说戏谈画
丁玉华

　　戏曲一直都是我国民间美术中十分钟爱的表现题材，所谓“画中要有戏，百看才不腻”，就充分反映了民众的审美和价值观。民间戏曲所具有的质朴性、诙谐性、技艺性、俗言性、象征性以及它直抒民意，顺应民间好恶的倾向性，使戏曲在中国人的文化生活中一直以来都保持着一股强大的生命力量。老百姓喜闻乐见的戏文插图、戏出年画、戏曲人物剪纸、皮影、戏人面塑、泥塑都离不开一个“戏”字。

　　近代随着以关良为代表的戏曲人物画的出现，戏曲在美术中的表现形式也随之变得更加丰富多彩起来。戏画题材不再仅是对戏曲故事情节的描绘，而是融入了更多画家主观的创造性。尤其是在水墨戏画上，一方面戏曲以它特有的表现力和形式美给了现代中国画家一个更为自由的创作空间，另一方面水墨的表现技巧、写意的表达方式也扩展了戏曲作为绘画题材的内涵与外延。

一、传统“戏曲”

　　吾国戏曲的根源来自古代的歌舞，但它成为现在的结构模型，则实始自宋真宗之杂剧。《宋史》及宋人笔记中皆有郑角球编制杂剧之语。所以宋代以前隋唐墓壁中发现的音乐歌舞表演或是汉画像扣出现的大量杂技图式都未能构成一幅堪称戏曲艺术图画的作品(插图101-104)。而现存最早的戏曲画是南宋时期的作品，现藏于北京故宫博物院。“其中一幅是颇似宋人周密《武林旧事》卷十‘官本杂剧段数’中的《眼药酸》。另一幅是画两个女扮男装的角色；右侧角色戴簪花软帽穿对襟彩衣，腰系罗巾，背后插一团扇，上写‘末色’二字；左侧角色穿红色，头扎黑巾，身系财物锦囊，地上置一竹筐、一扁担，仿佛远道而来。二人相对拱手作揖，人物装扮，很像后世《摸帽戏》演出情况。”(插图105-106)这两幅戏曲画很像是仿照当时演出的实况描绘而来的。像这样对戏出场景、角色进行详细记录的绘画形式后来主要是出现在民间年画中，而民间年画又是受到元明，尤其是明代戏文插图艺术的影响。

　　在中国古版画艺苑中，戏曲版画无论其遗存的数量，镌刻的精度，拟或艺术价值，皆胜其它题材版画一筹。吾国戏曲文学情节曲折，曲文重环境渲染，所以也重视以图配文的效果。实际上，一部戏曲版画史，在相当程度上就是中国古代的戏曲文学插图史。戏曲版画是用以图配文的形式帮助读者了解小说戏曲的故事所以画中布景起初主往都是生活中的写实场景，没有什么舞台演出的意味。到了明代万历年间吾国戏曲版画进入黄金时期，由于当时商业规模、商人数量、商人地位的提高，市民阶层文化生活日趋丰富，小说戏曲等通俗文学大量出版，插图艺术也有了用武之地。出现了建安派、徽派与金陵派戏曲版画的三足鼎立之势。当时的不少版画都开始注意画面的舞台意味，如金陵富春堂和世德堂刻印的“传奇”里的插图，布景虽写实，但人物所处的立置及身段、表情等却都像戏中角色(插图107)。明晚期不少名声卓著的大画家也参与了戏曲版画插图绘稿，可谓是时代应运的产物，像陈洪绥、孙鼎、魏先、陆玺、高尚有、任世沛等都为插图绘制过画稿。他们所绘重视人物心理活动，幅幅都是表情达意的佳构(插图108)。可惜明朝如日中天的版画插图在清初却因为专政文化政策成为被冠以诲淫诲盗罪名的戏曲类文艺作品的牺牲品而走向衰微。不过明代木刻插图中出现的人物场景舞台化的趋势对后来民间戏出年画影响很大。

　　早期清乾隆、嘉庆时期的戏出年画的表现主要是在题材上，即选择戏曲的故事情节作为表现和构图的对象，例如早期的苏州桃花坞木版年画《百花赠剑》、《游园惊梦》、《凤凰楼》等皆是。随着人们对于戏曲热情的高涨，年画也逐渐发展了戏曲的舞台画，即把戏曲演出的舞台场面搬上年画构图，集中表现一个舞台场景，甚至还有的干脆连戏台也一起画了出来。清后期武戏兴盛之后，短打靠扎戏及其舞台架势更多地出现在年画中，画中角色在舞台位置上开始由主次之分，而且很少画背景，文出戏目有的已完全去掉背景。戏出年画都有很强的地方戏曲的特色，早期的苏州桃花坞的木版年画多为昆曲的文戏曲目(插图110)，河北武强年画描绘的是高亢激昂的梆子戏(插图109)，而天津杨柳青戏出年画到了光绪年间越来越反映京剧的特点(插图111)。戏曲年画的描绘方法常常是由民间画师亲赴剧场，找到一出戏最具代表性的场景或最优美的表演身段，通常是抓取“亮相”的一刹那，当场描下底稿，然后带回作坊，再凭记忆反复修改而成。像天津杨柳青年画的作坊老板，为了营利就不惜重金邀名画师进京观剧写生作画。如著名画师张祝三、高桐轩、王少田、阎玉桐等曾应邀进京。他们笔下的人物、切末都和当时场景相仿佛，老一辈的戏曲家差不多能从这些年画人物及其服饰上辨识出图中剧目的演出年代。戏出年画真实地记录了舞台场景，角色装扮，戏曲情节，这样对于那些散居于穷乡僻壤的广大农民平时要想看戏，也至少可以在一年一度更换的年画中去寻找了。而在皇宫内也有类似记录戏曲演出剧目的画家和画匠。据清造办处档案，有“传旨：着沈振麟画戏出人物页十八开”。而现藏北京图书馆的九十七幅升平署戏曲人物画册和梅兰芳先生生前所藏曾在《国剧画报》发表过的若干“乱弹”戏的工笔重彩人物画册就是清造办处的画家依据当时“乱弹”戏班进内承应的实际穿戴所画，原藏处是太后寝宫寿康宫内的紫檀大柜中，是供人观赏了解乱弹剧目而画的(插图112)。

