The Study Of The Conception Of The Heaven And The Earth And The Theories Of The Brush And Ink In Chinese Landscape Painting

Based on the Chinese traditional philosophy, the world derives from the "Tao" The paradigm of derivation of "Tao" is Yin-yang which constructs the beings formed the contextual. We call the contextual the heaven and the earth. On the thought of the theories of Chinese traditional landscape painting, landscape is the appearance of the purest qi in the universe, so which is also called "the pure of the heaven and the earth" or "the truth of the heaven and the earth". As the brush and ink to be the painting tools and communication medium, their functions and values are the appearance of "the truth of the heaven and the earth". In fact, "The truth of the heaven and the earth" is not only called to be the "Tao", but also centralized embodiment of sheng-sheng. That is to say, when the sages facing the landscape, the things they truly appreciate is what we called the ontology of sheng-sheng, which is also the content of painting for painters who using the brush and ink. Thereby, on the metaphysic sense, the painter is no longer the person who simply paints landscape, to be a person who has the ability to experience the meaning of creation by the heaven and the earth, meanwhile who also becomes the landscape spokesman to futher appearing this meaning. From this perspective, comparing the variation technical skills in Chinese traditional landscape painting theories, the most subtle and the most value content is the Art Aesthetics, which expresses the way of experience the university with using brush and ink. The painter named Tang dai in Qing dynasty argued the proposition of "made the natural of the brush and ink to consistency the natural of the heaven and the earth"in the book named Hui-shi-fa-wei, which generalized the relationship between the conception of heaven and the earth and theories of the brush and ink. The dissertation takes this propostion as guiding thought to research the heaven and the earth concept and theories of the brush and ink. Emphasized discussion the approach of consistency between "the natural of the brush and ink" and "the natural of the heaven and the earth", and at the consistency condition what would be the artistic state and artistic effect.The dissertation includes four parts:introduction, main body prepared for three chapters and one postscript, conclusion. The research context of the main body is divided into three chapters, followed by the Enhance of the status of landscape painting and the highlight of ink-using Law (chapter 1), Notion of the heaven and the earth and the theories of the brush and ink (chapter2), Made the natural of the brush and ink to consistency the natural of the heaven and the earth (chapter3),. The main idea of each part is summarized following:The introduction part analysizes the questions in the dissertation from the whole perspective, in which there are two issues been emphasized, which are the research objects and the thought of "consistency". Aimed at the achievements of research at present, the dissertation lies on the theories of Chinese traditional landscape painting, with the concept of the heaven and the earth and the theories of the brush and ink is the research objects. On the base of Chinese traditional aesthetic research achievements, to summarize and analysize the approaches and emphasis, further discussion the advantages and disadvantages. We can feel, the western scholars have sufficient to grasp the core of the development of the Chinese traditional landscape painting relatively, including notions and based knowledge, just not much mature yet. The reason because of the lack of the metaphysics theories, the western scholars couldn’t deeply reflect the meaning in the theories of the brush and ink and the landscape painting. However, there is a new direction rising in the research field, namely, connected western aesthetic theories with the Chinese traditional landscape theories. In the process of the interactive interpretation, the level of the research has been enhanced obviously, such as using the perspective form phenomenology, anthropology, sociology and other methods. However, the situation of domestic research has been conservative, lacking the tracing attitude in the research results. With the development of environmental aesthetics, the Chinese traditional environmental aesthetics begins to connect with it. Under this academic background, this dissertation has found the relationship and the similars between natural aesthetics and landscape appreciation. One the first time, we take the environmental aesthetics into the research of the Chinese traditional landscape theories. The concept of the heaven and the earth and the theories of the brush and ink have been connected through the proposition of "the natural of the brush and ink" and "the natural of the heaven and the earth", which can help us to introspection the differences and relations. In addition, this research can achieve mastery through the connection between the environmental aesthetics and the arts aesthetics to some extent, and