Furnace Prison

Author: Chen Yuchun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-04-01
Features:
(1) The body, as the foundation of a person, is the essence of humanity. As the children of the universe, humans themselves embody the universe. Since the dawn of humanity, the human body has been divided into the realms of yin and yang, creating an eternal interplay of difference, attraction, love, and reliance, filled with eternal mysteries. Perhaps because matriarchal societies preceded patriarchal ones, humanity has long admired nude female statues dating back 25,500 years. The artistic celebration of the female nude has remained vigorous to this day. Since women are the primary bearers of the function of producing life, traditional female nude art has emphasized the body's connection to childbirth and breastfeeding. Of course, the youthful beauty of women in their virginal prime, as Rodin said, "filled with new blood, light and inviolable youth, a period lasting only a few months," has naturally been an ideal for artistic expression. However, most artworks continue to focus on the maternal beauty of women. The noblest quality of a woman's beauty lies in her selfless dedication. Henry Moore, a great artist who devoutly celebrated maternal beauty, portrayed the beauty of mothers as majestic mountains and vast lands, awe-inspiring in their grandeur. The treasure of human civilization—the Venus de Milo housed in the Louvre—perfectly embodies the natural unity of youthful beauty and maternal beauty. With the promotion of contraception and eugenics, women have increasingly participated in various social practices, and the portrayal of their intelligence and health has become more prominent. The beauty of male strength has long been a significant theme in art. Since the dawn of humanity, men have borne the heavy responsibility of resisting nature and external threats, and have been the primary bearers of material wealth production. Classical male nude art often exaggerated the portrayal of men as heroic and powerful. As human labor has shifted from physical to mental, and as humanity has reflected more deeply on itself, the representation of male strength has increasingly focused on the spiritual power of the male body.
(2) When a person appears before you stripped bare, you will undoubtedly feel: beauty becomes even more beautiful; ugliness becomes even more apparent; truth becomes even truer; and falsehood becomes even more false. Because posture speaks louder than words, transcending language and borders. Moreover, what it says is often the truth. Tendons and nerves do not lie. When a person cries, their whole body trembles; when they laugh, their whole body moves; when they fear, their whole body shakes; when they are drunk, their whole body floats. The same words can carry completely opposite meanings depending on the posture. The saying that "the essence of a person's character lies in their eyes" (Gu Kaizhi) is somewhat misleading. Therefore, people often consciously or unconsciously hide their bodies, especially those who fear others seeing their subconscious impulses or those with physical flaws. These concealments are harmless to others and are reasonable privacy, deserving of respect. To gaze upon another's body without permission is immoral. However, deep down, almost everyone, even in their subconscious, cannot suppress their admiration for the beauty of the human body. After all, it is the pride of this planet, the pinnacle of beauty, the peak of creation. Psychologists have conducted experiments showing that among all things in the world, humans are most concerned with humans themselves. Even the image of God is shaped according to the human form. Human love for objects originates from human love for humans; the appreciation of the beauty of all things originates from the appreciation of the beauty of the human body. This is called "empathy" or "understanding," and in design, it is called "ergonomics." To excel oneself is to be beautiful! The human body entered the world of art long before the invention of writing. Primitive people believed that reproductive ability was humanity's greatest strength. They frankly celebrated the mysterious reproductive organs through art, marking the earliest stage of human expression of the beauty of the human body. The question is: humans, after all, are highly intelligent beings. They cannot merely focus on what humans share with other animals but must also highlight what sets humans apart, especially by showcasing the great spiritual power of the human body through the human form. The perception and expression of the beauty of the human body have gone through several stages: first, sensitivity to the gender differences between men and women, their youthful lines and contours; then, the beauty of volume and texture; further, the beauty of the organization and structure of the body's various parts; then, the beauty of the dynamic rhythm of the body's external and internal tension systems; and finally, the realization of the great spiritual power of the human body, intuitively experiencing its unity with the universe, reaching a state of transcendence. Michelangelo expressed pain and struggle through the human body; Maillol depicted air and the sea through the human body; and Hongo Shin used the human body to portray light and peace. The human body has gradually become a cherished artistic language in various art forms. When we see the white female body poured into a cement column in "The Confessions of a Police Chief," it leaves an indelible impression; when we read the masterful portrayal of the human body in Natsume Sōseki's novel "The Traveling Inn," we realize that the human body embodies the spirit of science, art, and peace; in Isadora Duncan's dance, the human body manifests holiness and purity. Moreover, the use of the human body can break through the limitations imposed by clothing, profession, and region, making it easier to express timeless themes.