　　戏曲插图或是戏出年画都是民间至清末流传十分广泛的戏画形式，其绘制者多数是民间的艺人或画师，其功能也以记录舞台扮演和阐明戏曲与女事为主。明代戏曲版画以建安派、徽派、金陵派达到的艺术程度最高，又因三地在刻工上的不同被称为质朴派、婉约派和雄劲派。相比之下年画的地方特色更为显著，江苏、安徽、福建、四川、陕西、河南、山西、河北、山东都有自己代表的戏出年画，因为各地演出剧目的不同戏出年画中人物的服饰、道具、场景以及印制的方法都有所区别。像天津杨柳青年画因地近京城，它的戏出年画体裁很自然地就反映了京城“六大名班，九门轮转”的演出盛况。同时其印制的方法也有别于其它各地。杨柳青年画用的是半绘半印，尤其是对人物头脸加粉敷染，开眉点唇，所费工序最多。不过众多的木版戏出年画终因清末衰败的时局，农业经济衰落、农民极度贫困而无力购买，加之石印印刷术的兴起以及后来摄影术的出现，名伶剧照不断刊印在报纸杂志等原因，而未能继续发展。传统戏画在经历了近千年的发展后停止了它的步伐。

101
盘舞杂技画像砖　东汉　高28.5厘米，宽48厘米
Acrobatic and Dancing Themes in Brick Painting　Easter Han Dynasty　height of 28.5cm, width of 48cm
102
杂技画像砖　东汉　高26厘米，宽44.5厘米
Brick Painting with the Acrobatic Themes　Easter Han Dynasty　height of 26cm, width of 44.5cm
103
戏曲人物画像砖　五代宋初
Brick painting with Opera Character　The Five Dynasties and at the beginning of Song Dynasty
104
杂剧　金代　墓砖雕
Zaju (miscellaneous drama)　Jin Dynasty　Tomb brick engraving

105
杂剧打花鼓图　南宋
Zaju "Beating Flower-drum"　Southern Song Dynasty
106
杂剧眼药酸图　南宋
Zaju "Eye Medicine"　Southem Song Dynasty
107
《娣袍记》　明代　金陵富春堂刻本
"Story of Silk Robe"　Version of Jinling Fuchuntang in Ming Dynasty
108
《窥柬》　明代　陈洪绶
Peeping into A Letter　Ming Dynasty　Chen Hongshou

109
《庆贺龙衣》　河北武强戏出年画
Imperial Robe Granted As an Award　Wuqiang Spring festival opera picture of Hebei Province
110
《花园赠珠》　苏州戏出年画
Giving Pears as A Present in the Garden　Spring festival opera picture from Suzhou
111
《辕门射戟》　杨柳青戏出年画
Shooting An Arrow at A Halberd in the Outer Gate of Barracks　Yangliuqing Spring Festival opera picture
112
清代乱弹戏单人物戏画
Figure Painting of Luantan Opera in Qing Dynasty

二、良公与戏画的创新

　　1935年以前，关良已开始了零星的戏曲人物画创作，虽然那时只是作为一种尝试。以后当这种尝试变成一种偏爱，关良的写意戏画终开了一代之风。在关良之前，近代任伯年画过几张戏画自嘲为“戏笔”(插图201)。这或许是因为过去艺人没有地位，戏剧被认为不登大雅之堂，文人画家不屑画它的缘故。关良自己也说过刚开始画戏曲人物画时“真有如临险境之感，有人讪笑，有人鄙夷”。关良作为一个戏曲人物画家与传统戏出年画画师的“画戏”不同，他“并不是如实地模拟或追求剧中人的扮相、动作、服饰等的外在形象，甚至不拘泥于戏剧的某些具体情节、舞台场面和场景构图等等”，而是着重于纯视觉的绘画性，用“钝、滞、涩、重”和“拙中带巧、柔中带刚”的方法，以极其简练的笔墨勾画出戏曲人物在特定情境中的瞬间印象，洒落、凝练、富有拙稚美和韵味。关良在戏画上的创新经历了对戏曲表演艺术的认真研磨和对中国传统绘画精神的深刻领会。1935年，关良就曾利用暑假请尧伯麟先生介绍到正在上海招收学员的北京富连成科班出生的周某那里学戏。1945年以后，在杭州关良结识了盖叫天．盖叫天在艺术上的经验与体会更为他提供了创作戏剧人物画的大量可借鉴的艺术养料(插图202)。对于“戏曲人物究竟采用什么线条，究竟如何造型”，从日本学习西洋画归来的关良一方面潜心钻研中国古代人物绘画，一方面经常观看潘天寿、吴茀之等作画，注意他们的用笔、用墨，回家后反复练习。最终他的戏曲人物摆脱了古法“十八描”程式的束缚，在造型上不嫌其简的传神，“以少许许胜多许许”，形成“粗看无法，细看有法”的关式写意，在艺术上达到了意想不到的效果。

