Pu Shi has no light, love for years

Ishibide, how do we appreciate stone now

China has always had a tradition of admiring stones and loving stones. Classical garden buildings have "standing stones", while the Qing Dynasty offerings have "supplying stones." .

As early as the Song Dynasty, literati such as Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Mi Fu were known for their love for stone. The story of "Mi Fu worshipping stone" sang for the descendants. The Chinese worship the stone because it is based on the stone, the stone is the virtue, it is quiet and indifferent. A symbol of national spirit. --editor

Shi Jianbang

The two Tibetan stonemen whom I have met, Mr. Jiang Lei is a representative of traditional stone appreciation, which has gathered the hard work of two generations for decades. His Tibetan stones are of various varieties and different appearances, but they were handed over from the predecessors' old homes. Mr. Ding Wenfu was a pioneer in the study of Chinese classical stone appreciation, but in recent years, he has stood at the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures, boldly proposing that stone appreciation should also "look forward" and start the tradition. The two collectors have similarities in their collections, and there is growth in inheritance. It may be useful for us to reexamine traditional culture.

Ancient Legacy in the Base

"To the east is Jieshi, to view the sea. The water is hell, the mountain island stands ..."

This famous poem written through the ages is written in Shandong, and it may be regarded as the best annotation for humans to appreciate stone and love stone. Jiang Yujun and Jiang Lei, the masters of Qingdao Baiyunxuan, have carefully collected the classic stone appreciation collection, which can be said to be a reflection of tradition.

Jiang Yujun graduated from the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts and is one of Wu Guanzhong's few early students. Speaking of the collection of classical stone appreciation, Mr. Jiang said that this actually has a lot to do with his study and life in the Academy of Fine Arts and his contacts with the old gentlemen. In the late 1980s, the government sent to the United States to study and study, and lived in New York for a long time. In his spare time, he traveled to major art galleries and museums, eagerly learning to admire ancient and modern Chinese and foreign works of art like smoke. This overseas experience prompted Mr. Jiang to start to look at the old things in China with a new perspective.

Mr. Jiang collects classical stone appreciation. He firmly grasps two criteria. First, things must be perfect and not inferior. Secondly, there must be original seats other than stones. These two are indispensable. Mr. Jiang only collects old stones. The so-called old and old here mean that it was played, admired and collected by predecessors very early, rather than the original stone that was just dug out of the ground. The new and old are here. Therefore, the old and the new of the seat become the main means of judging whether the stone is old or not. I admire Mr. Jiang's two collection standards. A good-sighted, self-restrained, and successful collector, both are indispensable.

One of the characteristics of Piaoyunxuan stone appreciation is that there are many types of stones. In addition to the common Taihu, Lingbi, Yingshi and other large sects, there are Laoshan stone, Qingzhou stone and some unknown stone species. . Another major feature is that the stone seats are very rich in fancy styles. There are four major categories: Su Zuo, Yue Zuo, Jing Zuo and Lu Zuo. Su Zuo's fine workmanship and Yue Zuo's fancy. Jing Zuo, also known as the palace, is noble and gorgeous. The bases of the Lus in my house in Jiangfu are simple, grand, and ancient, which opened my eyes. I have never seen such a style in Jiangnan. Let me say a few more words here.

At first glance at this kind of Lu Zuo style, we began to mistakenly think that those Shandong craftsmen had rough craftsmanship, and even suspected of "stealing and cutting materials", which was incomparable with the fine workmanship of Su Zuo and Yue Zuo. But when I look at it for a long time, I seem to understand it. Seeing that most of these Lu Zuo seats imitate the style of the table provided in the Ming furniture style, they are simple and bright. I ca n’t help thinking that Shandong Taishan is the most respected mountain in China, and it is also known as Daizong. Chen Congzhou said, "Dai Daidai, the place where all things in the East are explained, is the leader of the Qun Yue." The emperors of the past dynasties visited Mount Tai to worship the sacrificial ritual. A symbol of solidarity and social prosperity. Reminiscent of Shandong's unique Taishan stone dare to be worshipped, and Penglai fairyland and other worship, I suddenly realized that these Luzai mountains are not actually used for art appreciation, or that aesthetics is second, the most important thing is that it carries a This kind of enshrining function is a kind of worshiping thing that awes the world. It is precisely such a religious worship of stone, so these stones are not art works at first, the main original intention is not used by people to enjoy, but placed on the table for people to worship, so its seat is also There is no need to retouch on all sides. Dapu does not sculpt, perhaps this is the place where these Lu Zuozi subtle.

