Spacial signification in Chinese art

Letter No. 28

Dear friends,

Let's continue to study the significance of space in Chinese art, painting and calligraphy.

Space-consciousness. (2)

A thousand years earlier than in the West, Tsung Ping had already discovered the realistic approach of including perspective in painting. He used a piece of silk through which he looked out to a distant mountain, and then painted the scenery on the silk as it loomed before his eyes.

In his treaties on the theory of painting, he notes: "The farther an object recedes, the smaller it appears to your eyes."

He goes on to suggest the painter "detail the near, and suggest the distant."

His contemporary, Wang Wei, on the other hand, was strongly opposed to the idea of emphasizing perspective in painting. He considered the realistic approach was rather limited in scope.

Wang thought if one paints from a fixed point, and paints the immediate scene before him, he can only see the mountain in front of him, not the many, many mountains beyond his naked eye. Thus, he held a supra-realistic view should be taken, to depict a much richer panorama.

To him, painting was meant to convey the poetic quality of a science. Above all, the spiritual quality seen by the mind's eye, and the space filled by the eternal Chi, or Tao, should likewise be rendered, and depicting these realities should be the goal all artists should pursue.

Therefore, he advocated a "bird's eye" view should be adopted in order to liberate the artist from the bondage of the perspective view, which is too limited in scope. This was an advanced and intellectual point of view.

Chinese artists have followed his counsel ever since. The Chinese attitude toward the cosmos is not a state of opposition. They have never tried to conquer nature. They love nature. People who blend themselves with nature will live with it harmoniously.

In Chinese literature and poetry, a word such as "linger", and in philosophy the concept of Wang Fu, the terms of "no departure without return", are frequently found. Such words describe well, the Chinese attitude toward space.

Thus, looking at a Chinese landscape in hanging scroll form, the onlooker may first notice the distant peak in the higher part of the composition; then, his eyes may wander downwards, to the middle range, viewing leisurely the rookeries, tress, or water fall to be found there; then, gradually following the movement of such interest points, he reaches and lingers to view the trees, hut and stream at this close range, where the artist himself lingered. He then may go back upwards, or once again repeat his wanderings downward.

This kind of back and forth movement describes the feeling and sentiment of "linger", and Wang Fu. This is the intrinsic spirit of the Chinese concept of space consciousness in art.

Sometimes, the sound of a bell from a temple may linger in the woods. Tung Ping once faced his paintings on the wall, and playing his lute sang, "I want all the mountains to echo my song."

Figure 65 is Tadpoles, a reproduction from my ink drawing. The space is filled and animated by the vividly moving tails. The black and white contrast in this composition is quite clear. The S curve in the over-all view constitutes the action line or the backbone of this composition.

My signature and seal tie the lower group of tadpoles, to those in the upper right corner, forming two counterpoints to balance the heavy group of tadpoles on the opposite side.

The feeling of unity is also achieved by the almost uniform size of the small animals. However, a contrasting effect is gained, not only by the positive and negative spaces in black and white, but also by the various postures of the swimming creatures.

Notice the fact none of them has been drawn exactly the same in shape and direction, so as to avoid repetition.

The function of form in a Chinese painting is not to reproduce the natural shape, but rather to create a denotation, or suggestion of its very essence.

As one views this drawing, he is conscious the tadpoles are swimming in water. It is not necessary for the artist to create space by adding pigments to the background. It is more subtle to let the onlooker fill the space through his imagination. If I had created the water by adding colors, or lines, the result would have been like painting a snake with feet.

-- Kwo Da-Wei