　　关良“借古以开今”，创新了戏画，也为后人在戏画上的创作打开了思路。同样的一出戏，不同名家的唱腔，就有不同的韵味，同样的一支笔，在不同画家的腕下，就会有不同的效果。

　　与关良一样同是以戏画为题材，同是用宣纸作画，同是由繁入简的另两位画家高马得、韩羽，走得却是不同的“戏路”。韩羽说，“关良先生画戏画，着重于纯视觉的绘画性。马得先生画戏画，着重于戏曲中的精彩情节与神态(插图203)。以书法为喻．关良的画近似‘碑’，马得的画近似‘帖’。以音乐为喻．关良的画富节奏感，马得的画多旋律感。我画戏画，兴趣所在是借戏曲表达思想认识。由于画笔的着重点不同，关良、马得先生就戏画戏，我是‘逢场作戏’”，韩羽的“逢场作戏”是借台上的戏场做自己的文章，用自己的讲话方式说出自己的想法，世就是画中有“我”的一种漫画式变形(插图204)。这当然与韩羽早年曾画过很长一段时间的漫画有关。所以韩羽说自己的画不是借画说戏，而是借戏画说理，这理不在说教，而是在日常生活之中，却又为人熟视无睹，一旦显其端倪，人们才恍然大悟。

　　这里体现的是画戏的另一种思维，即“画家拒绝把戏曲题材看成决定性的东西，正如戏曲拒绝把被反映的生活看成决定性的东西一样。戏曲可以遵循内在的规律，将生活予以变形处理，同样的画家亦有权和尊重绘画的内在规律，把戏曲加以变形处理。”。就像戏曲里的勾脸不是描画人之面貌，而是形容人之性情的戏曲式变形一样，画家笔下的戏曲脸谱也不必是拘泥于题材本身的创作。艺术家应该知道怎样驾驭戏剧脸谱的图案，去把他心里活动着和酝酿着的东西表现出来。因此戏曲脸谱图案是形象的类型化，画家笔下的脸谱则是类型的随意化，即要能打破脸谱的程式与定势。就像在画家聂干因的笔下，传统脸谱被进行了“提炼、夸张、变形、分解、综合”，重新组合的点、线、面、色打散了传统笔墨样式，画面“反简为繁，由‘空’变满”(插图210)。也或许如画家沈虎仅用墨来表现戏曲脸谱，通过水墨之相和，枯湿浓淡之变，达到五彩逐生的效果(插图211)。

　　现代“戏画”指的不是戏与画的简单相加，画家在戏曲中得到的启发不仅是单纯的故事情节或是唱腔韵昧，更多的是借用戏曲作为母题表达着关于审美的理念，哲学的思考。正如林风眠在戏曲的表现方式中感受到自由时空的概念，他说“新戏是分幕的，旧戏则是分场的，分幕似乎只有空间的存在，而分场似乎有时间的绵延的观念，时间和空间的矛盾在旧戏里很容易得到解决，像毕加索有时解决物体都折叠在一个平面上一样。我用一种方法，就是看了旧戏以后，一场一场的故事人物，也一个一个把它折叠在画面上，我的目的不是求物、人的体积感而是求综合的连续感，这样画起来并不难看，我决定继续下去……”林的戏画充满了形体的叠加和时空的混合，画家在最国粹的艺术中理解了以立体主义为代表的西方现代艺术(插图206)。同样在研究中国民间和西方民间艺术的基础上，也可以画出一种既质朴，又透出一种手工劳作快感的丁氏朴素彩墨戏画，以色块为主，水粉加墨。画家丁立人在他画中追求的是一种朴素的工匠气，是民间灶头画式的爽利笔触，是对比强烈的块面结构，是泼辣、粗犷、质朴和淳厚。那种以粉作为彩和墨的媒介剂所产生的画面厚重感改变了传统戏曲给人的固有印象(插图207)。在画家朱振庚创作于1989年－1990年的《戏剧人物》系列和之后以皮影为造型的作品中，尤其是后者也将粉做到了近乎极致，为了防止白粉因太厚而剥落，当时的朱振庚在作画过程中应用了丙烯白，同时在作画工具上开始使用刮刀和滚筒(插图208)。同样画家张培成在一组以色彩命名的戏画人物作品中(《灰色的戏人》、《蓝须武士》、《红须武士》、《霸王别姬》)(插图209)“将色彩作为一种造型手段、一种独立的艺术语言来运用”，把戏的“感觉”，那种绚烂、缤纷和美丽，表现得淋漓尽致。还有画家周京新在其水墨《戏剧人物》中的造型和结构不是用墨线来完成，“而是通过墨色的排列、组合和对比得以显现，在视觉上给人产生了一种因‘塑造’而获得的浑厚感”(插图205)。至此，戏曲全然成了画家画面的形式意味，于是我们也要越过戏剧把注意力放在画面自身，将会收获更大。

　　戏画创作从关良开始进入了一个新的时代，后来的画家们站在这位巨人的肩膀上似乎也比前人看得更远了，而作为观众的我们也将放弃在画中寻找情节、寻找意义的传统欣赏模式。

201
任伯年所作的“戏画”
opera painting by Ren Bonian
202
关良　《武松》
Guan Liang　Wu Song

203
高马得　《拷红》
Gao Made　Interrogating Servant Girl Hong
204
韩羽　《官场与戏场》
Han Yu　Official Circle & Theatre
205
周京新　《角色一》
Zhou Jingxin　Chinese Opera Figure No.1

