Qi Baishi is four flat and eight stable
Clumsy, which usually means stupid, rough, inflexible, immature, flawed...... It was a derogatory term at first. Therefore, "fine" can be paired with "beauty", but "clumsy" must be combined with "inferior". An adjective, often emotional, also attaches our value judgments. When we look at something and say it's beautiful or clumsy, it's actually an indication of our likes and dislikes and our trade-offs. However, the ancient Chinese did not look at the problem so bluntly. In something that seems unbeautiful, they find a deep sense of beauty within. Chinese art pays attention to "clumsiness": painters are obsessed with dry brushes and scorched ink, poets use clumsy sentences as strange works, and craftsmen use simplicity to become elegant tools...... Those things that look crude and unpolished present a unique beauty in the eyes of the Chinese. Literati are willing to name their works or residences after the word "clumsy", such as Lin Zhiqi's "Humble Zhai Anthology" and Wang Xianchen's Humble Administrator's Garden. Even being a man pursues "clumsy", and in dealing with people, he advocates the wisdom of hiding clumsiness, retreating and advancing. "Clumsy" has become a characteristic proposition of Chinese aesthetic spirit. Clumsy, clumsy, naïve, clumsy...... With "clumsiness" as the center, the Chinese have developed a broad aesthetic vision. "Clumsy" also gives us another kind of persistence and love for things.
Qing Jinnong pommel horse figure
In life, it is inevitable to seek ingenuity. Everyone is the same as doing things, and they all hope to gradually move from primitive roughness to exquisite maturity. However, Lao Tzu said, "Great ingenuity is clumsy", guiding us to think in the opposite direction. Generally, the ingenuity we see is artificially operated and deliberate; And the highest level of ingenuity, without showing any traces of artificial carving, seems to be very clumsy, but in fact conforms to the laws of nature and the nature of things.
If it is clumsy, it is also "the ingenuity of unfortunate". From the point of view of artificial means, it is impure and has no technical content; But from the point of view of nature, it transcends craftsmanship and presents its true state, containing pure beauty.
Su Shi "Dead Wood and Strange Stones"
Therefore, the art of seeking clumsiness, on the one hand, is created by people, and on the other hand, it must be unobtrusive and natural. After Lao Tzu, "clumsy" became the artist's persistent pursuit. In particular, the elegant and indifferent literati did not like the carving and decoration of artificiality, but pursued natural expression. Su Shi handed down a painting "Dead Wood and Strange Stones", which depicts a withered and decayed wood and an ugly and hard stone. If you take craftsmanship as the standard, of course, it is not as good as the delicate and bright flowers and birds painted by Gongbi painters, but it hides vitality and beauty, and can arouse people's yearning for life vitality from the depths of their hearts.
Qing Dynasty Zhu Qi Stone Tongzi Diagram British Museum
Plain is true, prosperous is not to be trusted. Su Shi used "the extreme of splendor, and it is bland" to interpret Lao Tzu's "great ingenuity". The literati aesthetic does not wait for the superficial skills of bells and whistles, but starts from the plain place, focusing on the decay, which can show plumpness in thinness and simplicity, and profound meaning in coarseness. Chinese painters know that vigorous life can certainly be obtained from the verdant greenery, and it can also be found from the withered trees, and it is more subtle, reflecting the omnipresence of life. Therefore, they like to use dry brushes and burnt ink, which looks very undelicate and unripe, but it is another more subtle technique, which is not delicate and vigorous. Fu Shan writes calligraphy, and also pays attention to "rather ugly than flattering, rather fragmented than slippery", because too sweet and greasy skills will only make things vulgar.
Wu Changshuo, Zhong Jinshi Portrait Vertical Scroll, February 1892
Clumsy is a kind of comfort. To achieve the state of clumsiness, one needs a state of mind: no contention, no force, no artificiality, no inorganic mind. Zhuangzi once told a story about a craftsman named Ziqing, who was good at making a musical instrument, and he had the wonder of frightening ghosts and gods. Someone asked him what thaumaturgy he mastered? He replied, "I'm just a craftsman, and I don't know how to do it!" ”
It can be seen that Ziqing can be perfect, not through the accumulation of skills and knowledge; Instead, they fasted their minds, gave up their inherent skills and preconceptions, and were free to play freely, merging with nature in the natural mind, and creating wonderful works. This state of eliminating selfish desires and leaving nature purely is "clumsy". Clumsiness, not clumsy, but not deliberately seeking, in the process of transcending the mind and skill to complete the self-sufficiency of the mind, is a kind of unfar-fetched, tacit in the heart of the simple state.
Li Keran, Zhong Kui
We often see that a skilled craftsman makes objects that look unremarkable and do not seem to use any skill. In fact, craftsmen have had countless conversations with natural materials, seeing through the meaning of things with sincerity, betting deep perception and warm care into the utensils, and restoring a state of life and giving it a vivid character in the process of creating things quietly. Clumsy is the innocence of nature and nature. Clumsy, the beauty of open-air decoration everywhere, not in the form of exhaustion. Today, some impetuous people, greedy for fame and fortune, will distort "clumsy", thinking that "clumsy" means "unlucky" and "unworkable", so they just stand out from the crowd and deliberately make a rough appearance. In fact, this kind of behavior of drilling camps and competing and pretentiously disguised is precisely contrary to the meaning of "clumsy", and not only can it not be "clumsy", but at best it is just "self-defeating".
