袁氏皴譜 Manual of Yuan's Texturizing Strokes
序
畫石起手當從其心 不以三面法為限 石乃天地之骨 而氣亦寓焉 人之氣亦寓之 故謂之心根 無氣之石則為頑石 猶無心之骨則為朽骨 豈有朽骨而可施於騷人韻士筆下乎 是畫無氣之石固不可 而畫有氣之石 即覓心於無可捉摹之中尤難乎其難 非胸中煉有媧皇 指上立有顛末 未可從事 蓋石有從心者 即以心中之石 煉凹深凸淺生命經歷 參合六識 吞吐情悟高下 五蘊厚薄 以及筆情墨性 負陰抱陽 此心之氣也 熟此則勢亦隨氣以生矣 秘法無多 請以一字金針相告 曰情 |
Preface Painting a rock begins from the heart and is not limited by the three faces. Rocks are the framework of the heavens and of earth; they embody ch’i like human beings have ch’I, and hence rocks are sometimes spoken of as xin ken (roots of the heart). Rocks without ch’i are insensate rocks, as bones without a heart are dead and withered. Can a withered bone appear under the brush of a wistful artist? Rocks without ch’i should never be painted. To depict rocks with ch’i, the elusive heart beyond the material and in the intangible must be sought. Such work cannot begin without cultivating the foresight of Wa Huang who created all things, or without having universal time at one’s fingertips. Those who depict a rock from the heart, temper the depths of the hollows and the height of the projections of that heart’s rock through life experiences. They can express the vicissitudes of sentient epiphanies through the six parijñānas of cognition, the density of the five skandhas, as well as the sentiment of the brush and character of the ink, in order to bear the yin and embrace the yang. This is the ch’i of the heart. It is only through complete knowledge of structure that the ch’i will emerge naturally as the forms are drawn. There are not many secret methods in the painting of rocks. If I may sum it up in a phrase: Rocks must be “sensate”. |
楔子
極痛者無言 極悲者無淚 人世若無痛 則不成人世 人生若無悲 則不成人生 由來有情者 總被無情傷 歡欣兩三分 苦辛七八成 痛因愛而生 悲從樂而來 無痛無悲者 何言有情人 且寄悲於思 且寄痛於畫 思者點線也 畫者心話也 藉筆舒無言 藉墨灑無淚 情幻石上記 誰人不曾痴 三十二式皴 喜怒哀樂事 滿紙皆虛幻 只堪識者知 Prologue Anguish beyond words, sorrow beyond tears: a mortal realm without anguish is not the mortal realm, a mortal life without sorrow is not a mortal life. The sentimental have always been at the mercy of the merciless. Two or three moments of joy, for seven or eight measures of toil. Anguish is borne by love; sorrow arises from joy. Those without anguish or sorrow are without sentiment. Relinquish sorrows to contemplation, resign anguish to painting. The contemplative dots a line, as the painter speaks the heart, the brush soothes unspoken anguish; from ink spills tearless sorrow. Sentimental illusions etched in rock, who has not been so enthralled? Thirty-two forms of texturizing: of joy, of rage, of sorrow, of bliss, in reams filled with illusion, save for the knowing ones. |
皴記
皴法者 宋人重理 元人重意 明末又以怪奇出之 皴之變甚矣 然今之不察者以為皴法概由地質肌理而生 遂令皴法侷限於自然摹擬之審美範疇 古人曾論師造化不如師其心 以自然為師固是一法 以心為本參天鈞 而另出機樞斯為上策 亦且古人之心與今人之心何嘗同一 故畫者思維參神 形異變化 我立而天下立 是皴之創造何必羈於古人 惟淘泳乎我也 以無法生有法 法無障而規矩天成 至人無法而萬法生 今之皴乃自心而生 從情而起 各式皴形千變萬化 纏綿穿插喜怒哀樂 眾聲雜沓人情萬象隱喻其中 不囿古制另出機杼 蓋此情皴非古皴 其山水非風景 乃以世情造山水 實人生之境也 是相非相是皴非皴 故曰類山水 Outline In texturizing, the Song emphasized principles, the Yuan emphasized meaning, and the late Ming was notable for oddity. Texturizing is everchanging and mutable. In our time, the unobservant believe texturizing arises from geological characteristics, and relegate texturizing techniques to the aesthetic realm of emulating nature. However, the ancients argued that learning from the heart is better than learning from creation. Learning from nature is a technique; but a better strategy is to begin with the heart, refer to nature’s intent, and then arrive at fundamental mechanisms. Contemporary intentions diverge from the intent of the ancients. The painter’s thoughts may allude to the gods. Shapes shift and change. The heavens and earth stand, because I stand. Why must texturing be fettered to the ancients when the surging tides call to me? Methods emerge when once there was none; unobstructed, they become natural laws. Thousands of laws are born from mortal lawlessness. Contemporary texturing is born from the heart, and arises from sentiments. Embodying the clamor of throngs, human emotions, and all phenomena, infinite textural forms encompass and intersperse with joy, rage, sorrow, and bliss; unbridled by ancient systems to seek out new possibilities. Hence, this sentient texturizing is not the ancient textures, this shanshui is not a landscape, but a scene from true life, of mountains and rivers created from earthly sentiments. Whether the appearance or not the appearance, whether the texture or not the texture, they are of an ambiguous world. |