have positive influences to push the research of the aesthetics studies on the Chinese traditional landscape and the Chinese environmental aesthetics.The first chapter of this paper, the core issues of origin and background analysis. First of all, with a combination of the history of ancient Chinese painting art, from an artistic functional value point of view, this dissertation discusses the CAUSE of the Chinese traditional landscape painting and the method of the use of ink. As the symbol, the landscape painting was formally established by the application of "Six Essentials",it was established later than "Six Laws" of the Chinese traditional portrait painting; however, it was regularly promoted its status of Chinese painting history, which has become an important category in the history of painting. This phenomenon appears because of landscape painting and portrait painting reflects theirs performances focused on their different artistic functions, artistic values and relationships between human being and painting objects:Artistic function reflected by landscape painting performs outstanding an aesthetic function to peace of mind or inner tranquility, it reflected the aesthetic value of "landscape nourishes people", shown the relationship between human and nature. By contrast, the artistic function reflected by portraits painting performs a moralize function to ethical and moral issues, it reflected the aesthetic value of "people educates people", shown the relationship between different human beings.But the relationship between the two is not a tradeoff; it gives an expression of complementarities between various artistic values contrariwise. It can be seen that the emergence of landscape painting is a result of emotional needs of peace and tranquility which improve the emotional structure. The reason that landscape painting can lead to the peace and tranquility of "landscape nourishes people",is the comprehension of the aesthetic meaning of "landscape" by ancient Chinese:an excursion to landscape can lead to the truth of the heaven and the earth, reach to the oneness of mental and physical by a heart and spirit’s voyage.In this aesthetic activity, the ancient people shown a feeling that near what we called aesthetic emotion today, it is a Heaven-Earth Realm which "the heart of Heaven and Earth" can be realized by the heart of human, it makes human stroll in freedom between heaven and earth. From the perspective of the artistic function of value, this aesthetic activity achieved exactly the aesthetic function "landscape (heaven and earth) nourishes people". That is the reason why the landscape painting was regularly promoted its status of Chinese painting history. So, compared to the "Six laws" by Xie He, the "Six Essentials" by Jing Hao highlights the change in the principle of painting. As an important principle of painting, "the law of ink" was included in the "Six Essentials", the deep reason is that the ink and the expression of ink can reflect the "Yin Yun" character of Heaven and Earth, it can also express the aesthetic effect that people even feel damp from the raining-landscape painting, and it is accord with the inner relationship between "landscape" and "Heaven and Earth" which expressed by the landscape painting, So the use of ink has become an important issue of aesthetic of Chinese landscape painting.The second chapter enters the main theme of this dissertation; it develops around two issues:"The Concept of Heaven-Earth " and "The Theories of Brush and ink’ "The Concept of Heaven-Earth" is divided to two sections.The first section is an explication of the conception of the Heaven and the Earth view and related issues,3 questions are discussed in detail:First question is about the birth of the heaven and the earth and the birth of life. It is a process of two steps, in one phrase:the heaven and the earth were born in a primordial chaotic state, the Qian(heaven) and the Kun(earth) formed a circle of life and everything came into the world. It also can be expressed by the four stages successively:The primordial chaos-birth of the heaven and the earth-the heaven and the earth formed a circle of life-everything was born. Second question is about the environmental aesthetics, to indicate that the "The Conception of the Heaven and the Earth" in ancient China equivalents the "Conception of nature" in environmental aesthetics. According to Chinese ancient thoughts, nature means "its own terms", not means the natural world in western consciousness. Therefore, "the nature of the heaven and the earth" is the condition of the heaven and the earth and the nature born of everything, "the nature of the brush and the ink", that is an artist who masters the use of brush and ink through years and years of experience, is able to capture the essence of the heaven and the earth. Here, the use of brush and ink is beyond the material and captured the spiritual of metaphysics, it reaches a higher state of consciousness which called"the nature of the heaven and the earth". That reflects that, "the idea of consistency" reveals exactly a natural and vital life condition, that’s what an