206
林风眠　《戏如人生》
Lin Fengmian　Chinese Opera Like Life
207
丁立人　《戏剧图之二》
Ding Liren　Chinese Opera Painting No,2
208
朱振庚　《戏人图》
Zhu Zhengeng　Chinese Opera Figures

209
张培成　《霸王别姬》
Zhang Peicheng　Farewell My Concubine
210
聂干因　《戏曲脸谱之四》
Nie Ganyin　Facial Pattern of Chinese Opera No.4
211
沈虎　《戏人六》
Shen Hu　Chinese Opera Figure No.6

三、与戏结缘

　　关良身为一个广东人就特别喜欢京剧，据说是受了小时候南京“两广会馆”小舞台的熏陶。后来在上海教课之余，关良也经常去看戏，“大舞台”、“宫舞台”、“天蟾舞台”、“亦舞台”这些地方都有关良的足迹。每次去看戏，关良还总带着速写本，尽量记录演员的音容笑貌、神情姿态，回到家就试看在宣纸上进行整理。因为喜爱京剧，1935年关良在上海招收学员的北京富连成科班出身的周某那里学了两个月的京剧，学会了全本的《捉放曹》，对京剧的曲调、角色、身段等有了较全面的了解，所以那时下笔再画曹操就不像以前那样“浅滞板薄，索然无味”。关良画戏画是在速写素材大量积累之后的厚积薄发，尤其出名的是他画了很多人称“活武松”的著名京剧表演家盖叫天的舞台速写，而两人后来也成了艺术上的知己。

　　作为关良好友的林风眠画戏画时已到了天命之年。青年时代的林风眠是一个坚定的反封建主义者，连带着对正统文化的鄙视，对明清以来的戏曲也是厌恶之极。解放后较为封闭的环境使他和西方的接触变得稀少了，他不得不把眼光转到自己民族的文化上来。50年代初，林风眠刚回到上海时没有工作，也没有什么业余活动，同样闲居在上海的国立艺专老教授关良就常邀请他一同去看京剧。在这位京剧老票友的引导下，林风眠很快迷上了这个他曾经希望和旧社会一起消灭的艺术。林风眠家不远处有“共舞台”、“天蟾舞台”，是当时上海最主要的戏曲表演场所，他常在朋友、学生的陪同下到那里去看戏，不仅看京剧、也看昆剧、绍兴戏。和关良一样，林风眠每次去看戏口袋里都装着小本子，记下有特色的大花脸和服装道具，在旁边再用英文单词记下重要的色彩和特征，以便回去创作。戏曲后来竞也成为了林风眠晚期钟爱的表现题材之一，其晚年所作的《南天门》(插图301)“画面色调阴冷、人物如鬼似魂，笼罩着一片凄惨、压抑、悲怆的气氛”，完全融入了画家的生活境遇与心态的变化。

　　戏曲的魅力就是这样，熟悉它的人才能体会到它迷人的地方。画家聂干因走上画戏画的道路，用他自己的话来说，是阴差阳错。1959年，23岁的聂干因从湖北艺术学院美术系毕业，一个对中国古典戏曲本来一无所知的大学生被分配到湖北省戏曲研究所工作可谓阴差阳错。但环境的熏陶让聂干因“慢慢地看戏上了瘾，也悟出了门道。从美术学院的苏式写实素描到民族戏曲大师的虚拟表演体系，好像到了一个崭新的世界”。看的戏多了，各种戏曲人物、故事情节也就烂熟于心，所以当聂干因拿起笔，进入创作的时候，很自然地就带出了那些他所熟悉的戏曲人物和场景，也因为熟悉，画家的笔墨变得挥洒自如，随心所欲，毫无矫饰。与戏结缘有的是外因使然，有的却是天生的。像韩羽“生来会画画儿，头天父亲抱着听戏，第二天便画戏出，一边画还一边唱哩”。小时候的韩羽常常跟着大人去看社戏，到中学时因为迷恋戏曲就开始在课余时间学戏。虽然韩羽的山东腔非常的顽固，但经过其不懈的努力，终于获得了老师的赞许。韩羽说：“在画画儿这一行里或书或画的实践中，当初跟刘老师学戏的行腔吐字的体会竞帮了大忙，使我就京剧之行腔与绘画之行笔两者相较，悟出了唱腔变‘字’之常音，绘画变‘形’之常态，实则行笔行腔似同一辙。”和韩羽一样，画家丁立人的童年也有很多机会接触到戏曲，而且因为丁家在当时海门的财力，结交了不少文化人，尤其以美术、戏剧方面人才为多。每当剧院到海门来，也必到丁家拜会。十三四岁时，丁立人就曾作为一名小琴师随团到外地巡回演出。这些往昔的美好记忆是丁立人戏画创作很重要的一个源泉。丁立人自己说过，“画戏，不仅是画戏曲人物，是通过这些形象再现那些往日熟悉的戏人，使自己投入在小镇间巡回演出的戏班子生活。”从看社戏，到登台伴奏，画戏，画家执著进取几十年，终于酿造了一大批个性强烈、别具一格的戏剧人物画。

