To Drink Water Means to Think of Its Source: Fond Memories of My Teacher

Zhang Xuewen Born in 1943 in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, Zhang Xuewen is Professor Emeritus at Jingdezhen Comprehensive Institute, an expert enjoying special recognition from the Jiangxi People’s Government, and a member of the Jiangxi’s Appraisal Committee of Masters of Arts and Crafts.

To Drink Water Means to Think of Its Source: Fond Memories of My Teacher

By Zhang Xuewen

Sadly, my teacher, Shi Yuren, died twelve years ago. Although we can no longer see his kind face, hear his familiar voice, or directly feel his caring warmth and loving heart, we can still hold fast to the precious, abundant legacy he left us, his heirs, to nurture us throughout our lives. His name is synonymous with honor and virtue. He “gives to other people” just as his name says, and he lives in our hearts forever.

Thanks to Shi Yuren’s diligent cultivation, many of his students have become leaders in the expansion of China’s porcelain arts. Some of his students are now professors and graduate student advisors, artisan masters creating fine work, or scholars making contributions to historical research in ceramics. His students are producing their art and furthering knowledge about Chinese ceramic history in order to venerate their teacher. Their actions serve to comfort him in heaven so that his loss is not in vain, and his students’ success bring honor to him. Although his candle burned out early, it did not turn into ashes. As the saying goes, “When flowers bloom profusely in the garden, his face is smiling up from among the blossoms.” This metaphor expresses Shi Yuren’s essential nature and lasting legacy.

Shi Yuren’s contribution to our country’s ceramic art is undeniable. His primary gift is to bring to Jingdezhen the ‘Xueyuan Pai” or “Intellectual Painting School” style that elevates the language of porcelain arts.

During the 20th century, the “Zhushan Ba You” or “Eight Friends of the Pearl Mountain” defined the main branch of porcelain fine arts which closely tied Jingdezhen’s reputation to traditional Chinese painting. Even today, it is thought that “in Jingdezhen, whoever cannot paint cannot join the top echelon of artists.” The two painting styles – on porcelain and on rice paper -- become too interwoven to separate, a direction that leads to narrow and misleading conclusions.

Shi Yuren always taught his students certain foundation ideas: porcelain is a 3-dimensional art with artisan roots arising from deep in the culture; in addition, the shape and the surface must come together to form a unified whole. Shi Yuren was a leading scholar in the “Intellectual Painting School,” which supports neither the practice of taking 2-dimensional painting techniques and transferring them to 3-D vessels nor the idea of simply applying Chinese painting theory and materials to the decorative fine arts of porcelain. We must overcome this kind of thinking that sees merely direct substitution from one medium to another and, instead, separate elements one from the other.

The “Intellectual Painting School” takes as its main pursuit the practice of integrating the “inherent character or nature of artisanal decoration” with the “inherent character or nature of the fine arts.” The former provides a “decorating formula” while the latter focuses on structure, i.e., the bones, and spatial relationships. Usually, the artist first creates a format, followed by the inner content rendered by artisanal techniques. By so doing, the medium precedes the art; in other words, the material determines what art will be made from it. Art, then, arises out of the physicality of the materials. In contrast, however, the “artisanal decoration character” asks for a different way of handling design elements of color and pattern in order to integrate painting and medium wherein the artist “follows the shape to fulfill the surface decoration.” The patterns and motifs must fully complement the architectural elements of the piece; by so doing, the shape controls the manner of decoration and pattern follows form.

The “Painting School” is concerned with the “inherent character or nature of painting” wherein “technical character” and “motif character” focus on subject and content. “The painting character” brings together the following 3 components: the “poetic expression” of the brushwork itself, the “shufa or calligraphy,” and the “seal or chops” to create a rich, new aesthetics. Thus, a “painting beyond the painting” and a “meaning beyond the meaning” arise from this fusion. The “technical character” emphasizes a high level of control of “brush and ink skills” which rely on the 6-method basics of traditional Chinese painting. The “inherent character or nature of motifs” emphasizes that the “outside shape parallels the content.” The artist must first have very clear thoughts about content, which the shape of the vessel helps bring to full expression.

To open a book about Chinese ceramic history before the Minguo or Republic period spreads before us a thousand years of ceramic art. With the exception of a few fencai (famille rose) porcelains, examples of ceramic art works from all eras have been passed down to us today. The designs and formalized patterns are the foundations of the artisanal arts. Even, for example, a subject such as “two men in pursuit under a full moon” derives from legend, here, the classic “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” A composition such as “from the mountainside into the valley of ghosts” is inspired by ancient design, image, and technical ideas. Yet from such multiple elements come possibilities for individual expression and style wherein porcelain decorative arts supersede painting arts. This practice, partly technical and partly spiritual, is what Shi Yuren taught.

“Tradition” and “custom” are neither mummies, nor fossils. “Change, evolve, create new art” – this expresses the essence of working from tradition. Shi Yuren was exceptionally adept at drawing creative nourishment from the tradition and from the artisanal folk culture, from which he made a new blend that became his own signature style. He did not merely repeat the past steps that others had walked before. As one of his students, I too can say that my entire life in aims to create my personal art, influenced in every way by my teacher, Shi Yuren. Writing this piece takes me back to remember my teacher whom I recall with fondness and respect.

Translated by Yenfen Huang and Carla Coch