秋月禅心见澄澈

孙旭光

      中秋方过，恭王府花园蝠池侧畔榆叶渐黄，池北安善堂前花影扶疏。由文化部恭王府管理中心主办的“秋月禅心——田旭桐禅意水墨画展”于9月25日至10月16日在安善堂展出。39件作品，以属于艺术家田旭桐自己的艺术语言和符号，反映着他近年潜心禅意水墨，探索领悟的历程。

      田旭桐的画有一种明心见性的澄澈。禅宗的“顿悟”是涵盖人的感知又超越具体所指的认识瞬间，生命内在与外部世界在一刹那间形成电光火石般的感性直觉。旭桐这一次的禅意水墨，看上去寥寥数笔，轻盈透彻，但却小中见大，须弥之容，欻入芥子，幻化出一曲清越的梵唱，令人回味再三。可以想见，他在作画之际进入的就是一种“顿悟”的状态，心念流转触及客观世界妙不可言的精神本体，在重重逻辑累积中突然洞开一明亮直敞的捷径，妙在笔端，倏忽一跃而下。

      田旭桐平素究心禅理，有志于道，每从书画诗文中得会宗门机趣。他性情平和，胸臆开阔，既有一份出世的洒脱，对许多身外之物全无挂碍；又有一份入世的诚心，孜孜以求，执着于教职亲情。旭桐自中央工艺美术学院（现清华大学美术学院）毕业留校以后任教多年，在中国美术从传统视觉表达样式向现代方式转换的探索方面，用力甚勤。丰厚的学养开阔了他创作的维度，其作品常常游刃于具象和抽象的临界线上，改变了中国传统水墨画的习惯认知方式，绘画艺术语言极为纯化。他醉心于自然怀抱，润撷养分涤荡心灵，在形象遮阑与诗意跳跃中交互抵牾，独具慧心别开新法。近年来旭桐又点悟禅机充满创造，心中所思和笔下氤氲如斯相应，落笔便生逸气；泼墨破彩真趣顿出，将参透的格物规矩消解在笔触纵横之中，化作大千万象，欢喜无限。

      悟道的关键是“机”的触动或引发，需要有外部的映射；但悟“即时豁然还得本心”的法门是自我的解脱。在田旭桐这里，悟道的机是他面对的自然与视线中的事物，缘却是他长期养成的观察世界的方法对当下情感的直观表达，因此，田氏笔下的鸿濛世界和笑容可掬的和尚不是凭理性选择来的，而是一种自我心性与物像交融结成的因缘意态。他的笔下本该光怪陆离的世界归于平淡，来源于对自然生命高度体悟之后的朴讷，所以，他的画看上去在图式构成上极洒脱、极随意、极简单，却拥有言简意深的内涵，吸引你一看再看。当然，作为一个涉猎广博，积淀深厚的艺术家，他的笔墨功力颇为可观，也是吸引你的另一原因。田旭桐主观之“悟”与自然之“机”的豁达贯通，使得清风吹透明镜，画面了无尘埃，状物凝炼，浓墨不掩清凉，渲染点画甚有童趣，信手拈来皆得法理。这种挺然秀出，务于简易，情弛神纵，超逸优游，临事制宜，从意适便的萧散疏旷，甚有魏晋之风，亦与宋人减笔寥廓、澹远意深的禅画一脉相生。

      巫鸿先生曾言：古人在创造佛教艺术时所遵循的不是简单的“视觉”概念，检阅敦煌的功德记，造窟者所强调的是“制作”而非“观看”，因为只有通过制作他们才能积累功德。这与田旭桐此次“秋月禅心”禅意水墨画作的意蕴大略相仿，如果你将他自作的诗词的和绘画对照来看，就可以了解他“创作”抑或“制作”这些诗禅一味的初衷了。

                                                                                      作者系文化部恭王府管理中心主任

                                                 Zen moon embracing clearness

Sun Xuguang

Just after Mid-Autumn Festival, the leaves on crescent standing besides Prince Gong’s Mansion bat pool gradually became yellow; in the north of the pool, the Anshan Hall watched flowers and trees and their scattering shadows, and there the “Zen moon - Tian Xutong’s Zen-style ink painting exhibition” sponsored by the Prince Gong Mansion management Center of Ministry of Culture lasted from September 25 to October 16. 39 pieces of works on display wear the author’s unique artistic language and symbols, reflects his deep concentration on Zen-style ink paintings over recent years, as well as his exploration and understanding process.

