The sage holds the Tao and reflects things, and the sage carries the taste and image①. As for the mountains and rivers, they are both qualitative and interesting. Therefore, the likes of Xuanyuan, Yao, Kong, Guangcheng, Dakai, Xuyou, Guzhu, etc. must have Kongtong, Juci, Miaogu, Ji, Shou, and Dameng. Also known as the joy of benevolence and wisdom ④ Yan. The saints use gods and Dharma to guide the sages; the mountains and rivers use their shapes to charm the way, and the benevolent people are happy. Isn’t it almost?
I am nostalgic for Lu and Heng⑥, and I know Kuo Jing Wu⑦. I don’t know that old age is coming, and I am ashamed that I can’t condense my energy and enjoy myself. Injuring the anvil of Shimen and his ilk, the portraits and colors are composed of Yunling.
Those whose principles are superior to those of the Middle Ages can be sought after a thousand years. If the purpose is more subtle than words and images, it can be taken from the heart and policy of writing. What's more, the body is wrapped around ⑨, the eyes are prepared ⑩, the shape is written by shape, and the appearance is written by color ⑾.
The Kunlun Mountains are so big, but their pupils are so small that even if you press your eyes to an inch, you can hardly see them. A few miles apart, it can be surrounded by an inch of eyes. If the distance is slightly wider, the view will become smaller. If Zhang Xiaosu is reflected from a distance, the shape of Kun and Lang can be enclosed within a square inch. If you draw three inches vertically, it will be as high as a thousand people; if you draw several feet horizontally, it will be as wide as a hundred miles. Therefore, those who observe and draw pictures only suffer from the misfortune of resemblance, and do not make them small and burden them with resemblances. This is the natural tendency⒁. In this case, the beauty of Song and Hua ⒂ and the spirit of Xuan Ni ⒃ can all be captured in one picture.
Those who believe that the eyes should understand the mind are the principles. If the analogy becomes a skill, then the eyes will respond in the same way and the heart will understand. Although I have returned to vain pursuit of Youyan, how can I add it? Also, the god is originally dead, living in the shape and sense of the species, and the reason is in the shadow. If you can write wonderfully sincerely, you can also be sincere to the best of your ability.
So I stayed idle to regulate my Qi, brushed my wine glasses and played the zither, and sat in the dark and quiet place to study the four wildernesses. Peak Xiu Ao Yi ⒇, Yun Lin Sen Xing (21). The sages are reflected in the peerless generation, and all kinds of interests blend into their thoughts. What is the purpose of Yu Fu? It’s just about freeing the gods. Whoever has the freedom of the gods has to do it first.
(Shen Zicheng's "Compilation of Masterpieces on Painting in the Past Dynasties", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1982 edition)
Notes ① Clearing the taste - calming the mind and appreciating things. Cheng, to clarify; Taste, to taste. ②Xuanyuan, Yao, Kong, Guangcheng, Dakai, Xu You, Guzhu - except Confucius, they are all figures in myths and legends. ③Kongtong, Juci, Miaogu, Ji, Shou, Dameng—all are the names of sacred mountains in myths and legends, but they are not exact names. ④The joy of benevolence and wisdom - see "The Analects of Confucius·Yongye": "Confucius said: 'The wise are happy in water, the benevolent are happy in mountains. The wise are active, and the benevolent are quiet.'" 5. Charm - make it look beautiful. ⑥Lu, Heng——Lushan and Hengshan. ⑦Jingwu - refers to the area around the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. ⑧ Yi - makes... happy. ⑨ linger - stay. ⑩Preparation - deep affection, here is the meaning of deep attention. (11) Use form to describe form, use color to describe appearance - truthfully describe the scene according to its characteristics. Writing and appearance are all described here. (12) Kun and Lang-refers to the places where the legendary gods live. (13) Jiong - vast. (14)Position - posture. (15)Song, Hua—Songshan and Huashan. (16) Xuan Ni - refers to "Tao". (17) Dead end - no clue. Death refers to "nothing". (18) Wine glass. (19) Tianlizhi - the movement of heaven. "" passes "Ju". (20) Fengxiuyaoyi - Fengxiu (xiu), peaks and mountains. 壣巷(yao yi), describes the high and steep mountains. (21) Senshen - dense and vast. Xiao, the same as "miao".
