From its historical development stage and theoretical connotation, the theory of form and spirit can be divided into three aspects: form and spirit, writing spirit with form and being alike without form. ⑴ Form and spirit: "Form" and "spirit" are the concepts of unity of opposites in China's ancient philosophy, painting aesthetics and literary criticism, which belong to the dialectical category. As early as the pre-Qin period, Zhouyi and Taoist theory made philosophical thinking on the issue of form and spirit, emphasizing the transcendence and commander-in-chief role of "god" over "form" People in the Han Dynasty also paid attention to the significance of "God" to "shape". "Huai Nan Zi Shuo Shan Xun" says: "Painting the face of Xi Shi is beautiful but unspeakable; The eye of Meng Ben is too big to be feared: the monarch dies. " The "handsome man" mentioned here refers to "God".
Painting and calligraphy in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties all regard "form" as the foreign minister and "spirit" as the connotation. Liu Xie introduced "form" and "spirit" into literary theory, and "The Literary Mind Carves Dragons and Exaggerated Ornaments" said: "It's hard to copy God's Tao, and you can't pursue it with fine words; Shapes are easy to write, and strong words can be used to express their truth. " It means that the difficulty of creation lies in vivid expression, and the description of morphology can be realized through exaggeration. This raises the question of the relationship between "form" and "spirit" in literary and artistic creation. The "form" and "spirit" in artistic aesthetics are derived from the "form" and "spirit" in philosophy, and their meanings are changeable and rich. Integrating philosophy and literature and art, the meaning of "form" has four aspects: one refers to the form and appearance of all natural things that can be perceived by people, which are compared with the universe itself. For example, "Yi Chuan Cohesion": "In the natural image, it is shaped in the ground, and the change is seen"; For example, "Zhuangzi Heaven": "Those who can be seen by sight are also shaped and colored." The second refers to the body, shape and external performance that are opposed to the human spirit. For example, "Zhuangzi Zaiqi": "The goddess will keep the shape, and the shape is eternal." Three refers to the materialization or expression of people's thoughts, feelings or aesthetic experience, that is, the form of aesthetic activities carried out by certain artistic means. For example, "Xunzi's Theory of Music": "If a husband is happy, he will be happy, and the place of human feelings will be inevitable. ..... Music must come from sound and be shaped by movement. " Four refers to the artistic image with perceptual form created in literary and artistic works. For example, Lu Ji's "Wen Fu": "Cage heaven and earth in the form, and frustrate everything in the pen." "The body is different, there is nothing, and it is squandered, and it is difficult to be strong. Resignation is based on the effect of acting as a virtuoso, meaning to be a craftsman, and it is embarrassing to have nothing, but not to let it go. Although I am away from the square, I am in a state of poverty. " Zhong Rong's Poems: "Five words are the most important words, ... referring to things and writing things with poor feelings, which are the most detailed." In ancient literary criticism, the concept of "likeness" was first used in painting criticism. Before the Eastern Jin Dynasty, "likeness" was regarded as the highest standard of painting, and from Gu Kaizhi onwards, "likeness" was changed into the second meaning. However, in literary criticism, "likeness" was still a compliment in the Six Dynasties, and it was not opposed to "spirit likeness". For example, Shen Yue's Biography of Song Shu Xie Lingyun said "words like clever configuration", and Zhong Rong's Poetry commented on Zhang Xie's "words like clever configuration". "Similarity" mainly refers to the description of the scenery, as if it were in sight. "God" also has multiple meanings. It refers to the mystery that everything in the universe is unknown and sometimes indescribable. For example, "On the Book of Changes": "The unexpected of Yin and Yang is called God." The second refers to the inner spirit, ideological will or thinking activity that is opposed to human body or senses. For example, "Mozi is dyed": "Injury is laborious." "Wen Xin Diao Long Shen Si": "Wen Zhi Si is also far away." Three refers to the natural look, interest or essential characteristics of people or objective things, which depend on and transcend form and color, and can not be directly perceived by the senses alone, but can be grasped by intuitive experience and wonderful understanding. For example, Song Yuanwen's "On Form and Spirit": "It is easy to paint in form but difficult in spirit. Shape, its shape also; God, its spirit is also. ..... look, since it is not in the chest, there are those who can't do it. " Four refers to the unique aesthetic characteristics, style or charm of a certain era and certain artistic style. For example, in Liu Dakui's "Essay Occasionally" in Qing Dynasty, "The way of writing is based on God, supplemented by Qi ... Qi turns with God, and when God is muddy, it is suffocating, when God is far away, it is high, when God changes, it is strange, and when God is deep, it is calm, so God is the master of Qi." The apotheosis of the highest character or exquisite skill created by the five fingers art. For example, Yin Kun's "A Collection of Heroic Tales of He Le": "Fu Wen is inspired by God, qi and affection." Du Fu's "A Letter to Xue Saburo": "It is only by knowing how to replace talents that we can strengthen our old age and benefit God." Qing Fangheng's "Reading Pictures": "God is also a person who forgets his heart and hands, and his pen and ink are all in harmony, and his charm and rules are all unpredictable. The benevolent sees benevolence and the wise sees wisdom. The so-called unknowable is called God."