Tian Xutong's paintings embrace some apparent clarity and clearness. In Zen Buddhism, "epiphany" refers to the electro-optical flint-like perceptual intuition when sudden understanding covers people’s perception but steps beyond specific object, and internal life and external world conflict. Tian Xutong's Zen ink painting contains only a few of strokes, light and thorough, but the small painting contains a big world with mustard suddenly integrated, which jointly form a piece of clear religious chanting that calls for repeated singings. It is obvious that he paints with the state of insight and enlightenment, his thoughts circulate and reach the spirit beyond the objective world, and then a bright straight open shortcut suddenly appears with logic accumulation, so the wonderful strokes rush in a minute. 

Tian Xutong has been focused on Zen, and gotten interested in religion, so he can find traces of Zen between the lines of poem or in the paintings. He has even temper, open heart and mind; he embraces much freedom and easy beyond the world, without pursuit for many worldly things; while he also take the world with rich sincerity, diligently strive for good teaching and family relationships. Tian Xutong has taught in Tsinghua University for many years since his graduation from Central Academy of Craft Art (now Academy of Art & Design , Tsinghua University), and he has invested much attention into research on tradition from traditional visual expression style to the modern style of Chinese art. His rich knowledge broadens his dimension, his works often swims in the critical line between figurative and abstract, and he has changed the traditional cognitive style of Chinese ink and wash painting, with his extremely-purified painting language. He is addicted to embracing the nature, absorbing nutrients to enrich his soul, interacting with the image obscurations and poetic jump, and creating new style from unique perspective. In recent years, Tian Xutong has created lots of works with the help of profound Zen, integrated his thoughts into his strokes, thus his strokes raise some extraordinary air; the easy and color bear real fun upon their birth, the author’s understanding in the world and the rules are melted in the strokes and form unlimited joy.

The key to enlightenment is to touch or live "the objects" by external mapping; but "instant sudden enlightenment of real inner feeling" means self liberation. For Tian Xutong, te objects for his enlightenment is natural objects in his view, while the chance comes from his methods accumulated over the years for observation of the world then to intuitively express his emotions, therefore, the natural ancient world and the beam fairly monk are not the results of rational choice, but a combination of self nature and the image. The lustrous and dazzling world fades away in his works, due to the simplicity concluded from deep understanding of the natural life, so, the pattern of his paintings looks free and easy casual an simple, but with concise and comprehensive connotation, so that they attract your attention again and again. Of course, as an artist with broad range of knowledge and profound accumulation, he has quite impressive painting skills, which is also another reason to attract you. The fusion of Tian Xutong’s subjective "enlightenment" and natural "objects" is like the wind running through mirror, with concise objects and thick ink without losing cool sense but no dust on picture; so his rendering and stipple is featured in fun and his easy reasonable strokes. The quite strong strokes are simple, but vividly express the rich emotions and relaxation, casual and free, natural and unrestrained, integrated with Wei and Jin Dynasty style, and similar to the Zen paintings with simple lines but rich meanings created in Song Dynasty.

Wu Hong once said: what the ancient artists follow in the creation of Buddhist art is not simple "visual" concept. In Dunhuang’s merit records, what the creators emphasize is "production" instead of "watching", because only by producing can they accumulate merits. Tian Xutong's "Zen Moon", a Zen-style ink painting contains roughly similar meaning. If we appreciate his poetry and painting in comparative perspective, we can recognize his "creation" or "production" of Zen-style works.

Director of Prince Gong Mansion Management Center of Ministry of Culture