Misunderstanding of Chinese Painting in Modern Chinese Painting

Wenjing February 09, 2010 08:39 Source: People's Daily

In recent times, many people, including professionals, have had a number of misunderstandings about traditional Chinese painting and the tradition of Chinese painting, as well as about its standards, values and development, which are worth noting.

First of all, there is confusion between the concepts of "traditional Chinese painting" and "Chinese painting tradition". "Traditional Chinese painting" that is, traditional Chinese painting, its focus on Chinese painting, and its counterpart is Western painting, is a specific metaphysical things. "Traditional Chinese Painting" is the tradition of Chinese painting, focusing on the tradition, that is, subject to the cultural tradition, is the invisible vein of the inner spirit of Chinese painting weather, is the abstract metaphysical things, but also the artistic spirit of our nation. The two are both different and related, similar to "the Tao is in the vessel, and the vessel does not leave the Tao".

The second is the bias in the understanding of "traditional Chinese painting". Most of the Chinese painting practitioners and appreciators, thought that "traditional Chinese painting" is advocated by Su Dongpo, Dong Qichang comprehensively elaborated, Qingteng, Bada, Zheng Banqiao and other performance of the "literati painting". In fact, this is not the case. "Literati painting" is only a part of traditional Chinese painting, and therefore cannot represent all of Chinese painting. The reason why future generations of such a misunderstanding, the root of the historical theorists (some painters themselves) from successive generations of advocacy and misinformation.

Thirdly, there is a misunderstanding of the standard of Chinese painting. Chinese painters, in front of most of the country is very confident, often self-editing, self-establishment, self-appointed portal; and in front of the Western art, and not too confident, either to do their "porter", or their "fetishism" people. This is a kind of frivolity, a kind of agitation, is a manifestation of national nihilism. To solve this problem, we need to rely on the establishment of art standards. The standard of art and the status of the high and low, the size of the fame, the market price of the high and low mixed together, in an intertwined state. The root of this phenomenon comes from the misunderstanding of Chinese culture, the misconception that China, having fallen behind in its development in recent history, had to give up the core values of our original Chinese paintings and replace them with the cultural concepts of powerful Western countries. Therefore, contemporary Chinese painters have not been able to achieve masters, but at most some "famous artists". However, there are also good and bad masters, the name of the real "masters", the name is not true is "pseudo-masters". Nowadays, "famous" is not enough, "pseudo-famous" has more.

Fourth, the value of Chinese painting is also a misunderstanding. Misunderstanding of the "May Fourth" New Culture Movement, so that we in a fairly long time, in the understanding of the value of Chinese painting, there is a conceptual misunderstanding. In the field of Chinese painting, the "art revolution" carried out by the "May Fourth" elites, the "realistic painting of the academy" that they struggled to find and bring back from the West, and the "85 New Wave" that began in the 1980s, have all contributed to the development of Chinese painting. The "85 New Wave", which began in the 1980s, once again introduced Western modern art in a piecemeal and cut-up manner. These superficial innovations, all of which are non-academic, have led to confusion in the innovation of Chinese painting. Traditional Chinese painting is based on calligraphy, emphasizing the same origin of calligraphy and painting and the use of brush and ink, and taking the "bone method of using the brush" to achieve "vividness" as the highest standard, possessing its own unique value system. Its aesthetic value lies in the subjective expression of the artist's inner world and spiritual outlook, and has an eternal spiritual value that transcends time and space. There is an essential difference between the goals of Chinese painting and Western painting, which not only cannot be covered, but also cannot be covered. The path of development of Chinese painting can only be "shifted", but not "changed".

With the wave of modernization and the advancement of global economic integration, the development of Chinese painting art is also facing the problem of internationalization. Due to the influence of global cultural exchanges, many artists always like to focus on the West, which is a misunderstanding of the future direction of Chinese painting. Chinese painting can not cater to the development of Western art, we must have our own development concepts, we must integrate ourselves, sound themselves, rather than ignoring themselves, extinction of themselves. The uniqueness of Chinese art is not only not burdensome, but a contribution to the world, which is especially obvious in the current world. The renewal and creation of the Chinese painting tradition is a kind of communication and continuation of the national bloodline in contemporary times.

The development of Chinese painting should look at the big picture and position itself accurately, seeking a breakthrough in artistic concepts rather than imitation in form. Although the possibility of breakthrough is not necessarily limited to the local area, it is necessary to adhere to the basic attributes of the art of Chinese painting, and create a new and distinctive method of expression that integrates a variety of elements. It is only through local, open Chinese painting that we can move to the forefront of the world.