The land of Qilu has always been a state of etiquette, the way of Confucius and Mencius has flowed for hundreds of years, and Confucianism has penetrated into the hearts of the people. Even the stones and seats left by these ancients let us touch the thick ancient remains, which is a good subject worthy of in-depth study.

Stone appreciation is also constantly trying new

Mr. Ding Wenfu is well-known in the stone-appreciation circle in China, and has made many pioneering contributions in the study of classical stone-appreciation. For example, several of his works, "The Garden Appreciation of Stones" (2000) and "Chinese Ancient Appreciation of Stones" (2002) and the later "Shipen Yaqu" (2010) and other monographs, until now, are still Luoyang paper is expensive and popular in the stone world.

Mr. Ding is a high-level student of the Department of Archaeology at Peking University. He has always been a scholarly collector with a keen interest in learning. He has a strong interest in and researches on many types of ancient artifacts. But as a modern intellectual with independent consciousness and rational spirit, Mr. Ding is not complacent and complacent. Over the years, he has rethought some of the most critical issues in Chinese stone-watching culture from the perspective of global culture. One of the problems is that for more than a thousand years, our stone-appreciation traditions and aesthetic habits have particularly respected the "pure nature" of the shape of the stone, and dared not step forward. Even if the stone shape is artificially trimmed, it is often necessary to deliberately remove the artificial traces according to the "natural" as the first rule, and strive to be "just like a natural thing", seamless.

This is certainly not right or wrong, but why can't it be changed? "Why can't" artificial "work in the direction of" unnatural "? Why" artificial "can't" change its beauty "? Why can't" artificial "change natural creation? Creation can certainly be a teacher, but why for thousands of years Do we always want to 'teacher nature' or still stop at 'teacher nature'? "

These questions have been bothering him for many years, and no satisfactory answer was found for a while. Stone appreciation must "look forward", where is the way? Especially when Mr. Ding lived in the West for many years, he had a considerable understanding of the development history of Western art, especially after he had a deep understanding of the creative concepts of sculpture masters such as Rodin, Henry Moore and Hepworth. Ask yourself: "You can change the writing method of novels, you can change the notation of music, you can change the composition of drama, and you can change the painting method of painting. Why can't you change the way of" appreciation "of stone appreciation?"

Facts speak louder than words, and only works can prove everything. Implemented into the specific creative method, Mr. Ding was sharp and straightforward, using a simple "one-knife" to cut the stone appreciation, showing a new line and surface relationship and spatial structure, transforming the stubborn stone from natural things to Huawei art Things, thus giving more spiritual connotation. This knife is meaningful.

The "Thousand-Year Stone, Only One Knife" series directly uses traditional Chinese cultural appreciation stones, each of which ranges in size from ten centimeters to sixty or seventy centimeters. There are three pieces of Taihu stone and fifteen pieces of Lingbi stone. There is also a rare piece of Huang Lingbi. Breaking through the millennium of aesthetic shackles and boldly "surgery" these stone appreciations not only allowed them to form unpredictable blocks and spatial relationships, but also allowed the work itself to declare a break between modernity and tradition, full of modern spirit.

Winning by one knife, is it really difficult to do it? I asked Mr. Ding.

Ding Lao said that there are indeed many unexpected problems, how to cut at the beginning, what angle, what the cut meeting looks like, are all questions. Moreover, the stones are so heavy, although workers help to make them, they have to make their own decisions, make decisions, and make choices throughout the process. In the process of specific cutting and making, the cutting was broken a lot and failed again and again. It can be said that more than half of it was scrap. Later, I gradually got some experience, and some surprises often happened. For example, the largest piece of Huang Lingbi began to look flat and unremarkable. After a knife cut, it was cut open and found that there was such a complicated and tortuous structure and block-face relationship.

If viewed from a larger perspective, these works by Ding Wenfu are reminiscent of Duchamp's work "urinal" in the history of modern art, and the sharp "one knife" on the canvas of the Italian painter Fontana, in contemporary The culture and art world is undoubtedly of special significance. Ding Lao ’s bold “turning around” from scholar to artist is based on his passion for Chinese classical culture, his profound understanding of the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western cultures, and his bold and innovative spirit, especially this Admirable.