　　国画大师程十发痴迷昆曲是众所皆知的，虽然晚年很少再画戏曲人物，但是只要哪位昆剧演员拜托，发老总是不厌其烦一次次拿起画笔。不论是计镇华、梁谷音演出《蝴蝶梦》时，台上耶幅庄周先生道貌岸然的画像；抑或是岳美缇珍藏了二十余年，平日非重要演出轻易不肯示人的梅花扇，皆是出自程十发之手。程十发是建国后崛起的新一代人物画家，但其画却不像素描加笔墨的“新人物画”那洋明显地受到西洋绘画的影响，而是继承了其前辈大师任伯年、陈老莲的传统，在人物画线条的运用上扩展了更丰富的表现力，尤其是其笔下的长线条可谓极尽变化之能。故发老的戏画人物在造型上也不以古怪为长，不以夸张为胜，而是在合平比例的基础上营造出具有亲和力的想象和传统昆曲意境的温婉与含蓄(插图302)。

　　早年画戏曲人物画的画家中还有一位操着浓重绍兴口音的画家张桂铭。80年代中期，画家从人物画坛转向新的画风的探索，画面中出现了鲜亮的大红大绿，完全突破文人画的大忌。不过塞种鲜亮的色彩也让人想到了高亢激越、悲壮豪放、粗犷强烈的绍兴大班，这个数十年来令张桂铭品赏不完的家乡戏。张桂铭喜欢看戏，喜欢看绍兴大班，他画火焰山，画孙悟空使诡计借到芭蕉扇后，从铁扇公主的肚子里一溜烟似的钻出来的样子，不就是留在画家脑海里那儿时看戏时的遐想吗(插图303)?

　　人们常说“唱戏的是疯子，看戏的是傻子”，那画戏的也莫非是对那戏着了魔。

301
林风眠　《南天门》
Lin Fengmian　Southern Heaven Gate
302
程十发　《昆曲芦林》
Cheng Shifa　Reed Grove of Kun Opera
303
张桂铭　《绍剧火焰山观后》
Zhang Guiming　Impression of Flaming Mountain of Shao Opera

四、墨与戏

　　中国的传统戏曲给现代水墨画家带去了什么样的启发与灵感，现代水墨的表现又如何表达和延伸了戏曲的内涵与外延，尤其是水墨与戏曲的关系引起了我极大兴趣，总想要弄个明白。我觉得中国绘画的表现形式与戏曲之间首先有一种与生俱来的契合。因为中国戏曲来源于歌舞，戏曲的身段继承了舞式的表现，在戏曲中关于情节的、关于物事的种种情形也都由身段表现出来，而这种动的神情气势是以“线”最能迅速灵活地捕捉到。中国画中以墨线为基础，基底墨线的回旋曲折、纵横交错、顺逆顿挫、驰骤飞舞可以最大限度地打破静态绘画与动态戏曲间的差别。其次，中国戏曲与中国画两者都不是简单地追求“形似”，而是旨在“传神”。就像戏曲勾脸系形容人之性情，而不是描画人之面貌，中国画是意足不求颜色似，神形俱到即可；传统戏曲不许真实器物上台，不用布景是为了发挥演员最大的表演空间，完全用身段向观众说明戏中不同的时间变迁、地点的更迭和动作的对象，同样中国画中对次要东西以及背景等的大刀阔斧的取舍也使得中国绘画在表现上获得了最大的灵活性，同时使画家在作画过程中发挥出最大的主动性。我国传统的戏文插图、戏出年画就达到了刻画细致，以形传神的效果。

　　正如艺术大师刘海粟所云“京剧虽有工笔，但以写意为主。就手法简练、造境深远而言，近于国画。在编剧方法上，讲究剪裁，小场造气氛，重场笔酣墨饱，聚光灯从四面八方洞照人物肺腑，妙在藏露相生，虚实照映，也像国画的构图。”戏曲作为一种民间艺术，从中表现出来的创造心态的自由和艺术形式的自然正好与水墨的随机性不谋而合。两者的结合不仅带给了画家，也带给了观众更多情感和想象的自由度。画家通过源于戏曲但又高于戏曲的变形把戏曲艺术本身最真实的东西，它的精神情形、性格神气化为具体的艺术形象。而戏曲，它阳刚的一面，夸张变形的脸谱，鲜艳亮丽的服饰，高亢激昂的高腔、强烈急促的锣鼓点也给了画家源源不断创作的激情。不少当代画家正是借用戏曲这个母题对传统水墨画长期在造型、色彩、艺术张力上的不足进行着大刀阔斧的革新。

　　水墨戏画的魅力在我看来就是以传统为载体完成了自身的现代转型。所以我想，对于不少理论家在思考的“本土文化价值何在?如何体现?现代水墨艺术是否要与传统彻底决裂才有可能与世界接轨；或是只有坚守在传统的堡垒中才能在全球化的进程中不至于丧失自己的民族文化个性?”等问题，是否能从水墨戏画中得到一点点启示呢。

About Chinese Opera & Painting

Ding Yuhua

Chinese opera is always a favorite theme in Chinese folk art. The saying that "only the opera painting can stand careful appreciation" fully reflects its folk aesthetics and value judgments. Because of the folk opera's plainness, humor, acrobatics, dialects and symbolization as well as its tendency to straightforwardly express public opinions and represent folk tastes, the Chinese opera has always maintained a strong vitality in Chinese cultural life. In fact many art forms popular among common people, like the opera illustration, the Spring Festival opera picture, papercuts of opera figures, shadow puppet, dough and clay figurines of opera characters, couldn't be separated from the element of opera.

