At the "Ink Drums - Chinese Drama Figure Painting Exhibition" held by Liu Haisu Art Museum in Shanghai not long ago, it shows the depiction of "opera characters" by generations of Chinese painters. The charm of Chinese opera not only attracts the hearts of painters, but also has more thoughts on Chinese culture and national spirit. Mr. He Huaishuo, a well-known art critic in Taiwan, recently submitted a letter to "The Paper" (www.thepaper.cn), expressing his understanding of Chinese opera: Chinese opera highlights another character of Chinese performing arts. It appeals to fixed reactions, emphasizes universality, and neglects particularity, and is standardized and conceptualized. It’s like aged wine, the more it gets, the more fragrant it becomes. It has an inherent formula and has eternal charm. This is in line with traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting. " The different modern universality and particularity of Chinese opera have unified the creation of typical art, which is almost the artistic definition of Hegel's 'sensual form of concept' in the 19th century. Chinese opera has long gone this path in love."
Kunqu " Jingchai Ji "
In the spring of 2012, friends Wang Rongzu and Lu Shanyi invited me to watch Kunqu opera with friends, in the Cultural Hall of the National Forbidden City of Waishunxi, Taipei. I watched "The Story of Jingchai" that day, a popular sketch, ninety minutes. After watching it, I seemed to be enlightened and understood the secrets of traditional Chinese opera. Whether north, south, east, and different local operas have a characteristic, which is the persistence of adhering to the oldest national styles.
GuanliangDrama Character Painting
Maybe because I am not a person who specializes in Chinese and Western drama, when I see the wonderful truth of Chinese opera, I think it is an enlightenment; and because I think of the traditional Chinese popular novels, Chinese literati paintings and folk art that I know more, I find that it is in line with Chinese opera and understands it from other aspects. Because I am enlightened, I feel very happy.
At that time, I made a big fuss about my friends who were back to Taipei with the same car. Then it was immediately written on the note: "Chinese opera expresses universal concepts, and does not value the particularity of characters and events. Poetry, prose, songs and music are all refined into standardized models to appeal to the "fixed reaction" of the audio-visual public. Different modern universality and particularity of Chinese opera have created a typical example of art, which is almost the artistic definition of Hegel's "sensual form of concepts" in the 19th century. Chinese opera has long gone this path in a deep and affectionate way."
Can these few sentences be said to have briefly and pertinently expressed the characteristics of Chinese opera? Does the research on Chinese opera agree with my point of view? I have no idea. And I think that the Chinese chapter novel and traditional literati paintings all show this common feature, so I cannot be confident in my epiphany.
art expression methods are not exhausted, there is no progress or backwardness, there is only the issue of good or bad, whether it is appropriate or not. However, the viewpoints and techniques of art have evolutionary facts. When humans observe all things in the universe, they see the same thing at a rough level and the differences at a minute. First, see red flowers and green leaves, and further see different reds and different greens, and have more varied shapes. It’s two different ways to see good people and bad people. It is gradually possible to see that there are bad things in good things and good things in bad things; even to see that people are extremely complicated. What you see is universal; what you see is special. There are always similarities in a category and unique differences in individuals. The same is universal, and the different is special. In terms of the profoundness and richness of life and characters expressed by art, Dream of Red Mansions is one level higher than Journey to the West, the Three Kingdoms, and Water Margin, and no one disagrees.
He Youzhi drama figure painting
Any art, when expressing the universe and life, requires realness and vividness, and must grasp the universality and particularity of things. Universality includes the commonality and consistency of a certain type of thing; particularity is the uniqueness and personality of a specific thing. These are two elements that must be possessed in the authenticity of the existence of everything in the world. In terms of landscapes and landscapes, nature has its own universal laws, but different regions and times must have their own unique characteristics. For example, the mountains in the United States and the mountains in China have very different appearances; but any mountain must basically be narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, which is the common nature of "mountains". There are no inverted pyramid-shaped mountains in the world. As for people, universality is "human nature". However, due to different time and space and environment, individual genes and characteristics are different, and everyone has their own faces and characteristics.On the one hand, artistic expression must take into account its common universality, and also show the personality of a specific character. Therefore, artists must use the means of taking into account and integrating both.
The universal characteristics of things are knowledge, concepts and concepts, and appeal to reason; the special characteristics of things are real, concrete, and vivid existence, appeal to sentiment. Things must have two properties: universal and special, and universally contained in the special nature. The two are dialectical unity.
Chinese drama figure painting exhibition at Liu Haisu Art Museum in Shanghai
Although everything in the real world is the unity of the two, the expression of art will not be, and it cannot be a mechanical replica of the objective world. Although the universality and particularity of things are indispensable in artistic expression, they often have their own preferences in different cultures and different arts. Those who value universality have more thoughtful depth and are more conceptual; those who value speciality are more vivid, that is, they show more vivid sensory authenticity, so they are more realistic. The former's artistic connotation and meaning are relatively clear and certain, but the disadvantage is that it is easy to become boring and preaching; the latter's artistic connotation and meaning are relatively obscure, but they are vivid and fragrant, and are extremely sensory and audio-visual entertainment. The disadvantage is that they attach too much importance to the external sense of reality and have a vague central idea.
