China Gallery. Issue 3

Author: Jia Dejiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: A century of fusion has shown that, although Chinese painting has been in a defensive position, it has ultimately led people to realize a truth: all art forms have limitations, and limitations are not bad; limitations are what define individuality. Brushwork and ink are the limitations of Chinese painting, and they are also its individuality. Now is the time to evaluate the limitations of brushwork and ink actively rather than passively. After all, the desire to turn Chinese painting into a universal art form under the pressure of Western painting has been proven naive by history. Chinese painting is not oil painting, not watercolor, not acrylic, not sketching, not printmaking. If we uphold brushwork and ink, Chinese painting has enough capacity to absorb and integrate elements from these other art forms. If we abandon brushwork and ink and let Chinese painting mimic this and that but lose its own identity, then a cultural tradition that has gathered millennia of wisdom and spirit may vanish into the dust of history. Unless malicious, no Chinese person, including foreigners, would wish to see such an outcome.