With the appearance of opera figure painting represented by Guan Liang in modern times, opera's artistic forms have correspondingly become more abundant and colorful. No longer limited to depicting the opera plot, the themes of opera painting allow a more subjective creativity of the artists. Especially in the aspect of ink opera painting which, on the one hand, offers a freer space of creation for modern Chinese painters with its special expression and formal beauty; while on the other hand, ink art's expressive skills and impressionistic ways of expression also expand opera's connotation and extension as the theme of painting.

I.Traditional "Opera Painting"

Chinese opera originated from ancient song and dance, however, the reason why it comes into the present structural model actually originated from Zaju (or "miscellaneous dramas") in Song Dynasty. In Both The History of Song Dynasty and notes written by scholars during the Song Dynasty it is mentioned that Zheng Jiaoqiu wrote plays of Zaju. Therefore, nether the mural paintings of singing and dancing performance discovered in the tombs of Sui nor Tang dynasties before Song Dynasty or the numerous patterns of acrobatics appearing in paintings of Han Dynasty could be regarded as artistic opera paintings (fig.101-104). Created in Southern Song Dynasty, the existent earliest opera paintings are now collected in the Palace Museum in Beijing. "One piece is quite like the episode 'Eye Medicine" in the lOth volume of court drama in Things of Past from Wulin (i.e. Hangzhou) written by Zhou Mi during the Song-Dynasty. Another piece portrays two female characters in male dress: the one in the right wearing cap with a flower, a colorful dress with buttons down the front, and a silk scarf around her waist, sticks a moon-shaped fan in her back with the word 'mose' written on it; the one in the left is dressed in red, wears a black headband and carries a silk bag containing her belongings with a bamboo basket and a shoulder-pole on the ground as if she has come a long way. These two bow to each other with hands folded in front, and their dress manners are quite like the performing situation of "Momaoxi" in later ages.(fig.105-106)" These two pieces of opera painting seem to depict the actual performance then. Later, this form of painting which meticulously records the opera stage and characters appeared mainly in folk Spring Festival pictures, which were influenced by opera illustration of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, especially in the Ming Dynasty.

Among ancient Chinese prints the opera prints' remaining quantity, carving accuracy and art value all exceed the prints of other themes. The literature of Chinese opera has complicated plots, the lyrics emphasizes the rendering environment, hence also pays attention to the effect of illustration with text. In fact, the history of opera print is the history of opera literature's illustration in ancient China to a certain extent. Taking the form of illustration with text, opera print helps the reader to understand a novel and opera's story. Thus in the beginning the setting in painting was usually a realistic; life setting without the effect of stage performance. During the Ming Dynasty, the golden age of Chinese opera print, commercial trade expanded and the civilian's cultural life became increasingly more colorful as the number of businessmen and their position in the social hierarchy improved. Popular literature including novels and opera plays were published in large quantities, and the art of illustration also became useful, helping to create the three main schools of opera print: the Jian'an school, Hui school and Jinling school. These events began the trend to accentuate the stage-like effect in pictures, as in the illustrations for "Chuanqi" created by Fuchuntang and Shidetang in Jinling. Though the settings were realistic, the figures' positions, postures, expressions, etc. were like the characters of the opera (fig.107). In the later half of the Ming Dynasty many prestigious painters like Chen Hongshou, Sun Ding, Wei Xian, Lu Xi, Gao Shangyou, Ren Shipei also participated in the creation of opera print and illustration, which could be regarded as a product of their times. Emphasizing the psychology of the characters, each of their works had great compositions to express plots and emotions (fig.108). The illustration print reached its prosperity in the Ming Dynasty but regretfully declined with the rise of the Qing Dynasty when its dictatorial policies labeled opera culture as obsene. Whereas, the tendency that the scenes in woodcut in Ming Dynasty gradually approached the effect of stage setting greatly influenced the folk Sprint Festival picture from opera.

During the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods of the Qing Dynasty, the early Spring Festival pictures from opera mainly focused on themes, i.e. choosing opera plots as the objects of expression and composition. These included the early woodcut Spring Festival pictures printed in Taohuawu of Suzhou, including "Princess Baihua Gives A Sword as A Present", "The Garden Saunter and the Interrupted Dream", and the "Phoenix Mansion". With opera's increased popularity, the Spring Festival picture also gradually developed the opera's stage painting by transporting the stage setting into the composition of the Spring Festival picture, mainly present as one stage scene, sometimes even depicting the stage inside the picture'. After wuxi (action drama) flourished during the later period of the Qing Dynasty, duanda (short boxing), kaozha (costumes with small flags sticking from their backs) and the stage setting appeared more and more in Spring Festival pictures. The characters' positions on the stage began to be different between the primary and the secondary, the background rarely appeared, and in wenxi (singing and acting drama) the background completely disappeared. The Spring Festival opera picture usually had the conspicuous features of the local opera, Thus, the early woodcut Spring Festival picture printed in Taohuawu of Suzhou (fig.110) mostly depicted wenxi of the Kun opera, the Wuqiang Spring Festival picture of Hebei province portrayed the loud, sonorous and exciting Bangzi Opera (fig.109) , and the Yangliuqing Spring Festival picture of Tianjin (fig.111 ) increasingly reflected the features of Beijing opera during the Guangxu period, The process of creating a Spring Festival picture from opera was like this: the folk painter usually went to the theater himself, found the most representative scene of one episode or the most beautiful performance posture (typically the short moment of frozen pose on stage, a common device in all Chinese opera), drew a sketch on the spot, then went back to his workshop and repeatedly revised the picture according to his memory. To make large profits, the boss of the Yangliuqing Spring Festival picture workshop paid handsome sums to invite famous painters like Zhang Zhusan, Gao Tongxuan, Wang Shaotian, and Yan Yutong to watch the performance in Beijing and sketch there. Under their paintbrushes, the characters and stage properties of the paintings were nearly the same with the live scenes of that historical period, and the elder Opera performers could almost discern the particular performing of the episodes according to the characters and their costumes. Because the Spring Festival opera picture realistically recorded the stage scenes, costumes and plots, numerous peasants living scattered in remote and backward places could at least look for opera in the Spring Festival pictures, which changed once a year, when they wanted to watch opera.In the imperial palace there were similar painters to record the episodes of operas. According to the archives of the Qing Dynasty logistics department, the emperor had delivered an imperial edict to appoint Shen Zhenlin to draw figure paintings from opera. Now collected in the Beijing Library, ninety-seven pieces of shengpingshu opera figure paintings and some figure paintings of meticulous brushwork and bright colors about luantan (chaotic playing) shows, collected by Mei Lanfang and published in the Chinese Opera Pictorial, were created by the painters of the logistics department according to the actual costumes when the luantan troupe performed inside the imperial palace (fig.112). Originally collected in the rosewood cabinet in the queen mother's imperial sleeping palace, they were created for the appreciation and understanding of luantan shows.

