'Chiao' and 'chuo' in fine arts

Dear friends,

In its daily connotation, chiao means "dexterous" and "clever". People who are good at doing things, especially with their hands, fixing a carburetor, picking up a new cooking technique or learning to sew quickly, will be praised as being chiao.

However, in fine arts, the term is not a compliment. It is applied usually to works which exhibit merely technical achievement but lack depth in meaning. Although the work may be skillful and clever, it is considered to be of low taste for its artificiality and showiness. A work of this type often tends to be too pretty or too well polished in its technique and, therefore, held to be merely a decorative piece. Since it is essentially superficial, it would not be considered of museum quality.

Chuo literally means "awkwardness". It is usually a derogatory term applied to something which is ugly, to someone who is slow in thinking or clumsy in action. In art, however, Chuo is held to be the opposite of sophistication and artificiality, namely, chiao.

Chuo is usually coupled with the word, ch'ui, meaning interesting or delightful; chuo ch'ui is considered a rate of quality in art, precious and difficult to attain it often reflects the child-like spontaneity to be found in the paintings of Rouault and Chagall.

Chuo may be found in gay and witty paintings as well as in serious and profound pieces. The value of chuo lies in the lasting excitement which it generates in the viewer, in contrast to the transitory appeal of a chiao work. Chuo quality is often found in a Hsieh-Yi painting, because of the economy of strokes used in such works.

In the latter part of the Ming dynasty (16th century), the famous calligrapher Fu Ch'ing-Chu, commenting on the aesthetic quality of Chinese calligraphy, said: "Rather be chuo (clumsy) than chiao (clever) -- rather be ugly than charming; rather be segmented than slippery and weightless; rather be spontaneous than elaborative."

I could not agree more with Fu in the elucidation of the true meaning of these two terms -- chiao and Chuo; the former is the result of labored effort; the latter, effortless and thus natural.

The following illustration is to show the route of how a successful work of art ought to be developed: (1) Unlikeness (2) Likeness, and (3) Unlikeness.

The first stage, "unlikeness," represents a student who cannot successfully depict the likeness of his subject, as in a portrait, but after long study, he finally reaches the second stage where he is able to depict "likeness". However, this is not the answer to being an affective artist, for likeness is only a passive copy of nature.

Stage two, in fact, is merely a stage of transition, but, unfortunately, too many students mistake this stage as the final goal of artistic achievement. Instead, at this point, with full understanding of his subject, and with complete mastery of technique, an artist can move one step upward, i.e., he can enter the realm of creation, where once again he produces "unlikeness," but at this stage his work will have the real quality of art. At stage three, his work will be mature, profound, highly individualized and quite different from a photographic rendition.

In calligraphy, also, perceptual distance is an important element, for artistic calligraphy cannot be stereotyped. Rather, it never ceases to surprise the reader with new variations of form. Such calligraphy is more often chuo.

Among all the contemporary artists, Ch'i Pai-Shih is outstanding for his quality of being chuo. The Aged Should Be Stronger, is a self-portrait. A look at this painting will illustrate the element of perceptual distance. Its whimsicality and its simplicity give the cryptic twinkle of Old Man Ch'i far more powerfully than an actual photograph, as he stands grasping his cane.

-- Kwo Da-Wei