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細絲皴 細絲待繡 如語之待言 等待之思 綿綿密密 倚門繡成望夫石 The Fine-Thread Stroke Fine threads waiting to be embroidered Are like words waiting to be uttered. Expectant feelings, So supple and dense, Knit themselves into the Husband-Awaiting Rock by the door. |
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渦心皴 千絲萬縷 揪心成渦 The Swirling-Heart Stroke Hundreds and thousands of threads Clutch the heart in a swirl. |
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淚穴皴 筆刷掃低眉 刷不盡淚泉 The Hole-of-Tears Stroke The brush, pressed into a despondent brow, Still cannot sweep away the endless tears. |
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亂煩皴 亂烘烘 誰道世事總繁瑣 剪不斷理還亂 The Vexing Stroke Chaos upon chaos The vexing affairs of human relations Can be neither severed nor reasoned. |
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砍筆皴 欲砍煩事 誰知越砍越繁 The Chop-Brush Stroke Attempting to sever entanglements Only multiplies them all the more. |
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心律皴 煩事如心波 一波未平一波又起 The Heart-Rhythm Stroke Entanglements ripple in the heart, Here subsiding, there arising again. |
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理絲皴 總還得耐著心性 一條一條理清 梳之理之 看能否把心梳平 The Calm Heart Stroke With patient equanimity The hair is disentangled one by one. In the end Will the heart be calmed? |
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葉影皴
好容易 滿園綠蔭影 卻總是 青春轉瞬去 秋落葉 年年復年年 石滿痕 歲歲復歲歲 誰承想 冬來寒霜侵 到頭來 花葉兩不見 |
The Leaves-Shadow Stroke
Finally Green leaves have suffused the garden. And yet This moment hardly lasts. Leaves turn yellow and fall, Year after year, Upon rocks densely scarred by time, Year after year. Who cares to remember That at year’s end When winter brings snow and sleet The flowers and leaves will all disappear |
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皺摺皴 如摺如皺 摧折彄嶁 歲月佇佇 華顏易老 The Wrinkles Stroke With folds and creases, Damaged and weathered Through the months and years, The once-beautiful face is now aged. |
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尖棘皴 尖言棘語如針氈 人情冷暖世道艱 The Nail-Tip Stroke These words are like needles Pricking the heart at every turn. |
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柔筆皴 求一番溫言軟語 祈軟化一顆頑石 The Soft-Brush Stroke To wish for a gentle and loving reply Is to wish for a rock to dissolve on its own. |
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流水皴 水流過石 如時間流過皮膚 入流亡所 逝去不返難相留 The Flowing-Water Stroke Water flows past rocks, Like time washing over skin. Inside the refuge, What is lost can never be retrieved. |
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壓沫皴 餘沫殘殘 逼出剩餘價值 愁思盡盡 搾乾最後愛意 The Remnant-Froth Stroke A bit of froth-- Meaning eked out of nothing. Endless sorrow-- The remains of a past love. |
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靜絲皴
正是夜靜心盡 無波而立 The Silent-Thread Stroke In the meditative quiet of the night, The thread soundlessly emerges. |
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一筆皴 不必多言 無需贅言 繁話錦語比不過一句入心 The Single Stroke Spare the unnecessary words, Save the redundant phrases: No flowery language, but a single truthful sentence. |
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留白皴 終究五色令人盲 空空一片真乾淨 正是無言勝有言 煩事落盡人安靜 有道是 留一餘地好安生 The Empty Stroke The five colors are ultimately blinding. The realm of emptiness is clean and pure. Having no words is superior to having words. Freed from entanglements, one is at peace, Living life in this space reserved for oneself. |
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結語
石頭是時光的遺物 地球上最亙古之物 是時間歷史的見證之物 人生有時 石頭壽長 畫石乃以有限寄托無限 以永恆映照短暫 石頭成為生命一瞬的留影 無情之物 或將暫時 成了記憶的容器 皴是石頭上的歲月痕跡 但石頭是裝著哀傷的 陪著石頭的是寂寞與等待 石頭愛戀了掉落在身上的花 石成了花的家 花妝扮了石 它們相依不分 直到風帶走了花 石頭思念它難以思念的 追悔它難以追悔的 於是只好 以落寞的肌理刻成歲月的痕跡 它們相依不分 直到風帶走了花 石頭思念它難以思念的 追悔它難以追悔的 於是只好 以落寞的肌理刻成歲月的痕跡 |