(3) To be human, nothing is more hypocritical or foolish than viewing the human body as evil. Who does not cherish their own body? Who does not long for a healthy and beautiful human form? When normal desires cannot be satisfied through healthy and proper channels, pornography takes advantage of the void. The prohibition of body art is proportional to a nation's feudalism. Prohibition not only fails to reduce sexual crimes but also supplements them with underground pornography. In reality, the human body is not necessarily pornography, and pornography is not necessarily the human body. If one examines pornography, it is easy to see that it either dissects a complete human body to highlight sensitive areas for sexual arousal or deliberately conceals and reveals parts to enhance mystery and stimulate desire. Due to Comrade Mao Zedong's remarks on nude models, few artists in art academies now paint the human body openly. However, whether the human body can appear in films or dance remains a taboo for some. In truth, the best way to resist pornography is to promote body science and sex science, and to use body art to break people's distorted and mysterious perceptions of the human body and its beauty. Following Lu Xun's, this work should start from childhood.
(4) As I was busy with my own body art creation and teaching, Chen Yuchun presented me with her manuscript "Purgatory" and asked for my opinion, saying, "You are an authority in aesthetics and philosophy, and teach human body structure at an art academy. You understand human models best, and the book involves much about art. I'm afraid of making common mistakes." After listening, I said, "Let me read it carefully." Unexpectedly, once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. Within two days, I finished the entire book. I deeply admire the author's profound insight and rich imagination, the authenticity of her experience, and the accuracy of her descriptions, making me wonder if she herself had been a model. She once again ignited my long-held respect for models. The story of artists and models, especially their love stories, is a timeless theme. Since I entered the art academy's secondary school in 1956 and graduated from the oil painting department, plus my later teaching career, I have spent most of my life interacting with models. I have met countless models like Lin Dai, who have made great contributions to artists but have faced unfair social treatment, often making me deeply sympathetic. While fashion models are celebrated, nude models are discriminated against, which is truly unreasonable. In reality, art demands very high standards from models, leaving no room for falsehood. A good model can inspire an artist's creativity and enhance the teaching environment of art academies. "Purgatory" is a worthy read, and I hope it helps raise respect for models and improves their living conditions. I also hope every artist, upon achieving success, never forgets those who sacrifice for art—they are the nameless heroes of the artistic kingdom in purgatory.
January 7, 2001
Guangzhou
This is a documentary novel narrating the life and love of a nude model. Lin Dai, a young and beautiful model from a small county in Hunan, left her hometown due to emotional trauma and came to the south. After experiencing various hardships, her natural beauty was discovered by an art academy teacher, leading her to become a nude model and fall in love with a male student, Tong Er. Due to social prejudice and Lin Dai's own self-doubt, she rejected Tong Er, who was heartbroken and went to study in France. Several years later, Lin Dai was imprisoned for self-defense. Will she be released? What is her fate? Can she and Tong Er ultimately be together? This documentary novel uses fresh and unique artistic techniques and a realistic, delicate touch to portray the vivid images of a group of active models in higher education and cultural circles, such as Lin Dai, Chen Yang, and Bai Jingjing, fully revealing their little-known emotional worlds and life situations, and raising many thought-provoking social issues and philosophical reflections.