The best embodiment of the essence of "clumsy" is the Chinese garden. Although the garden is artificially created, it does not show traces of artificial carving. The pavilions, small bridges, flowing water, flowers, trees, trees and stones we see in the garden all follow the rhythm of nature, reflecting the atmosphere of simplicity and wildness. Rather than forcibly transforming nature artificially, gardeners strive to contain the inner order of nature. The garden is delicate and simple. The simplicity of the garden lies in the teacher's creation. It contains people's attachment and yearning for nature, and reflects people's most simple and sincere feelings for nature. "Although it is made by man, it is like opening from heaven", it is a heavenly workmanship, and it is also clumsy.
Huang Binhong leans on each other's white heads
Clumsy, there is often a sense of heaviness polished out of time, so it is attached to the "ancient" atmosphere. In the past, there is the precipitation of time, the sublime of tranquility, and the feelings of detachment. The emphasis of calligraphy on the golden stone gas is a kind of archaic. On the mottled rubbing, the wind erosion of history brings a unique beauty to the text, and the silent white characters on a black background reflect the solemn simplicity and calmness.
"Zhang Qian Monument" is ancient and clumsy, presented in the realm of old age. In landscape painting, there is no dead wood that cannot be out of the ancient state. Oriental people are especially able to appreciate the beauty of withered trees and the joy of old age. Dead wood and strange stones, residual lotus listening to the rain, dead vines and old trees faint crows...... Although it seems ugly, decadent and lifeless, it is "withered on the outside and creamed in the middle", revealing vitality in decay and wisdom in calm. "The hair is in the simple and ancient, and the taste is indifferent." No matter how prosperous the life experience is, it must also return to the indifferent experience. Clumsy, let us find new vitality in the most silent state. The ancient and plain aesthetic fashion advocates a kind of "old" realm. However, "old" does not mean the wrinkles on the forehead or the gray hair on the sideburns, but also means a kind of natural wonder, in the maturity and simplicity, revealing innocence and splendour. People are afraid of getting old, but art is not. Sometimes, we think that the older an artist gets, the more wonderful it is, in fact, the real beauty is not that he is more knowledgeable, but that his life has reached the point of "doing what he wants, not exceeding the rules", and in the "clumsiness" of returning to the basics and coming from nature, he has restored the childishness of life.
Shilu godson diagram
At the beginning of life, it is pure and innocent, ignorant and desireless, soft and obedient, but it contains infinite vitality. And when people are coerced by knowledge and desire, they inevitably lose their spiritual sense of things. Childishness is a return to childlike innocence. Like the newborn baby, like the first morning sun, it is the simplest and most true state of human nature after washing away the lead. In this way, there are a pair of bright, vibrant eyes that see the world as it is, as it is. Li Zhen advocated "childlike theory", taking childlike innocence as a prerequisite to evaluate the level of poetry writing. Children's drawings are often childish and interesting. Superb craftsmen use back-to-basics utensils to express the cleanliness and clarity of their hearts. Childlike innocence is sincerity, with a piece of sincerity, feel the fresh life, get the natural aura. One can't help but be reminded of Picasso's words: "It took me four years to paint like Raphael; But it took a lifetime to draw like a child. "Seeking clumsiness is the transcendence of the realm, regardless of time and country, it can always be connected from afar.
Shi Lu Mei Shi Tu
In a mechanized modern society, we are also in an era of extraordinary "ingenuity", and the pursuit and examination of "clumsy" also have a sense of reflection. The pursuit of ingenuity often leads to hypocrisy. Opportunistic and easy to backfire; Extravagance and exaggeration often mean excessive grabbing. In the long run, it will become more difficult for people, society and nature to coexist in harmony. Clumsiness is the realization of oneself by the order of heaven and earth. If you lose your clumsiness, you will lose your inner life experience. When we only rely on human will to transform the world, then, even if we are exhausted, we will not be able to gain a transcendent vision and feel the interest of nature and innocence.
Shi Lu loquat diagram
First there is the extreme of splendor, and then there is the dullness. "Clumsy" is the transcendence of skills, a sublimated realm, rather than a pretentious mystery without a foundation. The real "clumsiness" is that after reaching the peak of artistic cultivation, one no longer relies on the skills in one's hands, but re-examines and perceives the world through the heart. Even if it's simple and plain, it can make people linger and bring a deep shock to their hearts. Clumsiness is to recognize the world with the inherent truth of life, rather than to separate the world with knowledge.
Zhu Qizhan orchid
"Clumsy" is usually regarded as an aesthetic realm, and returning to the root is actually a proposition of life.
Those who keep clumsy guard are guarding the natural nature of life and the innocence and purity of the spirit. Expressing clumsiness with a clumsy mind, and then appreciating the clumsiness of life. In a plain and innocent life, you can get inner freedom. It's not easy to be clumsy. In a flashy world, it's harder to keep clumsy. But only by being "clumsy" in the noisy and noisy world can we be surrounded by complexity, so that we can be pampered and not frightened, calm and quiet, and live happily. Ingenuity and clumsiness, a pair of dialectical and subtle concepts, have been explored for thousands of years. Today, how to get closer to the truth, not only to return to the original simplicity, but also not to lose the publicity and enterprising of life, all depends on having a better grasp of "clumsy".