تمثّل صُوَر ملکوتی در نقّاشی چینی: درنگی بر رسالۀ وانگ وِی در باب صورتگری (مقاله علمی وزارت علوم)
درجه علمی: نشریه علمی (وزارت علوم)
آرشیو
چکیده
در متون حکمی چین باستان و به ویژه در یی جْینگ (دفتر تجلّیات) در باب دو گونه «صورت»، آسمانی و زمینی که یکی نازله و تمثّل دیگری است. این اندیشه ها که سابقه اش به قرن ششم ق.م. بازمی گردد، هزار سال بعد در گفت وگوهای فلسفی در باب پیشه نقّاشی طرح شد. وانگ وِی و یِن یِن جی که از استادان پیشکسوت معاصر او بود، هنر صورتگری و یی جْینگ را دارای شاکله یکسان دانستند، به تمثّل صور ملکوتی در صور نقّاشی صورتگران راستین کهن برای ترسیم صور سفلی آفاقی اشاره کردند و آن را طرف قیاس نحوه تمثّل صور علوی در یی جْینگ برای تبیین تبدّلات صور سفلی قرار دادند. در این نوشتار، پس از تبیین چیستی «صورت» و انواع آن در یی جْینگ و اشاره مختصری به حالات زندگانی وانگ وِی، ترجمه و شرحی از رساله او در باب صورتگری ارائه می شود. موضوع اصلی رساله او تبیین همسویی هنر صورتگری با اصول یی جْینگ است و در ذیل آن به تمثّل و تمثیل، ساز و کار ظهور و آفرینش، طبقه بندی صور نقّاشی بر حسب ماهیت موجودات و تنزیلی بودن نقّاشیِ نقّاشان راستین اشاره شده است.Representation of Celestial Forms in Chinese Painting: A Study of Wang Wei’s Treatise on Painting
This study examines the ancient Chinese understanding of “form” as expressed in the Yijing (commonly translated as Book of Changes) and its profound influence on early Chinese philosophy of painting, particularly the treatise “On Painting” ( Xuhua 敘畫) by Wang Wei 王微 (414-453 CE). Long before formal art criticism emerged during the Six Dynasties period (220-589 CE), the Yijing had presented a compact metaphysical doctrine discussing the nature of “form,” its various types, their hierarchical order, and its relationship to the Formless. This paper argues that Wang Wei, following his contemporary senior Yan Yanzhi 顏延之, perceived a fundamental alignment between the art of painting and the symbolic structure of the Yijing . Wang posited that accomplished painters of the past were adept at representing celestial forms through their depictions, drawing a direct analogy to the Yijing ’s process of embodying transcendent principles within linear symbols ( guaxiang 卦象).
The question begins by clarifying the multifaceted concept of “form” within the Yijing . It highlights the distinction between 象 ( xiang ), associated with celestial archetypal forms detached from materia , and 形 ( xing ), related to terrestrial manifestations associated with matter. The analysis explores the etymological roots of these terms and their cognates in Chinese, revealing connections to concepts like color, appearance, imagination, and seeing. Notably, xiang 象 is shown to be a loan character related to “image” or “form” unassociated with matter, closely tied to the imagined or perceived (想 xiang and 相 xiang ). This celestial xiang is contrasted with xing 形, which carries connotations of projection and reflection, similar to the Platonic shadow of an eidos .
Based on the Xici 繫辭 (Appended Statements), as an important section of the received Yijing , the paper elucidates the distinction between celestial xiang and terrestrial xing . The Xici explicitly states, “In Heaven are revealed the xiang ; on Earth are shaped the xing . In this way are seen transformations and changes.” This establishes xiang as the superior, heavenly forms as the archetype of the manifested, earthly xing .
The paper then goes on to introduce Wang Wei and his historical context. Born into a distinguished family, he excelled not only in painting but also in poetry, calligraphy, music, mathematics, medicine, and Yijing studies. Despite early success in court examinations, he preferred a reclusive life dedicated to studying classical Daoist and Confucian texts, particularly the Yijing . His extant treatise, “On Painting” ( Xuhua ), preserved in Zhang Yanyuan’s 張彥遠 Lidai Minghua Ji 歷代名畫記 (Record of Famous Painters Throughout History), is a letter written to Yan Yanzhi, a contemporary scholar and artisan master deeply interested in Yijing studies through the lens of the Daoist philosophical school of xuanxue 玄學 (Study of the Mysterious).
