Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Sea of Ink
    Sea of Ink
    Sea of Ink
    Ebook119 pages2 hours

    Sea of Ink

    By Richard Weihe and Jamie Bulloch

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A beautiful novella in 50 short chapters and 10 pictures about the life of Bada Shanren, the most influential Chinese painter of all times.


    In 1626, Bada Shanren is born into the Chinese royal family. When the old Ming Dynasty crumbles, he becomes an artist, committed to capturing the essence of nature with a single brushstroke. Then the rulers of the new Qing Dynasty discover his identity and Bada must feign madness to escape.


    Why Peirene chose to publish this book: 'Fact and fiction arrive at a perfect union in this exquisite novella. A beautiful story about the quiet determined pursuit of inspiration, this is a charming and uplifting book. After reading it, I looked at the world a little differently.' Meike Ziervogel


    'The book is 110 pages (and 11 of those are pictures), but - much like one of Shanren's paintings - contains far more than its small compass might suggest.' Brandon Robshaw, Independent on Sunday


    'Delicate and moving.' Boyd Tonkin, Independent


    'Intriguing, elegant, awesome in its precision and uplifting in its sheer beauty, this is a book to read, enjoy... and then read again.' Pam Norfolk, Lancashire Evening Post


    'The author's cool, succinct prose and use of short chapters enhance the meditative nature of this beguiling story, which interweaves art theory, history, metaphysics and narrative.' Shelf Unbound


    'A powerful, poetic book. A two-hour enchantment.' Kulturspiegel
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPeirene Press
    Release dateSep 15, 2012
    ISBN9781908670069
    Sea of Ink
    Author

    Richard Weihe

    Richard Weihe (Dr. phil. habil.), geboren in Bern, ist Professor für Theorie und Praxis des Theaters an der Accademia Teatro Dimitri/SUPSI in Verscio, Tessin.

    Related to Sea of Ink

    Related ebooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related categories

    Reviews for Sea of Ink

    4/5

    12 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      These exquisite brief chapters have used the ink of words to describe the sea of ink that was the life of the Chinese painter Bada Shanren. They are delicate brush strokes that convey the movement of a life that became one with art. It is a poetic reflection of the minimalist beauty of the art of a painter who was "committed to capturing the essence of nature with a single brushstroke."
    • 5/5
      The Ming Dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 and rose from the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Empire of the Great Ming, reigned for 276 years and has been described as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", it was the last dynasty governed by the ethnic Han Chinese. The capital Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng who established the Shun Dynasty, although this was short-lived as Li Zicheng failed to realise his ambitions and was defeated at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, by the joint forces of the Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu prince Dorgon. After his defeat he fled back to Beijing and proclaimed himself Emperor of China, then left the capital rather rapidly, the Shun dynasty ended with his death in 1645. The Shun reign was superseded by the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, although scattered remnants of Ming supporters held out, despite losing Beijing and the death of the emperor. Nanjing, Fujian, Guangdong, Shanxi, and Yunnan were all strongholds of Ming resistance. However, there were several pretenders for the Ming throne, creating a weak and divided force, until one by one each bastion of resistance was defeated by the Qing until 1662, when the last real hopes of a Ming revival died with the Yongli emperor, Zhu Youlang.This is the background to Sea of Ink, the story of how Zhu Da, the prince of Yiyang, distant descendant of the Prince of Ning, the seventeenth son of the founder of the Ming dynasty, became Bada Shanren, widely regarded as the leading painter of the early Qing dynasty and a huge influence on Chinese painting from the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou (mid-Qing period), the Shanghai School in the late Qing, and even two hundred years after his death his work has influenced 20th century Chinese painting, including Wu Changsuo (1844-1927), Qi Baishi (1864-1957), and Zhang Daqian (1899-1983). Born Zhu Da in 1626 into a family of scholars, poets and calligraphers, Zhu Da’s childhood was one of untroubled bliss, surrounded by the wealth and glamour of a prince and relative, although a distant one of the founder of the Ming dynasty. At the age of eight he had begun writing poetry, and was considered a child prodigy, as he had taken to painting from an early age, spoilt and admired life looked wonderful. All this would come crashing down when he was in his teens, as the Manchu’s gained control of the country, violently cutting down all that stood in their way. He was eighteen when they took Beijing and nineteen when their forces occupied Nanchang, the seat of power for his family.At some point during this time frame Zhu Da, fled his home taking refuge in a Buddhist temple and changing his name to Chuanqi, here he would remain, burying himself in Buddhist teaching. In 1653 he was admitted to a small circle of pupils under the tutelage of the Abbot Hongmin, attaining his masters examination and now empowered to pass on tenets of Buddhist wisdom to younger scholars.Life for Chuanqi, became one of contemplation, although sometimes curiosity got the better of him and he visited the local town, wandering the streets and gesticulating wildly and alternating between fits of laughter and tears, before falling down drunk and senseless in some tavern, giving the impression to all who saw him of some madman. It was 1658 before he took up the brush again and started studying painting.In fifty one beautifully crafted chapters, this book manages to capture the life of not just one of China’s greatest exponents of the Shuimohua* style of painting, but a man who was an enigma, a spoilt and adored Prince to Buddhist abbot, madman to respected artist, poet and philosopher, all told with a use of language that has wonder - whether of life or of art, as vital an ingredient as the ink printed on the page.“On one occasion his father made him step barefoot into a bowl of ink and then walk along the length of a roll of paper. To begin with, Zhu’s footprints were wet and black; with each step they became lighter until they were barely visible any more. Then he hopped from the paper back onto the wooden floor. His father took a brush and wrote at the top of the scroll: A small segment of the long path of my son Zhu Da. And further down: A path comes into existence by being walked on.”There were times whilst I was reading this that reminded me of In Praise of Shadows by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki, not so much in the writing but more the aesthetic ideal (Iki*) behind it. This is partly down to the subject matter of art, particularly in the descriptions of the eleven pictures by Shanren featured in the book. But the main reason is that like the art itself, this book is composed of minimal brushstrokes that describes Bada Shanren’s journey with just enough light and shade to reveal the tale in all its depth, allowing the tale to almost tell itself, and again like the art work it does this a wonderful degree of subtlety.

