The aesthetic conceptions of the Far East have been deeply influenced by a
special philosophy of nature. The Chinese consider the relation of the two
principles, male and female, the _yang_ and the _yin_, as the source of
the universe. Detached from the primordial unity, they give birth to the
forms of this world by ever varying degrees of combination. Heaven
corresponds to the male principle, earth to the female principle.
Everything upon the earth, beings, plants, animals or man is formed by the
mingling of _yang_ and _yin_. While the mountain, enveloped in mists,
recalls the union of these two principles, the legend of forces thus
revealed by no means pauses here. Fabulous or real, the animals and plants
habitually seen in Chinese paintings express a like conception.
The dragon is the ancestor of everything that bears feathers or scales. He
represents the element of water, the waters of the earth, the mists of the
air, the heavenly principle. He is seen breaking through the clouds like
some monstrous apparition, unveiling for an instant the greatness of a
mystery barely discerned. The tiger is the symbol of the earthly
principle, a personification of quadrupeds as distinct from birds and
reptiles. His ferocious form lurks in the tempest. Defying the hurricane
which bends the bamboos and uproots trees, he challenges the furies of
nature that are hostile to the expression of the universal soul. The
bamboo is the symbol of wisdom, the pine is the emblem of will-power and
life. The plum tree in flower is a harmonious combination of the two
principles. It symbolizes virginal purity.
[Illustration: PLATE V. PORTRAIT OF LUe TUNG-PING BY T'ENG CH'ANG-YU
T'ang Period. Collection of August Jaccaci. Lent to the Metropolitan
Museum, New York.]
Thus is built up a complete system of allusions similar to the allegories
of our own classics but superior in that they never degenerate into frozen
symbols, but on the contrary keep in close touch with nature, investing
her with a vibrant life, in which human consciousness vanishes making way
for the dawning consciousness of infinitude.
Buddhism goes still further. It does not even believe in the reality of
the world. In this belief, forms are but transitory, the universe an
illusion forever flowing into an unending future. Outside of the supreme
repose, in the six worlds of desire,[3] the things that are susceptible to
pain and death pursue their evolution. Souls travel this closed cycle
under the most diverse forms, from hell to the gods, advancing or
retreating, in accordance with the good deeds or errors committed in
previous existences. A stone, a plant, an insect, a demon, or a god are
only illusory forms, each encompassing an identical soul on its way to
deliverance, as it is caught at different stages of its long calvary and
imprisoned through original sin and the instinctive desire for life.
Whence we see emerging a new feeling of charity which embraces all beings.
Their moral character is felt to be the same as that of man, their goal is
the same, and in the vast world of illusion each seeks to fulfill the same
destiny.
[3] These are: the worlds of animals, of man, of gods or _devas_, of
giants or _asuras_, of _pretas_ or wandering spirits, and of hells.
Freedom from perpetual transmigration in these six worlds is attained
only through the extinction of desire.
Behind the changes of the universe the Buddhist perceives the primal
substance that pervades all creation. There results from this an intimacy
with things which exists in no other creed. From inert matter to the most
highly organized being, all creation is thus endowed with a sense of
kinship that is destined to make a tender and stirring appeal in the
artist's interpretation of nature.
* * * * *
PART TWO
THE EVOLUTION OF CHINESE PAINTING