Traditional opera is a popular art in the long-standing era in the past. Since illiteracy accounted for the vast majority in ancient times, hard-working people rarely came into contact with cultural education, watching operas and music was the only opportunity to appreciate art and enjoy leisure and entertainment. Since Chinese culture is the culture that emphasizes the meaning of life first, opera is not only a program for the public to relax and enjoy art, but also promotes the way of being in the world, teaches loyalty and filial piety, and promotes ethics and morality. The ancients called the cultural "textbook" that "commends praise and criticism, distinguishes good and evil." This is why the artistic expression of Chinese opera is more conceptual, and its connotation and meaning contain clear and clear moral dogmas. Chinese opera promotes concepts such as loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness. Although it is a "good medicine", after all, watching operas is for fun and entertainment, so it must be packaged with "sugar coats". The opera is silent and does not sing, and it is full of strong rhythm and beautiful melody. The language and songs are all extremely elegant poems. And there are lyrics and card tunes, which are repeated. The theater is as straight as a literature and music classroom. In daily life, many peddlers and pawns hum casually to express their feelings and please their nature. This fully illustrates the symbiotic relationship between Chinese culture, Chinese society and Chinese opera.
Gaoma De "Meeting on Broken Bridge"
Traditional chapter novels are like operas, with strong praise and criticism, distinguish between good and evil, and have the mission of cultural education. Most of the stories are talented men and beautiful women, cause and effect, loyalty, filial piety, integrity, righteousness, etc. Very similar story, very conceptual character description. Artistic expression is also very standardized. For example, a hero has a tiger's back and a bear's waist, and can carry a tripod; a beauty has a shame to the moon and flowers, and a fish and a geese have fallen; a villain must have a deer-headed and a mouse's eyes; a gentleman naturally has a majestic eyebrows. This is the method of "standardization" in opera, using facial makeup, water sleeves, hands and eyes to express identity, personality, and emotions, using movements to express rowing and horse riding, using musical cards and singing tone to render the atmosphere. This is to use symbolic expressions such as totems and symbols to express concepts, which are clear and concise, and can easily achieve the effect of communication.
Peking Opera Masters Mei Lanfang Performance Photos
Traditional Chinese paintings, whether folk paintings or literati paintings, also form a set of standardized expression techniques (such as repeatedly painting pine, bamboo, plum, and winter, etc.). They all show the connotation and standardization of Chinese opera, old novels and traditional paintings, and the three are exactly the same. Why does Chinese art have such a characteristic tendency? I think that in the past, rural society in China was mostly illiterate. To make the public understand it, it must first be concise, clear theme, and clear meaning. Secondly, Chinese culture emphasizes morality, so screenwriters should combine education with entertainment. Universal and conceptualized characters and stories constantly promote loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness, express the sorrow and darkness of the world, and desire retribution and reunion, becoming a comfort for collective healing and pain relief. The standardized repetition produces the pleasure of teasing "fixed reactions". Many fixed music cards and singing styles, many words and expressions do not avoid being upright, and strive to see at a glance, so that they can know their intentions.You can watch Chinese opera again and again, and you will never get tired of it. Many old opera fans followed the stage and shook their heads and moaned, humming and drowning their sorrows with wine. Even in normal times, I like to borrow famous quotes to describe myself ("I am like a bird in a cage", "Su San left Hongtong County"...) Perhaps the "modern" of the world-wide significance in China's history has not arrived for a long time, and the history of "Middle Ancient" has lasted for too long. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, we suddenly entered quasi-modern from the Middle Ages. Those ancient operas that have been condensed over the years of history have become the scattered golden oil and Bagua elixir for Chinese dramas, and they must be accompanied by clear and annealing. Universality, conceptualization, moral dogma and standardization have become the characteristics of classic Chinese opera. It is precisely because of this solid characteristic that Chinese opera can only express ancient stories and historical figures, and to express modern life, we can only start a new life with foreign dramas and operas. The situation is the same as the five-seven-character poems in China since the Tang Dynasty. "Modernity" suddenly came, the trends of the times and language evolved, and Western culture was impacted... Old poetry lost the waters and soil of traditional culture, and Chinese poetry could only distinguish between old poetry and continued the life of poetry with new poetry imitated from the West. (But it has not been successful so far.)