artist looking for. The third question is that, after the relationship between the heaven-earth and the nature established, to point out the relationship between the heaven-earth and yin-yang, foreshadows the theories of "Feel the yin-yang to use brush and ink" in the following chapters.The second section is in vision of environmental aesthetics, by replying the proposition of "Appreciating Nature on Its Own Terms" proposed by Saito Yuriko, environmental anesthetist, to explore how did the ancient Chinese artist appreciate nature on its own terms. Thus, according to the theories of ancient Chinese painting, the core question of environmental anesthetics-the reality of nature, already had been followed by the ancient Chinese artists, the reality of nature is the "essence" in the phrase "examine the object and capture its essence" in the theories of Chinese landscape painting. The aesthetics of Chinese landscape painting includes systemic ideas of nature aesthetic appreciation. Such as the origin of the "reality" of nature (i.e. the ontology of producing life); the way to experience the "reality" of nature (i.e. tasting image with purified heart); and the way to depict the "reality" of nature (i.e. simulating the function of the Great Void with one reed brush). Thus, the Chinese nature aesthetic ideas could reply the "Appreciating Nature on Its Own Terms" question more comprehensively and indirectly.The third section is a discussion of the theories of brush and ink. On one hand, by analyzing the metaphysics of brush and the metaphysics of ink separately, this section argued that the brush and the ink have the character and ability to reveal the ontology of metaphysics. On the other hand, the brush and ink, by expounding that "the concomitance between brush and ink" is the best form of the use of them, which means the brush and ink can coexist harmoniously, realize a condition that brush and ink interact. To describe the ontology of metaphysics, the brush and ink should develop their own characters as a whole.In the forth section, by use of "Appreciating Nature on Its Own Terms", it expounds the question "Painting Nature on Its Own Terms". Though the objective of appreciating and describing the heaven and the earth is to learn the ontology of metaphysics through experience, the painting form and the appreciation form are different. To describe the ontology of metaphysics by brush and ink; on one hand the artist need to reach to the Universal Mind, measure the order and the structure reflected by landscape. According to this order and structure, with composition and brush painting, make the objects in the landscape help each other to grow up in the interaction of the heaven and the earth, present a condition of its own term, to show the "truth" of landscape. On the other hand, the use of "law of brush" and "law of ink", from the unity of opposites and the interaction between the heaven and the earth, between the qian and kun. The brush draws the outline, played a part in Yang, it refers to the virtue of the heaven; the ink draws the color, played a part in Yin, it refers to the virtue of the earth. Thus, the brush and the ink, the Yang and the Yin, the heaven and the earth, these three relationships matched one-to-one, the brush and the ink have a function to demonstrate the virtue. Once paint by the brush and the ink, "the heaven and the earth are born". Paint is achieved by the brush and the ink, it become the most incisive metaphysical summarization of "law of brush" and "law of ink". This section attempts to clarify the artistic value of the brush and the ink.The third chapter explores the relationship between "the Conception of the Heaven and Earth " and "the Theories of the Brush and Ink"; it focuses on the analysis of the theories "the nature of the brush and the ink corresponds to the nature of the heaven and the earth" by Tang Dai, divided into three sections.The first section expound the "the thought of consistency", in other words the idea of the virtue of sheng-sheng. "the nature of the heaven and the earth" and "the nature of the brush and the ink" fuse together of its own life.a nature zone of life. "The natural condition" is exactly the key of this fuse. In this condition of fuse, the "void" is the symbol of Chinese ancient metaphysical aesthetic consciousness; it is also an appropriate symbol of the character of Tao. An artist wants to observe "the spirit of the void" inside his target. In this aesthetic consciousness which prefers the "void", the aesthetic characters of an object can be summarized by six words, "mountain’s light", "river’s state", "object’s loftiness", because they show the character of "spirit of void", light, state, loftiness are all in a "condition" between visible and invisible, between being and void, "landscape out of landscape", "object out of object"said by Sikong Tu. It is Sikong Tu said also that this condition is "beyond the image of the objet, conform to the intention of Tao"; it is a symbol of Tao.The second section expounds the method of "the thought of consistency": "Feel the Yin and the Yang to paint with the brush and the ink". "Feel the