"Spring thunder, all things grow". In the spring season, the 24 solar terms countdown short film at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games sent a "spring song" full of Chinese cultural connotations to hundreds of millions of viewers around the world. Created and polished for ten years, the book "Twenty-four Solar Terms and Seventy-Two Seasons", jointly completed by Xu Lijing and Xu Dongdong, was officially published by CITIC Publishing House recently.
With more than 140 exquisite Chinese abstract paintings and nearly 80 beautiful and delicate texts, the book depicts the grand and subtle wonderful system of the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two weather from the perspective of life concept, explains the way of heaven and earth behind this system and the love for all things, and fully expresses the new perception and new thinking of China's excellent traditional culture. The ancient twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two seasons have become the carrier of the author's exploration of the evolution of the cosmic world and culture, and have also become the entry point for his understanding of nature and life.
The picture shows the three-dimensional seal of "Twenty-four Solar Terms and Seventy-Two Seasons"
Taste the four seasons and feel the unique poetic aesthetics of life Chinese
The 24 solar terms are one of the most representative essences and classics of traditional Chinese culture, and on 30 November 2016, it was officially included in the UNESCO Catalogue of Masterpieces of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In the view of the author of the book, the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two weathers are not only a set of knowledge systems on the laws of seasonal, climatic and phenological changes, but also a philosophy of time belonging to the Chinese, and it is also a unique philosophy of life and life aesthetics of Chinese.
The whole book aims to break through the traditional perspective of understanding, and to enter the level of the concept of life by recognizing the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two weather, showing the poetic aesthetics of life Chinese, understanding the source of Chinese life energy, and telling the contemporary value and world significance of ancient Chinese wisdom and traditional Chinese culture.
It is understood that the text and paintings of the book are original. The two authors ask questions with pictures, write articles with pictures, take "heaven" as the unit, carefully pursue the footsteps of the changes of the four seasons, interpret each festival and phenology, not only explain from the level of knowledge, but also combine their own life experience and life experience, carefully understand the changes of heaven and earth and magnificent life imagery of the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two weathers, excavate the endless life energy of the Chinese nation contained in it, and give it a new interpretation of life aesthetics. The perception of nature, the appreciation of art, and the contemplation of life are blended together.
Xu Lijing, the author of the book and deputy editor-in-chief of the Economic Daily, wrote in the preface to the book: "Walking in the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two days, you also walk in an incomparably rich, gorgeous and thick cultural time and space. The ancient wisdom, philosophy and poetry of the Chinese nation have gone through thousands of years and are still vivid and vivid, and in this world's 'great changes that have not occurred in a hundred years', they have brought us new enlightenment and shown new values. "Every life has its own four seasons. Today, I am in awe and cherish every day and moment of the four seasons. Each season of the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two seasons carries my thoughts on life in heaven and earth, and the words are all sincere expressions of the words of the soul. ”
Painting interpretation, innovative display of Chinese culture with an international artistic language
The picture shows Xu Dongdong, one of the authors of this book, a national first-class artist and a member of the China Artists Association
What is very precious is that the group paintings of the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms and Seventy-Two Seasons" series of paintings created by xu Dongdong, a master of contemporary Chinese abstract painting, which lasted for eight years, are the first time in this book that the painting paper that condenses the artist's life is in the most authentic state and meets the reader for the first time.
This is the first set of Chinese abstract painting language to completely depict the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two seasons of the series of artistic creations, with rice paper, brush as the carrier, strong color, unique texture, with innovative international painting language close to Chinese culture and Chinese wisdom, so that the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two "old trees" sent out the "new branches" of the culture of the times.
The reading of these paintings has become an important source of understanding the four seasons and the twenty-four solar terms and the seventy-two seasons.
"Twenty-four Solar Terms and Seventy-Two Seasons" series of group paintings
Through the exploration of nearly 50 years of artistic creation, Xu Dongdong has created a unique genre of Chinese abstract painting, and its painting language integrates traditional Chinese image painting with Western impression painting and abstract painting, reaching a peak in the series of group paintings of "Twenty-Four Solar Terms and Seventy-Two Seasons". He insisted on forward-looking thinking and explaining the regular role of China's excellent culture in the historical process of China's march to the world from a global perspective from the great changes in the cultural convergence between the East and the West. He confessed that his creative intention is to take the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two weather as the carrier, Chinese abstract painting to take the lead, with new thinking dimensions and the sinicization of abstract painting language, to explore the establishment of Chinese abstract logic thinking that integrates the excellent cultures of the East and the West, and the resulting new Chinese culture will promote the construction of China's modern scientific system and industrialization and urbanization, and provide support for leading the future global development and change and the recognition of cultural values.
This book's observation of the four seasons, no matter which season the pen and ink falls in, runs through two main lines, one is the change of yin and yang and the two qi of heaven and earth, and the other is the benevolence of heaven and earth for the life of all things. Xu Dongdong wrote in the creation talk: "In the eight years of creating "Twenty-Four Solar Terms and Seventy-Two Seasons", it is really time like a shuttle, but there is no moment of hesitation, do not miss the blessings of time brought by each festival, do not miss the momentary touch brought by each season, do not miss the philosophy of the concept of life in the universe brought about by the change of the four seasons, and do not miss the pursuit of the truth, goodness and beauty of life in the enlightenment. ”
Famous masters talk to each other, multi-dimensional interpretation of the historical and practical significance of the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two days
The book brings together a number of famous artists from different fields to expound the historical and practical significance of the 24 solar terms and 72 from the dimensions of culture, art, science, philosophy and so on, helping people to deeply understand the contemporary value of this ancient system.
Writer and scholar Wang Meng said in the recommended preface of this book that the essence of Chinese culture is to reach the realm of heaven and earth, pay attention to the unity of heaven and man, the creation of teachers, harmony and difference, beauty and commonality, in the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two weather, our ancient eyes saw everything in the universe, every phenological life is precious, and the universe is a whole, a system. Therefore, the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two days are the intangible cultural heritage of mankind, and the cosmology and outlook on life it contains are very remarkable, and they are modern and even postmodern, and it is very meaningful to put it in today and in the future and in the world.
Inside page of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms and Seventy-Two Seasons
Wang Meng said, "Thanks to this book, it makes us suddenly rediscover the spiritual pearl that we have long had but seems to have been sleeping for a long time, forgotten and indifferent for thousands of years, making it radiant, warm and full of vitality again." The Chinese Dream has opened up another cultural firewood, and we who are striding forward on the road of socialist modernization are connected to the Chinese calendar culture that has lasted for thousands of years. ”
In addition, Ding Yihui, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and special adviser on climate change of the China Meteorological Administration, Chen Lai, dean of the Institute of Chinese Studies of Tsinghua University and president of the Chinese Society for the History of Philosophy, and Xue Qikun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of southern university of science and technology, all participated in the dialogue of this book, expounding the practical significance of the 24 solar terms and 72 days from different dimensions such as meteorology, philosophy, and quantum physical science.