The primal thought of Wang Wei in this treatise, and a key focus of this study, is the assertion that the forms of painting and the symbolic images of the Yijing ( yixiang 易象) have an “identified framework” ( tongti 同體). Wang Wei put forward this idea at the outset of his treatise, corresponding the principles underlying painting to the symbolic structure of the Yijing . The accomplished painter’s refined heart-mind ascends to perceive the superior forms, which are then embodied as imagined images within their consciousness. This process mirrors the Yijing ’s “embodying” of celestial xiang . The resulting artwork, therefore, possesses a quality pertaining to the “descent of spiritual lights,” shenming 神明, a term denoting deity, and eventually, the manifestation of the celestial realm onto the painted surface.
The paper proceeds to offer a translation and detailed annotation on Wang Wei’s Xuhua . The treatise begins with Wang Wei’s respectful address to “Master Yan,” stating that painting, when perfected, aligns with the symbolic images of the Yijing . He counters the prevailing view that calligraphy, associated with the revered written word, is superior to painting. He also criticizes contemporary painters for focusing solely on external appearances, while for the accomplished painters of the past, painting was essentially infusion of spirit with forms. He asserts that the dynamism and transformative quality of past masterpieces originated from the heart of the sage-artisans, not mere technical skill. Without the indwelling spirit, the painted forms lack vitality and “flow of life” (動生) which is later referred as “rhythmic flow of [primordial] breath” (qiyun 氣韻) by the famous painter and art philosopher, Xie He (謝赫; 6th century CE).
While acknowledging the limitations of the physical sight, Wang Wei suggests that true representation transcends these limitations through symbolic embodiment. He illustrates this with vivid imagery: “With a single brushstroke, they depicted the essence of the Great Void.” This emphasizes the symbol’s power of representation and the ability of seemingly simple forms to evoke profound realities.
Wang Wei further connects painting to the cosmic processes of transformation ( bianhua 變化), describing it as a “horizontal change and vertical transformation, hence movement arises; with the square in front and the compass behind, square and circle emerge.” The “squaring the circle” ( fangyuan 方圓) symbolizes the descent of celestial principles into terrestrial forms, mirroring the painter’s act of mingling the painting with the spiritual. He then discusses the classification of forms in painting based on their inherent nature, echoing the Yijing ’s principle of “gathering things of a kind together” ( leiju 類聚). This involves a harmonious alignment between the painted world and the underlying order of the cosmos, the order that is symbolically explained in the Yijing .
Finally, Wang Wei praises the evocative power of great paintings, stating that viewing them can elevate the spirit and expand the mind. Describing the experience of unrolling a scroll depicting mountains, seas, verdant forests swaying in the wind, and rushing white waters, he marvels at how such profound representations could be mere products of human hands. Instead, he concludes that these masterpieces are “descents of spiritual Lights,” akin to the divine inspiration behind the Yijing . Just as the Yijing was divinely aided in its creation and compilation, enabling readers to “embody the virtues of spiritual Lights,” so too does great painting, inspired by the celestial realm, allow viewers to connect with the superior principles.
In conclusion, Wang Wei, a perceptive fifth-century scholar-artist, viewed painting through a Daoist lens, considering it a vehicle for the manifestation of spirit and the vital flow of life within forms. He recognized a fundamental structural and operational unity between the Yijing ’s symbolic system and the art of painting. The Yijing illumines the complexities of the cosmos, having in view the unifying principle that manifests as celestial forms. Similarly, accomplished painters draw upon terrestrial forms to evoke and embody celestial archetypes, creating works that inspire awe and guide viewers toward the primordial sources of reality. Wang Wei’s insights highlight the profound metaphysical principles of early Chinese painting theory, elevating it beyond mere technical skill to a form of spiritual representation deeply resonant with the ancient wisdom of the Yijing .
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