Yin and the Yang to paint with the brush and the ink" answers the question how to paint painting is a process of "use the brush and the ink", and "Feel the Yin and the Yang" is the precondition of "use the brush and the ink". This proposition indicates that the use of brush and the ink is based on a metaphysical theory, and points out simply the method:how did the ancient Chinese artists observe the landscape and draw the paintings, it is a relationship between "the brush and the ink" and "the Yin and the Yang". The question is a promotion of the metaphysical idea and practice of the brush and the ink. This dissertation analyses this method in three stages:First the brush and the ink can reveal the virtue of the Yin and the Yang; second the landscape painting is an announcement of the virtue. the third, the landscape painting discovers the? This part of dissertation is a summary and review of the metaphysical meaning of the brush and the ink in the second chapter. Meantime, it is pointed out that a cultural sense was formed by "Feel the Yin and the Yang to paint with the brush and the ink", which makes the art of the brush and the ink perform some kind of cultural value. The value of fine art is concluded:To create senses. The fine art becomes the cultural creator of sense. Xiang is the tower of visual formula created by sense.The third section is the value of "the thought of consistency", "I represent the landscape", by "the thought of consistency" of the nature of the brush and the ink and the nature of the heaven and the earth, the artist realizes the virtue of the heaven and the earth:On a paper, he simulates the birth of the heaven and the earth, and builds the heaven and the earth by the brush and the ink. In other word, the artist of landscape painting is the represent of the heaven and the earth, cite "’the mountains and the rivers make me spokesman of the mountains and the rivers,the mountains and the rivers was born of the mountains and the rivers, I was born of the mountains and rivers" in the "Paintings and quatations from monk bitter melon " by Shi Tao, which means "I speak for the mountains and the rivers", Here is a description of the idea "Based on the heaven and the earth, to create everything with the brush and the ink," by Shi Tao, it is from the state of heart and culture of art, discuss the requirement and the expectation of "the thought of consistency" for artist, the proposition hints the ultimate value of ancient Chinese landscape painting. This chapter is the main theme and the base of the dissertation. In other word, the destination of this dissertation is through the analysis of "the Conception of the Heaven and Earth" and "the Theories of the Brush and Ink", to realize the research of "the idea consistency" finally.These are the main part of the dissertation. The postscript faces to the difficult situation that the traditional paints of the brush and the ink under the impact of western artistic concept in the 20th century, discusses the 3 controversies about the brush and the ink in the 20th century briefly, and advocates that the core value of paints of the brush and the ink is the metaphysical idea, the paints of the brush and the ink can be modernized. This kind of modernization is based on the metaphysical idea which from the consistency of the "wisdoms of the heaven and the earth" and "the brush and the ink", it can be elucidated in the view of the contemporary ecological aesthetics, combined with the western contemporary ecological aesthetics. The exploration and understanding of the brush and the ink, both highlights the spirit of Chinese traditional painting and its unique aesthetic value, and meets the aesthetical requirements in the ecological times. That can say, the theory of the Brush and ink faces the Challenges. In order to refute the extreme view of "the brush and the ink is infinity", this dissertation proposes "the brush and the ink is infinity", "infinity" here is the void, from which everything can be born. This new proposition can continue the wisdom of the heaven and the earth in the aesthetic of Chinese traditional painting, it also can be considered as an intellectual extension of the idea of consistency by Tang Dai in the contemporary era.The conclusion part is a deeper summary of "the thought of consistency" in the chapters above. This dissertation argues that, both the aesthetics of ancient Chinese painting and the thoughts of Chinese traditional environmental aesthetics are in a potential system based on the core idea "sheng-sheng", this system can discover the reality of natural aesthetics, provide the resources of Chinese traditional theories for complete the construction of contemporary environmental aesthetics. The reason why the "the Conception of the Heaven and Earth" and "the Theories of the Brush and Ink" have the ability to go through the environmental aesthetics and artistic aesthetics, it is based on the profound metaphysics of Chinese traditional aesthetics. In this regard, for the profound relationship between environmental aesthetics and artistic aesthetics, there are still many common contents for us to explore.