    Book preview

    Sea of Ink - Richard Weihe

    1Having ridden through the night, the messengers reached the northern frontier at midday on the 26th of April and handed over a letter to the commanding general, Wu Sangui. It stated that the rebel leader, Li Zicheng, had invaded Peking the previous day and occupied the capital. Facing impending disaster, the emperor had hanged himself. The future of the dynasty was dangling in the air.

    The general had been given the task of securing the frontier against the Manchu people, the name the united Jurchen tribes of Manchuria had given themselves. The city of Shenyang they had renamed Mukden. From their new capital they gradually extended their power westwards into the borderland with China and as far as the Great Wall.

    Under severe pressure General Wu resorted to desperate measures: he opened the border and asked the powerful Manchus for help in a campaign against the rebel Li. The neighbours agreed at once to stand side by side with their foe. Joining forces, the armies that had only recently been enemies succeeded in driving Li from the capital. It was the 2nd of June.

    General Wu’s troops went in pursuit of the insurgents as they withdrew to the west. On the 6th of June the Manchus took Peking for themselves without encountering any resistance. Their conquest of China had begun. It was early summer, 1644. The Manchus brought the three-hundred-year reign of the Ming dynasty to an end and proclaimed the dawn of a new era.

    The south of the vast empire had not yet been taken, however.

    2With his countless wives and concubines, the founder of the Ming dynasty had thirty-two children, twenty-six of which were sons. His seventeenth son was born in 1378. The boy was given the title of the first Prince of Ning and he established the Ning line of the imperial house. The emperor invested him with the province of Jiangxi, which lay to the south of the Yangtze river. Its capital was Nanchang, and for centuries Nanchang remained the seat of the Ning line. The prince with twenty-five brothers had many children himself. One of his innumerable descendants, Zhu Da, was born in 1626, in the eleventh generation of the Yiyang branch of the Ning line.

    This story is about Zhu Da, the Prince of Yiyang, distant descendant of the Prince of Ning, the seventeenth son of the founder of the Ming dynasty.

    As a prince, Zhu Da enjoyed a sheltered childhood in the palace, surrounded by splendour and wealth. At the age of eight he started writing poetry. Early on he also displayed a special gift for seal-cutting. He was spoilt and admired because of his talents. These were blissful years full of promise for the future.

    3Zhu’s father worked as a painter and calligrapher. His father, too, had been a much-revered painter and scholar.

    Zhu’s grandfather had made him a scroll painting of a dragon for his bedroom. The young Zhu thought this dragon was the largest creature that had ever existed. Its sinuous body writhed in rhythmic loops and looked so lifelike that each morning Zhu was glad to see his dragon had not changed position in the picture.

    In his dreams the fire-spitting monster broke free from the paper and little Zhu had to leap into the water to save himself. He would dive under and the flames would turn to steam as they hissed on the surface. Looking up through the water, he could see the dragon’s green shimmering eyes and flared nostrils in a cloud of steam. Even in the light of the morning, the dragon looked as if it might fly away at any moment or escape by setting fire to the paper surrounding it. The monster’s scaly skin drifted between green and turquoise depending on how the light fell.

    And yet his grandfather had not used any colours, only black ink on brownish paper.

    On one of his earliest birthdays his father painted him a huge lotus flower. Zhu had never seen one of these flowers before, nor did he know its name.

    His father placed a large piece of rice paper on the ground and picked up a brush with compact bristles. He dipped it in ink and wiped off the excess on a stone shaped like a peach. Then, with one long, rich stroke of his brush, he painted a gentle curve from the bottom to the top of the paper. Beneath his hand the upper end of the line unfurled into a flower.

    At the base of the flower stem his father painted a surface of glistening grey across the entire width of the paper, occasionally allowing the brush to create darker patches. When the ink was dry he hung the painted paper on the wall.

    Now Zhu noticed the lotus flower’s slender stem shooting up from dirty, muddy water and opening its bloom in the clear spring air.

    Some leaves were floating on the water and Zhu thought he could feel a gentle breeze sweeping across the surface, faintly bending the stem and wafting the perfume of the flower into his nose.

    His father sat there calmly, frowning at the paper, and said nothing. Perhaps at that very moment he would have liked to talk about the flower that was hanging on the wall to his son, who was gazing at it wide-eyed and with lips pressed shut.

    But his father remained silent. Zhu had never heard his father speak. And yet he felt as if he knew his voice.

    They sat there beside each other, looking at the picture. All of a sudden Zhu thought he could hear a rattling from his father’s throat and he grabbed his arm. But his father had said nothing; he merely turned his head, fixed the boy with his old, watery eyes, and the line between his lips turned up a whisker at the ends.

    ‘You just gurgled then, Father,’ Zhu said. ‘Like a fish underwater.’

    He fixed his gaze on the lotus flower once more.

    The fish remained silent.

    ‘I expect you’ve told me everything already.’

    4On one occasion his father made him step bare-foot into a bowl full of ink and then walk along the length of a roll of paper. To begin with, Zhu’s footprints were wet and black; with each step they became lighter until they

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1