Conclusion
As remnants of times past, rocks are earth’s most enduring objects that bear witness to historical time. Human lives are ephemeral; while rocks are eternal. Painted rocks contain the infinite within the finite and reflect the fleeting within the eternal; these rocks become a snapshot of a moment. Emotionless object perhaps transforms for a temporary moment into a vessel for memories. Time etches textures onto rocks, But rocks contain sorrow, with solitude and waiting as companion. In love with blooms that tumble onto its body, the rock provides sanctuary for the flower, and the flower adorns the rock. Devoted and inseparable until the wind carries away the flower. The rock longs an arduous longing Regrets an arduous regret And so resigns itself to cleave traces of the passing days in lonely textures. |
後記
閒人讀罷笑我痴 滿紙情思太悲言 我笑閒人不懂世 大覺皆須大癡先 古來詩詞千百篇 豈非因情嗟嘆詠 若無情欲人世湧 縱浪大化亦虛度 人生苦樂無久長 悲歡終如夢一場 同林恩愛難免分 只是早晚各不同 錦色空相鄰相伴 繁華燦爛轉瞬空 情到頭來終有時 唯餘無稽大荒石 Afterword The reader, amused by my infatuation: in reams filled in contemplative compassion; whilst I, amused by their guilelessness, know nescience precedes enlightenment. Wherefore countless poems since ancient times were writ in sighs or issued in fervor; But for sentient passions in the mortal realm, all life would be in meaningless pursuit. Oh, evanescent joys and fleeting sorrows, our bliss and grief: dreams from which to wake. Birds of a feather do at last flock asunder, whether by dawn of day or dusk of eve; requited companions in prismatic emptiness, brilliant and vibrant for ephemerality. A love that doth begin, too, must end, save for the absurd and barren stone. |
跋
類山水貳零零柒年始作之。其時逢人生巨變。悲歡離合喜怒哀樂思惆甘苦。充盈於胸無所出。遂寄情於筆下。自密繡皴寄思於線以成繡山水為始。皴者原自然山石之面貌肌理。然山水不同於風景。非僅貌客體造化而已。雖外師造化卻終須中得心源。山水畫依人之意識而生。因主體之存在而有。故有學者言郭熙早春圖乃頌宋神宗帝國主體統治意識下之理想秩序國度也。倪瓚之山水圖乃抒文人在野自隱之志也。畫師士人各以筆墨書其心源。山水畫者乃主體話語權之發抒場域。非惟地貌也。實寄主體之心志意趣於客體也。進此而問可獨立於造化之外。純任心源之迹立耶。宋郭若虛曾云氣韻者得自天機出於靈府謂之心印。本自心源想成形迹迹與心合。發之於情思契之於綃楮則非印而何。故知氣韻者非謂外在可見者。乃為內心不可見者。藉心超然物外自呈印迹是也。山水畫既主訴人於天地間之主體意識。則山水即是人之山水非非人山水。一如曹雪芹石頭記非僅言石頭之物。乃借石書人之生命情狀。藉物抒情物便因此有情。人與物同存於太虛之中。客體依主體精神而存在。心物合一則莊周蝴蝶無異。故此當代山水畫者可從旁觀臥遊之景進而為內觀心迹之境也。吾以潛意識自然落筆而成各式心皴。皴形殊異無中生有全不計較外師造化與否。純任心緒引筆聊以自療。所畫之皴千變萬化。由繡山水進而為太虛系列再更名為類山水。累經十餘年。遂撿其中三十二式情緒清晰者集為袁氏皴譜。蓋欲人知皴者不獨為自然肌理，亦可言內心之情感肌理。且為心靈意識之視覺化甬道也。 類山水以陰性主體話語重新詮釋皴之形意語法，乃涉及文化反思主體身分認同所進行之差異性建構。過往山水畫之皴法多以類似性原則對位於自然造化進行形意語境生產。故其美學評議多囿於不似之似或似與不似之間等形象思維範疇，然當代已步入後殖民時代，思維軸線應在真似之辨或筆墨論辯或媒材革新等形式議題之外，開展美學觀念與意涵重構之思維新視域，以差異性話語進入傳統文化語境內部進行內動轉化工程，擺盪於中心與邊緣兩端使之具靈活雙重性而難以被規範，是以我提出類THEY以明其要旨。 類山水脫離傳統山水畫一致性皴法布局樣式。隨意拼組各式皴形感覺團塊。以成非單一之混雜皴法結構。用以隱喻人生是情緒繁複如繞島般重蹈覆轍的輪迴。亦隱射此多元文化混融雜交之全球化時代。眾聲喧嘩差異並置之複雜世界狀態。皴也者人世之語。山水者人世之狀。山水畫至此又一變矣。 吾以十餘年進出古今戮力研究終成袁氏皴譜冀山水畫終有女性之聲在男性主導之山水畫史中占一席之力也 歲在貳零壹玖年秋慧莉識於澍園 |
Epilogue
I began the “THEY Shanshui” series in the year 2007 during a time of dramatic life events, with a heart that brimmed with joy, sorrow, togetherness, loss, rage, happiness, longing, sweetness, and bitterness. The brush was a cathartic vehicle for these emotions. The embroidering stroke carried my thoughts along the lines that unraveled from the tip of my paintbrush into an embroidered landscape. Texturizing arose from the patterns on the surface of natural rock formations. However, shanshui is differentiated from landscape painting, and does not merely represent the appearance of an object. Though informed by external creation, the essence must originate in the heart. Shanshui paintings are born of human consciousness, and exist because of the subject. Hence, scholars have remarked that Early Spring by Guo Xi pays tribute to the idealized ordered kingdom conceptualized by Emperor Shenzong of the Song dynasty, and Ni Zan’s landscapes are an expression of the literati’s ambition for a hermitage in nature. The masters used their brush and ink to trace the provenance of their heart. The shanshui painting is where the subject’s right to speak is expressed. It is not merely topography, but an object that carries the intentions of the subject, and interrogates from a location of independence that