Drama Figure Painting Exhibition Site
If Chinese painters were not affected by the Western Tide, wouldn’t they still paint the “Four Gentlemen”, “Discussing the Tao in the Deep Mountains”, “Seven Sages of Bamboo Forests”, “Beauties of Bamboo Cultivation”, “Lotus Kingfisher”…? (Take a look at the most modern Huang Junbi , Wu Hufan , Zhang Daqian and other retro painters painted the most, aren’t they?) The innovative Fu Baoshi , Lin Fengmian , Xu Beihong and the second half of the 20th century, my generation gradually presented the new life of modern Chinese culture from tradition. (But over the past fifty years, the Western school, which is too Western horse leader, has gradually become mainstream and has gone astray. We cannot go off the topic here.)
Chinese opera highlights another character of Chinese performing arts. It appeals to fixed reactions, emphasizes universality, and neglects particularity, and it is standardized and conceptualized. It’s like aged wine, the more it gets, the more fragrant it becomes. It doesn't want to change the formula, but has eternal charm. Cao Cao's poem with his spear, Kong Ming's lost bow, Farewell My Concubine, Silang's mother, Xue Pinggui's return to the kiln, fishing and killing the family, Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai... All kinds of typical life style performances have made the Chinese people always move, resonate, and intoxicated from generation to generation. Such Chinese opera has no boundaries of the times and only expresses human nature and life. How can this ancient art force it to change with the times?
The reason why "Dream of Red Mansions" can become a masterpiece that competes with modern Western novels is that Cao Xueqin abandons the problem of conceptualization of traditional chapter novels in the past. Upgrading the art, he expresses universality and highlights particularity. The Lin Daiyu he portrayed, on the one hand, showed the commonality of a talented woman with an unfortunate age, and on the other hand, it also showed the unique character and destiny of the orphan of the Lin Ruhai family in the Chinese culture and society of the Qing Dynasty. The Chinese chapter novels are comparable to Westerners such as Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Miss Daisy. There is only one unprecedented "Dream of Red Mansions". Cao Xueqin was not influenced by modern Western novels, but was able to understand that the characters in the novel cannot be the same as one, but should be the unity of universality and particularity. This is the amazing reason why Cao Xueqin is, and it is also the strange fate that the peak of Chinese and Western literature has surpassed the past in modern times and has joined hands. Could Cao Xueqin be influenced by modern Western literature? This is to be answered by the Redologists.
Site "Chinese Drama Figure Painting Exhibition" in Shanghai
I have been thinking about the new changes in Chinese calligraphy in the past few years. Seeing the efforts of calligraphers such as Ouyang Zhongshi , Wang Dongling , Wo Xinghua , Wang Yong, etc., I feel that I am basically influenced by modern and contemporary art in the West, and I think art should continue to move forward in a straight line and constantly innovate styles. This is still a routine that cannot escape the will of trying to connect with the West. Innovating to enter the Western Tide is mostly distorted and turned into a donkey or a horse. I think they have a lot of room for reflection from scratch. My epiphany of Chinese opera is that adapting to the world trend and constantly seeking change, and bold revolution is not necessarily the path that all arts must take in common. If the essence of art is the product of national culture, how can there be a global common trend? It is actually the product of the Western center.Some arts, such as novels, compositions, and paintings, do have the possibility of constantly creating new works. But I call Chinese calligraphy, opera, Western opera, ballet, Japanese Kabuki, No Drama, , etc. ancient art (classical art). These classics seem to be no longer suitable for the continuous pursuit of evolution and innovation in the contemporary era. We can only improve more perfectly and pursue the artist's personal style (such as Yi Bingshou and He Shaoji; Mei Lanfang and Shang Xiaoyun and other personal styles.) If one day, the differences in personal styles gradually become similar, it actually shows that a certain ancient art has become a fixed historical classic, and it is only suitable to be preserved in museums. Since art is human creation, its creativity is like human vitality and cannot be immortal. It must also have a time to die. But as it becomes classical, it will be immortal.
Ye Qianyu Sketches of opera characters
My understanding and insights on Chinese opera may provide reference for those who appreciate traditional Chinese opera. I have found that it has similar characteristics to opera from other Chinese art, proving that Chinese cultural genes are an indispensable element of Chinese art, and we should have greater confidence and cognition about the national nature of art.
Ma Lianliang Peking Peking Opera
Reminisce of famous artists from modern Chinese operas, such as Mei Lanfang, Ma Lianliang, Gai Jiaotian, Zhou Xinfang , Yuan Shihai , Ma Sizeng, Hongshinn, Guo Xiaozhuang, Yang Lihua... Looking to the next generation, the ancient traditional art around the world is like the Japanese "No Drama" and is gradually leaving behind. This is a helpless tragedy in this world with technology as the mainstream culture. The west wind swept wildly, and many traditional cultures were in danger. While China is rising, the call for the great rejuvenation of national culture is already arousing the collective will of the Chinese. We hope to welcome a future of cultural diversity and value together with other nations. We do not agree with the hegemony of monolithic culture. We believe that the art of monolithic world is the death of art. Art always requires the blooming of flowers of diverse values.
The epiphany of "Chinese Opera" gave me these experiences and would like to listen to the advice of the master.
March 19, 218 in Taipei