In China's literary aesthetics, "form" and "spirit" are two opposite concepts, and their meanings mainly involve three aspects: First, they constitute two different levels of the aesthetic value of literary works. The second is to become an artist with different aesthetic pursuits. The third is two artistic methods of unity of opposites as free choice in aesthetic creation. "Huai Nan Zi Yuan Dao Xun": "Form and spirit, each living in its own place, in order to follow the world. The husband's shape, the house of life; Those who are angry are full of life; God, the system of life. If you lose your position, the three will be hurt. " From the level of philosophical ontology, it is expounded that existence and non-existence, and the dependence of form and spirit is the fundamental law of all things and life. The same is true of artistic aesthetic activities. Therefore, "form" and "spirit" are two basic elements that constitute literary and artistic works and their aesthetic value. However, as far as the development of the relationship between "form" and "spirit" is concerned, it can be divided into three different tendencies: one is similar in shape, the other is similar in spirit, and the other is advocating the unity of form and spirit. The writers of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties have multiple similarities, as pointed out in "Wen Xin Diao Long Looking for": "Since modern times, Wen Gui has been similar, above the scenery, among the vegetation." Zhong Rong's Poems commented on Zhang Xie, Xie Lingyun, Yan Yanzhi, Bao Zhao and others, and repeatedly pointed out that they were "as skillful as expensive". However, writers and artists who are greatly influenced by Taoist or Buddhist philosophy are vivid and slightly different. For example, Su Shi's "Folding Branches Painted in the Master Book of King Yanling" says: "On the similarity of paintings, see the neighbors with children. Poetry must be this poem, and you must know that you are not a poet. " It embodies the aesthetic ideal that literary and artistic creation lies in verve, which has a far-reaching impact on later generations. However, later generations also have different opinions, and put forward the theory of unity of form and spirit to refute it. For example, Li Zhi's poem and painting says: "Zhuo Wuzi said that he was not able to draw a picture after changing his shape, and he was proud of it. Because of the reconciliation, it is said:' Painting is not just about writing, but about being in shape and spirit; Poetry is not outside the painting, it is writing the picture. " Advocating the dialectical unity of both form and spirit has become the mainstream in the theory of the relationship between form and spirit, which has promoted the healthy development of China's literary and artistic creation such as poetry and painting.
To sum up the views on the issue of form and spirit in the history of China's ancient literary criticism, there are three main points: attaching importance to spirit, form and spirit. Generally speaking, the combination of form and spirit is an artistic tradition that China's classical aesthetic theory has always attached importance to. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, figure painting became mature, and painters began to actively explore the theory of figure painting, that is, from focusing on depicting the vivid appearance of characters to showing the development trend of their inner spiritual world. Gu Kaizhi, on the other hand, is the painter who has the deepest understanding of figure painting and the most outstanding artistic contribution in this era. In terms of the performance of characters, he put forward the requirement of "writing the spirit with form", and paid great attention to the consistency and integrity of depicting the inner activities and expression dynamics of characters. Although Gu Kaizhi's figure painting has been lost, his vivid theory has played an extremely important guiding role for the development of figure painting in later generations.