is outside of creation, established purely from the origin of the heart. Guo Ruoxu of the Song dynasty once remarked that artistic conception must be a serendipitous imprint of the heart that emanates from the soul. What has originated from the soul has been conceived in the traces of forms, traces that correspond with the heart. What emanates from emotions and thoughts is documented on silk or paper, and creates a perfect imprint that is known to the artist, though possibly indiscernible to another. Internal to the heart and invisible to the eye, shanshui presents an imprint through the heart that transcends the object. The paintings narrate the subjective consciousness between the heavens and earth, because shanshui depicts mortal landscapes and not immortal landscapes. Just as Cao Xueqin’s The Story of the Stone speaks not only of stones, but uses the stone as a metaphor for the human condition. When we use objects to express sentiments, the sentiment is subsumed within the object. Humans and objects coexist in the Great Void, and the object exists according to the spirit of the subject. The heart and the object become as one, like Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly. Hence, in their observation of a landscape, contemporary shanshui painters embark on an introspective sojourn to the heart’s realm. I allow the subconscious to use the brush as a conduit to form the wrinkled textures of the heart. These textural forms emerge from nothingness and are indifferent to whether they exist in external creation. Guided by the heart, the brush heals and paints a multitude of variations. The “Ambiguous World” series evolved from the “Embroidered Landscape” series, and was subsequently renamed “THEY Shanshui.” Over the course of a decade, 32 distinctive texturing styles among these have been selected for their emotional clarity, and constitute the Manual of Yuan’s Texturizing Strokes. These are not limited to natural textures, but can also be called the emotional textures of the interiority, and are a conduit for visualizing the consciousness of the soul. “THEY Shanshui” is a new interpretation of the formal vocabulary of wrinkle texturization through feminine subjectivity. It involves a cultural reflection on the differential constructs of subject identity. In the past, wrinkle texturizing in shanshui paintings created a context through principles of categorization according to likeness. Hence, the aesthetic debates have been confined to formal contemplations of likeness in dissimilarity, or unlikeness in similarity. Now that contemporary times have made strides into the post-colonial era, contemplative trajectories should move past issues of form, such as debates on likeness, discussions of brush and ink, or medium innovations, in order to open up new horizons in aesthetic conception and reconstructions of connotation that enter into traditional cultural contexts and carry out internal transformations through differential discourse. A malleable duality difficult to categorize is what I hope to endow with my work, which is my main impetus for proposing the idea of THEY as an alternative. “THEY Shanshui” departs from the consistent texturizing layout of traditional shanshui painting. Various texturized forms are freely combined in clusters to create a non-singular hybrid texturized structure. This serves as a metaphor for life’s emotional complexity, for recurring errors in the cycle of reincarnation, and for the diverse cultural fusion of multiculturalism in the age of globalization. The disparate and cacophonous juxtaposition defines the complex global condition. Texturizing speaks to the mortal world; landscape describes the state of the mortal world; shanshui painting is a further transformation. I have dedicated over a decade to historical and contemporary research in order to complete the Manual of Yuan’s Texturizing Strokes. At last, there is a feminine voice in the male-dominated narrative of the history of shanshui painting. Penned by Hui-Li, in the Garden of Timely Rain, Autumn, 2019 |