Both Opera illustration and the Spring Festival opera picture had been very popular folk forms of opera painting until the end of the Qing Dynasty, and their creators were often folk artists or painters recording stage pertormances and plots. Among the opera prints of the Ming Dynasty, the Jian'an school, the Hui school and the Jinling school had the highest art achievements. For the difference in carving skills, these three schools were called the simple and unadorned school, the graceful and restrained school, and the strong and forceful school respectively. Comparatively speaking, the local characteristics of the Spring Festival picture were more conspicuous. Many provinces, including Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, Hebei and Shandong, had their own representative Spring Festival opera pictures, and the characters' costumes, stage props, scenes and printing methods were quite dissimilar with various operas in different places, For example, the Yangliuqing Spring Festival picture from Tianjin was close to Beijing, so its themes naturally reflected the prosperous situation of opera performance in Beijing. Its printing method was also different from other places, Yangliuqing, who used the method of half painting and half printing, applied extra procedures for renedering the figure's face to make it more beautiful and vivid. However at the end of the Qing Dynasty the declining political situation resulted in a devastated agricultural economy and a decline in the peasants' purchasing power. Along with other reasons like the emergence of lithography and later the appearance of photography, the famous performers' stage photos were constantly published in newspapers and magazines, hence many woodcut Spring Festival opera pictures couldn't develop further, Having experienced development for almost one thousand years, traditional opera painting stopped in its tracks.

101
Acrobatic and Dancing Themes in Brick Painting　Easter Han Dynasty　height of 28.5cm, width of 48cm
102
Brick Painting with the Acrobatic Themes　Easter Han Dynasty　height of 26cm, width of 44.5cm
103
Brick painting with Opera Character　The Five Dynasties and at the beginning of Song Dynasty
104
Zaju (miscellaneous drama)　Jin Dynasty　Tomb brick engraving
105
Zaju "Beating Flower-drum"　Southern Song Dynasty
106
Zaju "Eye Medicine"　Southem Song Dynasty
107
"Story of Silk Robe"　Version of Jinling Fuchuntang in Ming Dynasty
108
Peeping into A Letter　Ming Dynasty　Chen Hongshou
109
Imperial Robe Granted As an Award　Wuqiang Spring festival opera picture of Hebei Province
110
Giving Pears as A Present in the Garden　Spring festival opera picture from Suzhou
111
Shooting An Arrow at A Halberd in the Outer Gate of Barracks　Yangliuqing Spring Festival opera picture
112
Figure Painting of Luantan Opera in Qing Dynasty

II. Guan Liang & His Innovation in Opera Painting

Before 1935, Guan Liang had already begun sporadic attempts at creating opera figure painting as a kind of experimentation. Later, when this experimentation turned out to be his preference, Guan's impressionistic opera paintings eventually initiated a whole new style. Before Guan, Ren Bonlan created some opera paintings and jokingly referred to them as "play paintings" (fig.201), maybe because in the past the opera performers ranked low in society and Chinese opera was regarded as an inelegant art which literate painters disdained to employ as a theme. When he began to create opera figure paintings, Guan said that he "really had an uneasy feeling, somebody teased him, and somebody despised him". As an opera figure painter, Guan created differently from traditional opera painters who represented the opera. He "didn't just faithfully pursue the alikeness of the characters' appearance, postures, costumes and other outside images and even wasn't limited by specific plots, stage settings, compositions, etc." , but emphasized the element in painting of pure vision. He applied the skills of being blunt, sluggish, unsmooth, ant heavy. He integrated clumsiness with ingenuity and flexibility with sturdiness. He outlined the momentary impression of the characters in specific circumstances with extreme conciseness and unrestrained brushstrokes that were full of childish and clumsy beauty and charm. Guan's innovation in opera painting grew from his careful research in the opera's performance art and his profound cumprehension of the traditional spirit of Chinese painting. In 1935, during a summer vacation, Guan asked Yao Bolin to introduce him to Zhou, who came from the Fuliancheng opera school in Beijing and was recruiting students in Shanghai then. After 1945, in Hangzhou, Guan met Gai Jiaotian whose experience and understanding of opera provided a great deal of art nourishment for his later creation of opera figure painting (fig.202). As for how to outline and model the opera figures, Guan, who had learned about western painting in Japan, on the one hand concentrated on studying ancient Chinese figure paintings while on the other hand often watched the creative processes of Pan Tianshou Wu Fuzhi and other painters, observing their brushwork and repeatedly practicing after returning home. FinaLly, his opera figures abandoned the ancient formula known as the "eighteen outlines" (the eighteen standard styles of brush strokes used in drawing garments) which helped him achieve his unexpected effects with simple and vivid modeling by employing a more impressionistic style.

