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Four decades into an art career and I can still carry on, just because I can remain in solitude while resisting the vanities of the world.
In 1970 my mother passed away. To quench his sorrows my father maintained frequent contact with a couple of friends and teachers like Rong Geng, Chen Ji, Xie Zhiliu, through correspondence or gathering, while also tutoring at home. These virtually opened up another world at our home, where there was a more artistic atmosphere with less worldly disturbance.Under such influence I, then barely eight, had the idea to learn calligraphy. I mostly scrawled, yet I also seriously emulated the ‘Slender Gold’ style (Shou Jin Ti). The process was, as Xun Zi commented in his essay On Learning, ‘The learning of the gentleman enters his ear, clings to his mind...’, and as the great Tang poet Han Yu said in an essay, ‘Be unconsciously influenced by what one hears and sees, one can grasp something without consciously learning it.”
Starting from age 15, I exerted myself to study painting. I stuck to the desk all day long, untiringly yet merrily emulating fan paintings from the Song dynasty. At 20, I emulated Along the River During the Qingming Festival, and at 22, Han Xizai Hosts a Night Banquet. Upon reaching 25, I had emulated nearly most of the famous paintings by big names in Chinese art history. So as a youngster I indulged myself in these kinds of works, exchanging the youthful, playful time for the seniors’ compliments and pains all over my body. In my thirties I seldom emulated paintings. Instead I opted for sketching, travelling and studying painting theory. All the time I tried to find out a new way, while experimenting with new materials and techniques in order to change the rules. Despite my efforts I still cannot depart from clichés and conventionalism to become utterly creative.
Despite being an extremely successful painter in Qing Dynasty, who was eclectic in painting skills, rich and diverse in themes and styles, Shi Tao also borrowed from Confucius the tenet ‘The Tao I follow is the one that unifies all’, to stress that in spite of the apparent disorderliness, there is one unifying and connecting principle in his calligraphy and painting arts; that he just pursued changes rather than simple weirdness, as far as inheritance of traditional skills and the exploration of delights of nature were concerned. Thus in terms of cultural inheritance, later generations should inherit only the concepts, while seeking innovation in the system and tools. Therefore when ‘learning from ancient culture’ we should learn selectively, not blindly, so as to avoid swallowing ancient learning without actually digesting it. The Song philosopher Zhu Xi said in a poem, ‘If old knowledge can be more precise and new insight more vigorous, then there is no contradiction between the old and the new’. That is to say, there exists a conceptual similarity between ancient and today’s scholars. Hence for cultural development this should define the path to follow: carry on the past traditions while forging ahead into the future. Because, rooting out inheritance will give us a tree without roots and water of dubious origin.
Wu Tai
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