Chinese Painters | Page 6

to this
fourth class a subdivision comprising fishes.
Lastly we must note that in the Far East, as in Europe, there is a special
class to be taken into consideration, Religious paintings. In China, this
refers almost exclusively to Buddhist paintings.

IV. INSPIRATION
The aesthetic conceptions of the Far East have been deeply influenced
by a special philosophy of nature. The Chinese consider the relation of
the two principles, male and female, the yang and the yin, as the source
of the universe. Detached from the primordial unity, they give birth to
the forms of this world by ever varying degrees of combination.
Heaven corresponds to the male principle, earth to the female principle.
Everything upon the earth, beings, plants, animals or man is formed by
the mingling of yang and yin. While the mountain, enveloped in mists,
recalls the union of these two principles, the legend of forces thus
revealed by no means pauses here. Fabulous or real, the animals and
plants habitually seen in Chinese paintings express a like conception.

The dragon is the ancestor of everything that bears feathers or scales.
He represents the element of water, the waters of the earth, the mists of
the air, the heavenly principle. He is seen breaking through the clouds
like some monstrous apparition, unveiling for an instant the greatness
of a mystery barely discerned. The tiger is the symbol of the earthly
principle, a personification of quadrupeds as distinct from birds and
reptiles. His ferocious form lurks in the tempest. Defying the hurricane
which bends the bamboos and uproots trees, he challenges the furies of
nature that are hostile to the expression of the universal soul. The
bamboo is the symbol of wisdom, the pine is the emblem of will-power
and life. The plum tree in flower is a harmonious combination of the
two principles. It symbolizes virginal purity.
[Illustration: PLATE V. PORTRAIT OF LÜ TUNG-PING BY T'ÊNG
CH'ANG-YU T'ang Period. Collection of August Jaccaci. Lent to the
Metropolitan Museum, New York.]
Thus is built up a complete system of allusions similar to the allegories
of our own classics but superior in that they never degenerate into
frozen symbols, but on the contrary keep in close touch with nature,
investing her with a vibrant life, in which human consciousness
vanishes making way for the dawning consciousness of infinitude.
Buddhism goes still further. It does not even believe in the reality of the
world. In this belief, forms are but transitory, the universe an illusion
forever flowing into an unending future. Outside of the supreme repose,
in the six worlds of desire,[3] the things that are susceptible to pain and
death pursue their evolution. Souls travel this closed cycle under the
most diverse forms, from hell to the gods, advancing or retreating, in
accordance with the good deeds or errors committed in previous
existences. A stone, a plant, an insect, a demon, or a god are only
illusory forms, each encompassing an identical soul on its way to
deliverance, as it is caught at different stages of its long calvary and
imprisoned through original sin and the instinctive desire for life.
Whence we see emerging a new feeling of charity which embraces all
beings. Their moral character is felt to be the same as that of man, their
goal is the same, and in the vast world of illusion each seeks to fulfill

the same destiny.
[3] These are: the worlds of animals, of man, of gods or dêvas, of giants
or asuras, of prêtas or wandering spirits, and of hells. Freedom from
perpetual transmigration in these six worlds is attained only through the
extinction of desire.
Behind the changes of the universe the Buddhist perceives the primal
substance that pervades all creation. There results from this an intimacy
with things which exists in no other creed. From inert matter to the
most highly organized being, all creation is thus endowed with a sense
of kinship that is destined to make a tender and stirring appeal in the
artist's interpretation of nature.
* * * * *
PART TWO THE EVOLUTION OF CHINESE PAINTING
I. ORIGINS
The origins of painting in China are mingled with the origins of writing.
Written characters are, in fact, derived from pictography or picture
writing, those in use at the present time being only developed and
conventionalized forms of primitive drawings. The early books and
dictionaries give us definite information regarding this evolution. But
while history bears witness to this ancient connection, we do not come
into contact with actual evidence until the third century of our era,
through the bas-reliefs of the Han dynasty, and in the fourth century
through the paintings of Ku K'ai-chih. Here we find by no means the
origin of an evolution but, on the contrary, the last traces of an