Appreciation Zong Bing loved traveling. "Every time he traveled to the mountains and rivers, he always forgot to return home." Throughout his life, shoe marks were all over the Luheng and Jingwu areas. In his twilight years, his body was tired and his mind was failing. He sighed and said: "As old age and illness come together, it may be difficult to see all the famous mountains. But you should keep your mind on the road and swim around it while lying down. Whenever you travel, you should keep it in your room. I said to people: ' Play the piano and make the mountains ring. '" This is the origin of "Preface to Painting Landscapes". The article can be divided into three parts. The first part (paragraphs 1 and 2) explains the impact of the beauty of nature on people's spiritual temperament. The second part (paragraphs three, four and five) explains the significance of landscape painting and puts forward the principle of "small in the distance and large in the near". The third part, the last paragraph, elaborates on the aesthetic enjoyment brought by appreciating landscape paintings. The three parts, layer by layer, finally highlight the author's idea of ??"clearing the mind of taste".
The majesty and steepness of mountains can intoxicate honest and simple people, and the roaring waves of rivers and seas can make smart and wise people linger. This is because "landscapes" have "spiritual interest" and are related to people's emotions. The ontology and spirit are connected and consistent. Chinese Taoists have always advocated "the wandering of gods and things" and "the unity of nature and man". They believe that the way of nature can be understood from mountains and rivers. By appreciating the way of nature, people can then grasp the laws of the operation, development and change of the entire world - " The Way of Heaven”. From this point of view, landscape plays an important cognitive role.
Landscape painting is a sketch of nature, which is "describing form with form and color with appearance." It fully depicts the natural existence state of "landscape" and has the same aesthetic value as natural landscape. At the same time, it also contains the painter's emotion towards the landscape, the unique understanding of the "way of nature" and the painter's personal taste. Its connotation is extremely rich. You can know people by looking at paintings, you can know people by seeking their purpose, and you can understand the Tao by seeking your purpose. From this point of view, landscape painting has a far deeper connotation than natural landscapes.
The aesthetic attitude that must be possessed when appreciating landscapes and landscape paintings is "clearing the taste". "Chenghuai" means to calm the mind and concentrate the thoughts, and "taste" means to appreciate and figure out the "Tao" contained in the mountains and rivers. Only in this way can we "understand the eyes and understand the heart" and "go beyond the understanding of God".
The result of observing and appreciating the "natural interest" of mountains and rivers calmly and thoughtfully is that the observer's mind can be cleansed, his emotions can be relaxed, and "all the interests can blend into his mind." My thoughts incorporate a variety of spiritual interests, and I am completely immersed in the endless imagination that landscapes and landscape paintings give people. At this time, the mountains and rivers shape my appearance, and the mountains and rivers are one with me; my feelings overflow beyond the heaven and earth, and my mind wanders beyond the eight wastelands. The viewer completely enters into a state of obsession of "the unity of things and myself" and "the wandering of gods and things". This is what Zong Bing calls "Smooth God". This is the unique enjoyment that landscape painting gives people.
The "Chenghuai" theory is obviously derived from Taoist thought. It lays the foundation for the theory of creation and appreciation of Chinese paintings, and occupies an extremely important position in the history of Chinese painting. Zong Bing's words such as "Chenghuai Weixiang" and "Changshen" have been continuously used by later generations of painters and literati, and have become specific conceptual categories in the history of Chinese art, with considerable influence.
This preface was written from the heart, without any sense of patchwork, and fully expresses Zong Bing’s unique understanding of landscape painting. It can be called Wenyuan's "Nanhua", or it can be regarded as the painting world's "Classic Theory". What is worth noting is the discussion of the principle of "small in the distance and large in the near" in the article. This is the earliest record of the "principle of perspective" in Chinese history, and it is also the difference between traditional Chinese painting and Western painting.