Wen, Volume 52O). It can be seen that the origin of Jiao Ran's artistic conception theory is undoubtedly influenced by the wonderful theory of "body and use" in the Zen ideology. Another masterpiece of Zen, The Theory of Three Mountains' Artistic Conception, which was said by the 17th True Zen, also profoundly revealed the sanction of artistic conception: he said that thirty years ago, the old monk entered Zen and saw mountains as mountains and water as water. Later, when he saw good knowledge with his own eyes, he felt that mountains were not mountains and water was not water. Now that he has a place to rest, he still regards mountains as mountains. "Tao comes", here, first of all, mountains are the independence, opposition and separation of subject and object, and the subject views mountains and water from a rational perspective. Therefore, mountains are objective mountains and water is objective water. In the second stage, seeing the mountains is the subject's will and emotion, and it begins to change from passive to active. The objective object (natural scenery) is assimilated by the subject's will and emotion, and the subject gains the freedom to perceive variation, so mountains and water become a part of his life, and the subject and object have a place to sing, and become mountains and water with the subject's life. In the third stage, at this time, the subject and object have been unified at different levels and cross-possessed. I am in the mountains and rivers, and the mountains and rivers are also integrated into my life. As Mr. Huang said in his poem, "the mountains and rivers are picturesque, the inner beauty is quiet, and there is something inside", which is a high degree of harmony and unity between man and nature and the highest realm pursued by Zen. In this realm, mountains, rivers and natural objects are integrated into one, forming an ethereal world full of vitality, infinity and eternity. Today's master of Chinese studies, Nan, has proved that the peak of wonderful heights is hard to find. Occasionally, there are clouds outside Qingxi, and a bird falls into a deep "wonderful height". Although Wang Wei's landscape paintings are as influenced by Buddhism as traditional Buddhist paintings, their meanings are different. Wang Wei's paintings are original after understanding the true meaning of Zen. Based on real life, they express their true feelings and have far-reaching significance. After Wang Wei, landscape painting gradually got rid of its subordinate position and developed into an independent painting. Wang Weizhen inherited Zhang and others, and Xian advocated that his paintings were "natural from the outside, and the heart originated from the middle", which was intrinsically related to Zen Buddhism. The Gu Song he painted is full of lofty sentiments and magnificent momentum. The landscape he painted is absolutely exquisite, close at hand, the stone tip is falling, and the spring is roaring. The predecessors commented that his paintings are "not paintings, but also the truth." When something happens, they have been sent away and become clever and mysterious, but things are in the spirit house, not in the eyes and ears. " Thick ink and light pens are all flowing out of the chest, and there is no half decoration, which undoubtedly benefits from the Zen master's mental cultivation. Wang Qia is famous for its black mountains and rivers. He is wild and often swims between rivers and lakes. After he is drunk every day, he paints in black, with a pen or feet, or with light or thick hands. According to its shape, mountains are stones, clouds are water, smoke is summer, wind is rain, and you can do whatever you want. With luck, he won't see any traces of ink and dirt when he looks down. This is also a vivid Zen language. Fourth, the influence of Zen aesthetic thought on traditional painting The Tang and Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty were the heyday of Zen and the development period of landscape painting "Southern Sect". Wang Shizhen said, "Erli" has changed and changed again. Hao Jing studied a lot of classics and history, but because of the Five Dynasties Rebellion, he was hidden in the flood valley of Taihang Mountain and had contacts with Zen monks and wild elders. He works in mountains and rivers and is good at genting. His paintings are thick on all sides and full of pen and ink. Ye Du, who is known as the "Crown of the Tang Dynasty", and Dayu, a qinglian temple monk, all asked him for help with poems. It is a cold forest in autumn, a village living in a wild crossing, a secluded person and a scholar, and a fish market hill, which makes tourists feel relaxed and happy when they are in the snow of Baqiao Bridge and listening to apes in the Three Gorges, and there is no longer a tendency to resist worldly customs. Comment on his painting day in Xuan He Hua Pu: The simpler the pen, the stronger the spirit. How's the spirit? "Qi is the movement form of the artist's inner thoughts and emotions", and objective things cause the ups and downs of subjective emotions. "Every article is not touching, so it is touching." Therefore, it is transcendental, and the solitary work is obviously rooted in the painter's profound Zen artistic conception. Dong Yuan is also good at landscapes, especially Gonggong autumn scenery and Xiqiao Fishery Pond, and his paintings are simple, naive and natural. Ju Ran is a monk of Kaiyuan Temple in Jiangning, Southern Tang Dynasty. His paintings were originally written by Dong Yuan, which reached a wonderful scene. The lightness and elegance in his paintings are mainly due to the study of Zen thought and nature. Although Zen is a branch of Buddhism, its spirit has influenced the art of painting, but it has made landscape painting break away from the lofty spirit of religion and move towards the combination with nature. & ltBR & gt The summary of the painting history of the Ming and Qing Dynasties unanimously pointed out the great influence of Zen on painting art. Dong Qichang said: "Fifty years later, we know that this school (Northern Song Dynasty) can't learn painting. If it is a Zen treasure, it will become a bodhisattva. If you are not like Dong Jumi's three schools, you can go straight to the Tathagata. " However, I think the comments of the North School are a little extreme. There is no difference between north and south in painting, so we should learn from people's perception level, just as there is no difference between Buddhism and stupidity. Li Baihua: "Don't be curious about cloud painting, don't follow the rules, just spit it in your chest." Monk Shi Tao even pointed out in the tone of a Zen monk that painting "stands firm in the ink sea, determines life in the pen, removes hair and bones on the scale, and releases light in chaos." As we all know, there were many dragon elephants in Ming and Qing Dynasties. As a representative of the Ming Dynasty, Dong Qichang integrated Zen into the "North-South Theory" and achieved its artistic status. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Jianjiang, Badashanren, Xi Shi and Shi Tao, four outstanding "four-painting monks", which were ignored by the world, actually reached the artistic peak of Zen painting, saying that "becoming a monk is profound and elegant, and his accomplishments are not below those of the four monks" (Xing Wenzeng). Even the old monk Xugu, the pioneer of the maritime painting school in the late Qing Dynasty, is also a model of the combination of Zen thought and art. Due to the limitation of space, I won't go into details here. Throughout the Tang and Song Dynasties and even the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people who have made great achievements are deeply inspired and edified by Zen thought, and their works are full of deep, quiet and solemn Zen. Even if today's people appreciate the famous paintings of past dynasties, they don't have much Zen cultivation, and they may not be able to appreciate the artistic conception.

Dong Qichang put forward: "It is important to be calm when painting". Why? Silence leads to change, change leads to communication, general rules are integrated, and integration leads to life. Similarly, silence can lead to wisdom, and wisdom can lead to wisdom. At the same time, we should learn, inherit and carry forward traditional culture with dialectical thinking, take its essence and discard its dross. Tradition is the foundation of art, life is the source of art, and time is the spirit of art. May Zen and art, a wonderful traditional flower, inherit and blend with each other, carry forward the culture and art of the Chinese nation and inspire literati forever. Main Bibliography: Zen and Art, Tanjing, Diamond Sutra, Hundred Questions of Zen, Zen Poems and Songs, Five Lights, Monks in Chinese Painting, Buddhism and Painting, and Introduction to Art. The owner of Yunshui Caotang is from Tianmu Mountain.