Afterword: Dear readers, thank you for reading this book. Since childhood, I have loved music and art. After joining the workforce, I met friends in the art world and was fortunate to get to know several male and female models. Driven by an innate yearning for beauty, I developed a strong interest in the topic of nude models. The relationship between nude models and nude art is an ancient one, having weathered many storms, like an old person appearing before me. I wrote this book merely to calm my restless heart, not believing these words had much value or purpose. But I hope that if readers can glimpse some of the models' life situations and heavy inner worlds, and if it inspires understanding and respect for them and nude art, then my words will not have been in vain. Before meeting them, I was relatively unfamiliar with the concept of nude models. Why did they become models? Through interaction, I gained a deeper understanding and resolved my doubts. Some were college or high school graduates, some were primary or middle school students, and some were laid-off workers. Most models came from rural areas, some lived in school dormitories, and others rented apartments. I have visited model dormitories and rented apartments. Most practitioners keep their work a secret, but some have emerged from this shadow and view it with broader cultural perspectives. Models have left an extraordinary history in China, and figure art cannot do without them. In those days, finding models was extremely difficult, forcing Chinese people under feudalism to expose themselves to public scrutiny, which was considered shameful, vulgar, insulting, and morally corrupting. Worse, the art of nude models faced several attempts at suppression. Comrade Mao Zedong, with his profound wisdom and dialectical thinking, advised the central leadership to respect artistic principles, uphold artistic science, and advocate for the integration of foreign techniques with Chinese practice. He decisively issued the important directive, "It cannot be done," saving the nearly sinking discipline of art. Although the art of the human body has a history of over 80 years in China, social prejudice still instills fear. Models often do not want to be portrayed as themselves, fearing recognition. Thus, the pressure they endure is unimaginable, and they dare not reveal their true identities to family or friends. Due to these psychological burdens, their time as models is often short—sometimes a few months, sometimes three to four years—and it is rare for them to persevere. Outstanding models are even rarer. Of course, aside from social prejudice, there are also issues of compensation. A model once told me, "Being a model is a noble profession. Without our contribution and this teaching tool, artists would have nothing to paint and no reason to paint." Her words moved me deeply, evoking not only sympathy but also a sense of respect.
Regardless of the motivations and reasons for models' employment, one thing is commendable: their extraordinary courage and strength to overcome social prejudice. From an artistic perspective, they are great, for they have beautified and poeticized life. It is because of them that artists and artists can use the tangible human body to express beauty and the natural beauty of the human body. I do not know if this book truly conveys what they want to express, what inner world they wish to narrate, their emotions, their deepest tremors, and all their joys and sorrows. If this book can resonate with them and the readers, it would be a great comfort, and all the hard work would be worthwhile.
Regarding the female body, due to public interest, I wrote about them first. However, after deeper understanding, I realized that in a male-dominated society, male models endure greater psychological costs, which is why many institutions still hesitate to allow male models to be fully nude. Therefore, while the protagonist of this book is a female model, it is also dedicated to all male and female models who pursue this career. At the dawn of the new millennium, with the progress of civilization, people's understanding of models will reach a higher level, and only when they are treated with normal attitudes will they truly receive social understanding and respect.
I sincerely thank Xie Ri Xin, Zou Qi Hua, and all the hardworking comrades at Huacheng Publishing House for their efforts on this book. I also thank Chairman of the Shaoguan Writers' Association, poet Gui Han Biao, and poet Wei Qiu for their long-standing support and encouragement in my literary career. At the same time, I am deeply grateful to Professor Li Zheng Tian, a philosopher and artist, for his strong support of this book. To illustrate the indispensable role of models in artistic creation, with Professor Li Zheng Tian's consent, this book includes several of his sketches and creative works of the human body. Although they do not directly correspond, they can still serve as a "concert" with the novel's text. It is especially worth mentioning that to write this preface, Professor Li Zheng Tian took precious time to carefully read my manuscript and corrected certain issues in it. His rigorous and responsible academic attitude deeply impressed me. Here, I sincerely say "thank you" once again.
Chen Yuchun
New Year's Day, 2001
Guangzhou