三、超越绘画的渐进层次

　　由于中国绘画理论并不是以绘画能力的高低来界定作品的品次，而是以作品所达到的精神内涵境界之高低品评作品的品次，因此，境界说乃是中国艺术所特有的理论。宗白华先生论述中国画境界时曾说：“中国艺术家何以不满足于纯客观的机械式模写？因为艺术意境不是一个单层的平面的自然的再现，而是一个境界层深的创造。从直观感相的模写，活跃生命的传达，到最高灵境的启示，可以有三层次。”（《直观艺术境界之诞生》）

　　姬子先生总结自己的艺术历程，把自己的创作分为三个递进性类型：延续型，再生型，开拓型。所谓延续型指的是在继承传统的基础上，通过深入生活进行写生，同时参照某些当代有成就的画家的作品，深入领会，逐步探索形成个人的笔墨风格。用一句常说的话概括便是“继承传统而不囿于传统，深入生活融各家之长，形成自己的风格面貌。”在这一层次所追求的是以自己的笔墨技法表现真山真水，即眼中山，眼中景，属胸有丘壑的范畴，其基本精神是现实主义的。所谓再生型指的是以自我情怀为主体，创造出超于现实实景的表现意境。为实现这一目标，必须在技法上突破前人，进行别开生面的探索创造。这一层次的创作精神是“发我之肺腑，揭我之须眉，纵使笔不笔，墨不墨自有我在。”追求的不是纯客观的再现而是要画出“心中山，心中景”是一种创境，属“心有丘壑”的范畴，所以个性就特别鲜明，其基本精神是浪漫主义的，同时与表现主义有某些相近之处，但仍没有超出常规理性绘画的范畴。所谓开拓型指的是要从立意上超越表像界，向本体界升华，创造出“超于象外，得其环中”表现宇宙大道精神，集具象，抽象，意象，心象为一体的，音乐般效果的宏观悟境。为实现这一目标，就需要从思维到构架，从技法到表现等方面进行全方位的开拓创造。这一层次的创作精神是“澄怀观道”“澄怀味象”，“以道论画，以画体道，缘道求法，缘道立象”。追求的是超越表像山水形迹，实现“道境”的物化，即画出“道中山道中景”。

　　姬子先生几十年如一日锲而不舍地探索，早年他曾把自己的一角天地命名为“苦兰斋”“枯寒吟馆”可见其起步的艰难。正是在这苦与寒的境遇中他刻苦地学习前人，打下了坚实的传统基础。从六十年代末开始探索自己的笔墨风格，白天工作，夜晚则要静下心来钻研艺术，困难重重，艰难不易。七十年代初他从切身的体验出发，把自己的一角天地命名为“不易斋”，正是在这艰难不易的环境中，他探索形成了自己风格的笔墨山水，继而又创造出了表现北国冰封雪飘，凛冽悲壮的燕山冰雪山水。八十年代末随着商潮的冲击，很多搞艺术的纷纷下海，他却遵循着“致虚极，守静笃”的古训，把自己的一角天地更名为“定斋”，继续进行深入探索，终于试验出墨道山水这一艺术表现形式。“知不易者不易也，知不易而易其志者多矣，知不易而不易其志者尤不易也。”这是其《不易斋记》中的警句，然而不易其志而能定者，几近于崇高。这正表现出姬子艺术升华必依的深层精神本质。

　　通观姬子的艺术历程及其作品，其笔墨山水所追求的境界与当时的钱松岩、宋文治诸家属于同一范畴，其冰雪山水的独创，抓住了经典山水画在表现雪山冰封方面的薄弱点，创出了如雪麻皴、雪劈皴、雪坡皴、雪窝皴等独特的技法。但这两个类型的作品，是其进一步探索墨道山水的坚实基础。由于其墨道山水不仅延用了笔墨山水，尤其是冰雪山水的表现技法，融有独特造型的内在因素，承接了冰雪山水重在表现肺腑情怀的心源优势，而且通过思维的拓展，画面构成的重组变形，追求超越表像再现。

Ink Paintings: Existence and Transcendence

--A Review of Jizi's Art（three ）

　　3. Progressive Levels of Transcendental Paintings

　　Due to the fact that the theory of Chinese painting most definitely does not take the ability to paint as the measure of a painting's value, but rather evaluates a painting by the level of its spiritual meaning, so for this reason the theory of realms, that is the realm a painting attains, is a special feature of Chinese art theory. The contemporary artist and critic Mr. Zong Baihua (1897-1986), when discussing realms in Chinese painting, has said: "Why are Chinese artists not satisfied with purely objective, mechanical drawings? Because the realm of Chinese painting is not a single plane of natural reproduction but rather the creation of realms of painting, with each realm having a deeper level. In all, there are three levels: the drawing of an object as directly perceived through the visual sense; the conveying of  the dynamism of life; and the revealing of the highest spiritual realm." (Zong Baihua "The Birth of Realms in the Visual Arts")

　　In summarizing his own artistic process, Mr. Jizi divided his creativity into three progressive genres: continuation, rebirth, and pioneering. By the continuation genre, Jizi means that, on the basis of continuing traditional painting, and by means of deeply investigating life in order to make progress in sketching, while at the same time consulting the works of contemporary artists of merit, he obtained a profound understanding of painting, and gradually formed his own brush and ink style. Using a familiar adage to sum this up, we can say that Jizi: "continued the traditional but was not confined by tradition, deeply investigated life to blend the strong points of different artists, and so formed his own style." What Jizi was seeking in this genre was to use his own skills with brush and ink to express real mountains and real streams, that is the mountains and the scenes that one sees with one's eyes. These belong to the category of scenery that one already sees physically and emotionally, and the basic spirit is Realism.