In fact, in the book Huai Nan Zi of the Han Dynasty, there was some knowledge and understanding about the relationship between form and spirit. Huai Nan Zi said, "God is more valuable than form, and advocates that God is the master of form and obedience." Gu Kaizhi inherited and developed this concept of form and spirit, and applied it to the field of painting, and put forward the requirement of "expressing the spirit" in figure painting and the idea of "writing the spirit with form", which is the "theory of form and spirit" with far-reaching influence on later generations. Gu Kaizhi (A.D. 345-A.D. 46), born in Wuxi, Jinling, was a scholar. He studied under the Health Association and was good at drawing portraits, immortals, Buddha statues, animals, landscapes, etc. He also worked in poetry and calligraphy. It is known as "talent is unique, painting is unique, and stupidity is unique", but it also smacks of "half-wit". He was the earliest painting theorist in ancient times, and he wrote three monographs: Painting Yuntai Mountain, On Painting and Wei Jin's Praise for Painting. He has been diligent all his life, and his surviving models now include Zhen Tu of Women's History, Fu Tu of Luoshen and Biography of Lienv.
As for Gu Kaizhi's painting method, Zhang Yanyuan said in "Records of Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties": "The tension is continuous, the cycle is excessive, the style is easy to adjust, and the wind tends to be electric." According to legend, when he painted characters, he sometimes didn't even pay attention for several years. When people asked him why, they replied, "The four-body beauty has nothing to do with beauty, and the vivid portrayal is being blocked." That is to say, "vivid" depends on people's eyes. The implication is that a painter should grasp the description of eyes and movements when describing and portraying people. Therefore, he often has to "touch the eye" when his mood and mental state are at their best. Gu Kaizhi thinks that the finishing touch is: "If the length, rigidity, depth, breadth and narrowness of the festival, up and down, size and thickness have a slight loss, then the air will change with it." When folk painters thought that it was difficult to draw a picture with a hand, Gu Kaizhi said, "It is easy to wave five strings with your hand, but it is difficult to see Hongyan." According to records, he painted a portrait of Pei Kai, adding three cents to his cheeks, making his image "the gods are extraordinary". Zhang Huai commented that he "looks like a person's beauty, and Zhang gets his flesh." Lu gets his bones, takes care of his gods, is wonderful and has no way, and takes care of it. " Painting "Vimalakirti Statue" at the Waguan Temple in Jiankang caused a sensation in the capital. Zhang Yanyuan called it: "It's clear to win and show illness, but it's a little forgetful." Du Fu, a poet of later generations, said: "The golden millet shadow with a tiger's head is wonderful and unforgettable." Gu Kaizhi's "vivid theory" has also been developed to skillfully handle the relationship between people: the dynamic direction of characters should be coordinated with their eyes, otherwise it will be "a big loss". Around this theory, he also put forward the essence theory of figure painting, such as "writing the spirit with form", "thinking wonderfully" and "understanding the spirit". It is also because of his artistic theory that he influenced and gave birth to the Catalogue of Ancient Paintings by Sheikh of Nanliang, which has a far-reaching influence on later generations. Therefore, in the theory of Chinese painting, it is also called figure painting as "vivid".
Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is an era of individual human consciousness, and it is an era of cultural and artistic consciousness. In this era, China society produced a relatively independent spiritual structure of scholars, and it is based on the formation of this relatively independent form that people's form, spirit, qi and rhyme are discussed, recognized and studied as special knowledge. This is reflected in the figure painting, that is, the deep concern for the figure's shape, spirit, qi, rhyme, emotion and posture, thus producing many figure painters represented by Gu Kaizhi and Sheikh. This also made China's traditional painting have a relatively systematic theoretical summary, and got rid of the philosophical shackles of Chinese painting, and became an independent art category, which improved the independence of China's painting. "Describing God by Form" is a painting idea put forward by Gu Kaizhi in the article "Imitation and Exquisite Method" in On Painting. "God" refers to the expression, manner and inner spiritual temperament of the object, which is the requirement of the figure painter for the object depicted and the expression of "God". The so-called "writing spirit in form" means that the painter observes, captures, refines and generalizes through his own painting sensitivity, so as to show the personality characteristics of the painted objects and convey his "spirit" on the works. This is the deep cultural significance brought to the painter by the wonderful method of copying and expanding. Gu Kaizhi will put forward the theory of "describing the spirit with form" and "vividly portraying the spirit", which is not only related to summing up the predecessors' painting practice experience, but also related to the following factors:
⒈ is related to the theory of "form and spirit" in pre-Qin philosophy and Han philosophy.
