Chinese Landscape - Widescreen view

This is part 2 of the Chinese Art Appreciation series. In this painting, I try to capture the sentiment as expressed by ancient artists when they painted summer sceneries. As before, I will refer to one of the more popular works written by Lin Yutang i.e. The Importance of Living, A Lyrical Philosophy.

While this is not exactly a summer painting, I try to depict the essential characteristics that will best describe this beautiful, luxuriant season (Yes, I know, I am doing this painting in my tropical backyard in a country that is currently bathing in alternating heat and flash thunderstorm - no thanks to global warming!).

Hua: flowery splendour. Summer reveals its true majesty in its trees, forests and best of all, its floral display. This is floral language without seeds, or without thought or substance. Indeed, this is what we call a 'Flowery Kingdom' season.

Hsiung: heroic, powerful and majestic, as in the majestic mountains. You know what, I can literally move those mighty mountains in my 18 by 24 inch canvas. In real life, though, the closest I get is to move flower pots!

Chuang: also means strong and powerful but the combination peichuang will take a different meaning which is 'tragic but strong'.

Ts'iao: steep, rugged and abrupt - as in steep mountain edges. Again, it can also be used in a literary manner as well. Have you come across people who are friendly and perhaps also gregarious who will abruptly act in a hostile manner in response to a trivial matter?

Hao (fang): unrestrained. In the words of Lin Yutang, 'a poet or writer writing with the full sweep and mastery of his powers is compared to a celestial horse galloping in the sky'.

Finally, there's not much difference between spring and summer as compared to autumn or winter. Both depict vitality(ling), a quality seen in paintings where mountains and rockeries are generously spaced out (as you would see in nature) to represent the spirit of aliveness, though empty!

To further emphasize this awe-inspiring season, I recently come acrosss a website dedicated to a Russian singer, who is apparently one of the 'founders' of Russian rock music. This song that is posted on the internet is one of the more beautiful ones that I've heard. Just listen to the song and see if you agree. Below are the lyrics:

Golden City

by Boris Grebenshchikov

Under the clear blue sky
A golden city lies
With crystal-clear gates
And a single star so bright.

There is a garden there
With flowers and herbs
And strange exotic animals
That no one's seen or heard.

With a majestic mane
There strolls a yellow lion,
An ox with deep blue eyes,
And an eagle so divine.

And in the sky of blue
A solitary star--
This star, my love, is you--
'Twas always what you are.

Whoever loves is loved,
Whoever's blessed is bright,
So let the star point the way
To that magic place tonight.

With a majestic mane
You'll be greeted by a lion,
An ox with deep blue eyes
And an eagle so divine.

A Glimpse into the Future

Chinese lanscape art has the sort of depth and distance that stretches your imagination. Unlike the hyper-realistic art of some of the Western-style paintings, these are no longer representative of the visible world. In fact, it is an expression of the inner thoughts, an extension of the garden of the soul. This is my first attempt in Chinese art, after many years. I would love to do more of these when I have the time. Below, is a quotation from Lin Yutang, whose words have greatly inspired me:

Art is both creation and recreation.......I would rather have all school-children taught to model clay and all bank presidents and economic experts able to make their own Christmas cards, however ridiculous the attempt may be, than to have only a few artists who work at art as a profession. That is to say, I am for amateurism in all fields. .........every parent enjoys the amateur dramatics of his own children much more heartily than he enjoys a Shakespearean play......It is only when the spirit of play is kept that art can escape being commercialized.

Spring Garden

I'm catching the spring fever. The above is a painting of peony flowers in full bloom, done by an unknown artist (at least, unknown to me!). In China, there is a true appreciation of such art, as can be seen in many homes and restaurants. As a tourist walking in a crowded street or eating in a restaurant, you may be approached by peddlars selling paintings.

How do you translate the untranslatable? This is the main problem for Chinese scholars and literature critics when they come across words or phrases that are just impossible to convert to English. This is especially so when trying to translate their aesthetic feelings on art and nature.

All art elements, including poetry and paintings, since the time of ancient China, are based on two aesthetic notions: the present mood and the scenery. The Chinese believed that any form of philosophy that is inhuman or antithetical to nature or natural human sentiment and inclination has gone astray. Similarly, a person who is detached and aloof is said to be wuch'ing or 'to have no heart'. Concerning scenery, it is closely related to human mood. For example, the artist feels the spirit of autumn coming when the there is a chill in the air and the leaves turn golden. Similarly, there is the spirit of early spring when the flowers are budding. It is said that nature, when seen through a painting or a story or even a reflective thought, is more beautiful than the reality itself.

This is the first part of a series where I will try to reveal the secrets of nature, in Chinese vocabulary, as related to the four seasons. I will carry this through, especially based on the book 'The Importance of Living - A Lyrical Philosophy' by the late Prof Lin Yutang.

Some of the beauty characteristics of spring are as follows:

brightness (ming): as in a bright moon or brightly dressed woman. This is different from clever, as we would like to say in English, like a bright student.

gorgeously beautiful (yen): as in peony flowers (see in the above painting). Don't they look dazzling and gorgeous to you?

vitality (ling): If you noticed their paintings, they are not tight or compact. A painting is said to have vitality or looks alive when there is abundant use of empty space.

graceful, delicate, slender (hsiu): Bamboo trees have this kind of delicate beauty. I am sure you have watched the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I liked it so much, I saw it several times. Not long ago, people used to make movies in China that way. I will always remember the part where the actors were springing from one bamboo tree to another and flying on rooftops. Now, that's delicate!