'Ch'i Yuen': a standar for Chinese art
Dear Friends,
Aesthetic standards are very much based on cultural as well as social standards. In Chinese art, the first standard concerned is Ch'i Yuen.
Ch'i Yuen has been translated by Western scholars as "rhythmic vitality", "spirit resonance", "harmony with the spirit." (Ch'i) is the paramount element in Chinese art.
Stated simply, Ch'i Yuen refers to the spiritual expression which emanates from a painting or calligraphy, where there is harmony of its vital components. With Ch'i Yuen, an artwork is vibrant; without it, the work is lifeless, stiff.
The Chinese believe that all creations of nature, though inanimate to the Western mind, reveal an inner vitality. Within everything natural, a blade of grass or a bamboo shoot, a mountain or a cloud, there is Ch'i. Since every creation has Ch'i, it consequently possesses Yuen, an innate flowing vitality.
There must be an atmospheric blending or harmonious flavor of all the elements involved -- as in a massive fog, a symphonic movement, a turbulent ocean, the flow of summer clouds. That rhythmic, concordant effect or flavor is Yuen.
Once the coherence or the growing power of anything is broken, it withers and becomes lifeless, like an artificial flower or paper grass.
The term Ch'i Yuen was first used by the artist and critic Hsieh Ho (5th century) in his book Critiques on Old Paintings. In one section he enumerates six essential approaches toward achieving a strong art work. He used the word Fa, which Western critics have translated as "canons" or "principles," but which literally means "methods."
His famous Six Methods are:
(1) Ch'i Yuen Seng Tung; Sheng-tung, which means "lively movement" and is a result of Ch'i Yuen.
(2) Using the brush in the bone manner.
(3) Sketching form from nature.
(4) Coloring according to various categories (red, yellow, orange for warm or green, blue, purple for cold).
(5) Composition.
(6) Tracing or copying.
The Six Methods became sacred rules and no one dared to challenge them.
The trouble with most Chinese artists in the past is that they admired the old masters so much that they religiously obeyed their rules without any question. I hold a quite different attitude towards the so-called established Six Methods. I believe:
(1) Ch'i Yuen is the lively spirit of a piece of art work. It is a result, not a method, and thus should not be included among the methods.
(2) The sixth method, Chuan Mo Yi Hsieh, deals with the technique of tracing. Before the Southern-Northern Dynasties period, figure form, such as Buddhist images or general portraits, was the prevalent subject matter for artists and that is undoubtedly why Hsieh Ho included this method. However, for other subject matters, such as landscapes, plants and birds, a draft under the paper is not necessary, rather than being quoted mechanically by rote.
(3) With respect to the remaining four methods, their sequence ought to be changed with composition coming first, since the act of painting must begin with composition.
Ch'i Yuen is indeed of paramount importance as far as artistic quality is concerned. With it, a work of art is alive; otherwise, dead. Every painter can do a portrait, but to bring alive the personality of the subject is not easy. Every painter can paint flowers, but not everyone can show their liveliness. It is the very qualities of life, spirit, and vivid movement that create Ch'i Yuen.
Competent control of brushwork and proper use of ink will result in a lively atmospheric effect in a painting, and this vigorous Ch'i will hold the entire composition together in harmonious unity.
-- Kwo Da-Wei