from the warring States period to the Han dynasty, many philosophers have discussed the relationship between "form" and "spirit". For example, in Zhuangzi's "meeting with God instead of seeing", he attached importance to and advocated lyricism by painting, and described the painting character of God by painting. It can even be said that Zhuangzi was the ancestor of painting lyricism. Xun Zi, Wang Chong, Huai Nan Zi, etc. all have this discussion. Wang Chong said in his "Lun Heng Bie Tong Quan": "People are fond of pictures, and what is painted on the picture is also an ancient person. See the face of others, and watch their words and deeds? " The painting here is not present, and the painter can't communicate with it, that is, Wang Chong thinks that communication is very important, and communication can't be carried out without meeting, so he can't understand the inner feelings and spiritual temperament of the painted object. Later, Gu Kaizhi also said in "Wei Jinsheng's Painting Praise": "The pearl of an image, if you don't understand it, you will also understand it." "Wu" and "Wu" mean to meet and communicate. Understanding the spirit is the explanation of the nature of communication between the subject and the object of painting. This is also an important ideological source of Gu Kaizhi's theory of form and spirit, and "communication" or "enlightenment" is the ideological core of China's figure painting.
3. More importantly, Gu Kaizhi emphasized that "vividness" was related to the influence of metaphysics and demeanor in Wei and Jin Dynasties.
As mentioned earlier, the theory of "form and spirit" in pre-Qin philosophy and Han philosophy had a great influence on Gu Kaizhi's proposition of "vivid portrayal", but this influence was produced through the link of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Metaphysics flourished in Wei and Jin dynasties, and celebrities were keen to sit and talk about Taoism and identify the light fashion of philosophy. Metaphysics, based on Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi's thoughts, re-expounds philosophical thoughts. Wang Bi of Wei Chu put forward the ideas of "forgetting the image with pride" and "forgetting the words with pride". "Image" is a tangible, observable representation, while "meaning" is a principle that can only be understood without trace and intangible. "Forgetting the image with pride" embodies the thinking trend of metaphysics. It is not difficult to see that the theory of "meaning" beyond words and forgetting images has an inevitable internal cultural connection with the theory of form and spirit put forward by Gu Kaizhi. It not only made a profound academic achievement, but also directly led to the most important aesthetic proposition in Wei and Jin Dynasties. However, from the outlook on life of celebrities in Wei and Jin Dynasties, that is, "the mysterious person is far away, the house is far away, and the spirit is profound, and the spirit is bright, not limited to etiquette, not stuck in the remains", which has influenced China's figure painting, resulting in the aesthetic thought of "vivid portrayal"
13. Gu Kaizhi's emphasis on "vividness" was related to the culture of people's articles and algae at that time.
People's articles can be traced back to the pre-Qin period, and Confucius' Analects of Confucius has different levels of moral cultivation. Later, the method of physiognomy was used to judge the characters from the external form and image, so as to understand and evaluate the moral character of people. It can be seen from Shi Shuo Xin Yu that under the influence of metaphysics and demeanor in Wei and Jin Dynasties, people and things in Wei and Jin Dynasties tend to be slightly shaped and attached importance to spirit. Concepts such as "Shenzi", "Shenjun", "Shenqi", "Shenqi", "Fengshen" and "Shenwei" appear in people's articles. These concepts related to "Shenqi" do not refer to people's moral knowledge, but to people's personality and life mood. That is to say, "the Han dynasty was based on bones and muscles, and the Wei and Jin dynasties were based on gods."
4. Gu Kaizhi's emphasis on "vividness" is also related to the influence of Laozi's aesthetics.
Gu Kaizhi's so-called "four-body beauty" has nothing to do with beauty, and vivid portrayal is being blocked, which not only shows that his paintings pay special attention to the eyes, but also shows that Gu Kaizhi's propositions of "writing the gods with shapes" and "vivid portrayal" also contain a metaphysical pursuit. In the first chapter of Laozi: "There is always nothing, and you want to see its wonders and pay attention to it. Both of them come out with different names, and they are called Xuan, Xuan and Xuan, and the door to all wonders. " The "Miao" pursued by Gu Kaizhi is also a word "Miao" which embodies the non-prescriptive and infinite nature of "Tao" here.
in the practice of painting creation, Gu Kaizhi pays attention to and expresses the characters' personalities and the application of the factors that constitute vivid figures. The "form" and "spirit" in his works are the "form" and "spirit" he feels, understands and casts. In the process of reflection of "form" and "spirit", Gu Kaizhi's own subjective feelings are bound to play a role. Gu Kaizhi put forward the word "wonderful idea" to summarize his views on this issue. The so-called "migration"