Whatever its outward expression, human thought remains essentially
unchanged and, throughout all of its manifestations, is fundamentally the
same. Varying phases are but accidents and underneath the divers wrappings
of historic periods or different civilizations, the heart as well as the
mind of man has been moved by the same desires.
Art possesses a unity like that of nature. It is profound and stirring,
precisely because it blends and perpetuates feeling and intelligence by
means of outward expressions. Of all human achievements art is the most
vital, the one that is dowered with eternal youth, for it awakens in the
soul emotions which neither time nor civilization has ever radically
altered. Therefore, in commencing the study of an art of strange
appearance, what we must seek primarily is the exact nature of the
complexity of ideas and feelings upon which it is based. Such is the
task presented to us, and since the problem which we here approach is
the general study of Chinese painting, we must prepare ourselves first
to master the peculiarities of its appearance and technique, in order
to understand later on the motives which inspired it.
While the first part of this study will carry us far from our habitual
modes of thought, the second part will bring us back into a domain which
our own philosophies, sciences and arts have already made familiar.
Admittedly, Chinese painting is governed by distinctive ideas. Born of a
civilization vastly different from our own, it may at times appear in a
guise that seems incomprehensible. It would be astonishing, however, if
Western intelligence were unable to grasp an aesthetic code of a magnitude
which is too great to be ignored.
The progress of history and of criticism has given us the opportunity to
reach a comprehension of the most peculiar formulas. Our culture is
sufficiently broad to allow us to perceive the beauty of an Egyptian
fresco or an Assyrian bas-relief as well as of a Byzantine mosaic or a
painting of the Renaissance. We have therefore no excuse for remaining
inaccessible to the art of the Far East and we have surely all the mental
vigor that is requisite in order to accustom ourselves to the foreign
nature of its presentation. It is in the realm of painting that this
foreign element is most noticeable. This is due partly to a special
technique and partly to the nature of the doctrines which serve as its
inspiration.
It behooves us then to acquaint ourselves with these new aspects of the
human soul. That is the justification for this little book. It forms an
introduction in which gaps are shown without attempt at concealment and
is presented in all modesty.
* * * * *
PART ONE
TECHNIQUE