　　By the rebirth genre, Jizi means using principally his own sentiments in order to create an expressive realm that surpasses Realism. In order to achieve this goal, Jizi had to break through the techniques of previous artists, and proceed to explore and create the breaking of new artistic ground. His creative spirit in this genre was, in the words of Shi Tao: "from the depths of my heart, using my own abilities, I will decide how to use the brush and how to apply the ink."  What Jizi was seeking in this genre was not a pure, objective reproduction but rather the ability to paint a creative realm of "the mountains and scenes in one's mind" that belong to the category known as "having one's mind set in a profound artistic mood."  In this genre, the artist's individuality is particularly distinctive and the basic spirit is Romanticism. While this genre is close in several aspects to Expressionism, it still remains in the category of conventional, rational painting.

　　By the pioneering genre, Jizi means that conceptually he wanted to go beyond the physical realm that simply shows images, and advance to the metaphysical realm. In this genre, the artist wants his creations to express the universal spirit of the Tao that "is beyond the image, but obtained from what the Tao encompasses." To accomplish this, the artist collects all the images - the abstract, the concrete, and the mental - and gives them a macro realization that has a unified, music like effect. In order to obtain this goal, the artist must proceed with a full range of exploration and creation from thought to framework, from technique to expression, and other such aspects of painting. The creative spirit in this genre is described variously as: "a pure mind glimpsing the Tao," "a pure mind getting the sense of an object," "using the Tao to discuss art, and using art to embody the Tao; and seeking method and image from the Tao."  What the artist is seeking in this genre is to transcend just showing the features of mountains and streams in order to realize the materialization of the "realm of Tao," that is to paint "mountains and scenes in the Tao."

　　For several decades Mr. Jizi persevered in his explorations. In the early years, he called his own little corner of the world such names as "The Bitter Blue Studio," and "The Studio for Chanting in the Withering Cold," and hence we realize just how difficult it was for him in the beginning. It was just in this bitter cold period that he assiduously studied previous artists, establishing a solid foundation in traditional painting. From the end of the 1960's, he began to explore his own style. He worked during the day while at night he calmed his mind in order to delve into art, but it was a difficult time nonetheless. At the beginning of the 1970's, he started from personal experience and called his corner of the world "The Not Easy Studio." It was just in these difficult circumstances that his explorations took shape as ink and brush landscapes painted in his own style. He continued his own style creating his manifestations of the frozen ice and fluttering snows of the North Country, the biting cold and tragic majesty of the Yan Mountain ice and snow landscapes. At the end of the 1980's, following the impact of the rise of business in China, one by one artists began to engage in business, but Jizi continued to abide by the ancient Taoist precepts of "extreme emptiness and guarded quietude" (i.e. remaining unperturbed by what others do and concentrating instead on quietly honing a skill).

　　At this time, Jizi changed his studio name to "The Determined Studio," and continued his profound exploration. These explorations finalized in the experimental paintings that became the artistic expression known as the "Tao of Ink Landscapes." The dictum for Jizi's "The Not Easy Studio" was: "It is not easy for those who know the difficulties, but there are many who, because they know the difficulties, lower their expectations. It is thus especially not easy to know the difficulties but still not lower one's expectations." Thus for one who does not lower his expectations but instead makes them definite, then such a person is really noble, and this nobility represented that profound spiritual essence necessary to advance Jizi's art.

　　In a comprehensive view of the course of his art and his artworks, we see that the artistic realm that Jizi was seeking in his brush and ink landscapes belonged to the same category as the works of the contemporary artists Qian Songyan and Song Wenzhi (mentioned above). The originality of Jizi's snow and ice landscapes is that he understood the weak points of classical landscape painting in displaying snowy mountains and frozen peaks, and hence created such special techniques as the rough, choppy, slanting, and hollow brush methods for showing the textures of snow and ice. These two kinds of artworks, Jizi's brush and ink landscapes and his snow and ice landscapes, however, formed a solid foundation for Jizi to proceed to explore his "Tao of Ink Landscapes." Because his "Tao of Ink Landscapes" were not just an extension of his brush and ink landscapes, but in particular were the expressive techniques he used in the snow and ice landscapes, they incorporated inner elements that made for unique modeling, and captured the snow and ice landscapes' emphasis on expressing the artist's heartfelt sentiments. By means of expanding his thinking and restructuring and modifying the configuration of the paintings, moreover, Jizi sought to reproduce a painting that surpassed merely showing an image.