By initiating a new style of an ancient theme, Guan also opened a new path for later generations of in opera painters. For the same episode in opera, different famous performers' singing voices had various charms; in different artists' hands, the same paintbrush would produce various effects.

Two other painters, Ma De and Han Yu, took another approach towards opera painting. Just like Guan, they used the theme of opera, painting on rice paper and moved from complexity to simplicity. Hart said, "Guan's opera painting emphasizes the painting element of pure vision, while Ma's opera painting accentuates the spectacular plots and expressions in opera (fig.203). Comparing them with calligraphy, Guan's painting is like stele inscription, and Ma's painting is like rubbings from calligrapher's inscriptions. Comparing them with music, Guan's painting is full of rhythm, while Ma's painting has more elements of melody. "I create opera painting to express my thoughts through opera. With different focuses on paintbrush, Guan and Ma create opera painting, and I am 'taking part in merely accidental amusement'." Han's "taking part in merely accidental amusement" means presenting his own performance with the scenes on the stage, speaking out his own ideas in his own way, which is a cartoonish transformation to integrate himself with the painting. Certainly this has a great deal to do with Han's early experiences with creating cartoons for quite a long time. Consequently Han declares that his paintings tell a truth instead of a drama. The truth is hidden inside daily life completely ignored and the people can't realize it until it is revealed (fig.204).

Here, opera painting could reflect another thought, that is "the painter refuses to regard the theme of opera as a decisive element, just like the opera refuses to regard the reflected life as a decisive element. The opera can obey its inner principle to transform life; in the same way, the painter can respect its inner principle of painting to transform the opera." Just like facial painting in opera doesn't portray the character's appearance but instead is the dramatic transformation to reflect the character's personality, the opera's facial painting would also not be restricted by the theme itself under the painter's brush. The artist ought to know how to control the facial patterns of opera to express the things living and brewing in his mind. Thus, opera's facial painting is the categorizatior of image, and the pattern under the painter's brush is to demolish that categorization, i.e. to break the formula and regular tendency of facial patteming. Under the paintbrush of Nie Ganyin, the traditional facial pattern is "refined exaggerated, transformed, dissembled and integrated", its reintegrated point, line, area and color breaking the traditional pattern of brushwork, turning the picture from simplicity into complexity, from emptiness to fullness (fig. 210). Another image of the opera's facial painting is under Shen Hu's paintbrush which achieved the colorful effect through the integration of water and black ink (fig.211).

Modern opera painting doesn't mean the simple combination of opera and painting. The painter not only gets enlightenment from pure plots or singing voices, but also expresses the aesthetic concepts and philosophic consideration through the themes of opera. This echoes what Lin Fengmian once said about his feeling of the concept of free time and space in the expressiveness of opera. "New drama," he said, "is divided by act, and old drama is divided by scene. Division by act seems to only exist in space, while division by scene seems to have the concept of time's extension. The inconsistency between time and space could be easily solved in old drama, just like Picasso sometimes folded all the objects on one surface. After watching an old drama, I would fold all the scenes of plots and characters on the picture surface one by one. I'm pursuing the comprehensive continuity instead of the volume of objects and human being. Such a kind of painting is not ugly at all, and I decide to continue in this way..." Lin's opera painting was full of overlapping figures and mixed time and space. From the art of purest national legacy, the painter understood western modern art represented by cubism (fig.206). Likewise, on the foundation of researching Chinese and western folk arts, painter Ding Liren could also create a kind of plainly-colored ink opera painting with a handcraft pleasure that concentrated on colored fields, with gouache and ink. Ding pursues an unpretentious style of the craftsman, using deft brushwork like folk picture above a kitchen range. His compositions of colored fields use of strong contrasts comparison, and are forceful, rough, simple and straightforward (fig.207). The heaviness produced by gouache as the medium between color and ink changes the inherent impression of traditional Chinese opera, A series of Opera Figure created by painter Zhu Zhengeng from 1989 to 1990 and his later works using shadow puopet plays for modeling, achieved near perfection in gouache, particularly the later, To prevent the white gouache from peeling off due to its thickness, Zhu Zhengeng applied white acrylic in the painting process and began to use painting tools like the scraper and roller (fig.208), Similarly, the parnter Zhang Peicheng "uses color as a modeling method and an independent art language," In his series of opera figure paintings Grey Figures of Chinese opera, Warrior with Blue Beard, and Warrior with Red Beard, each of which is named according to a different color, Zhang thoroughly presents the feeling of opera, its splendor, colorfulness and beauty (fig.209), In the ink painting Drama Figure, the painter Zhou Jingxin doesn't finish the modeling and structure with ink lines, "but presents it through the arrangement, combination and comparison of ink colors, and applies modeling to produce a feeling of simplicity and vigor in vision" (fig.205), Thus opera has assumed a primary formal significance in the works of these painters, a significance we would benefit more from if we pay more attention to the painting instead of the opera.

Starting with Guan, the creation of opera painting entered a new era, Standing on the shoulders of this giant, later painters seem to look further into the future, and as their audience we might also give up the traditional appreciation pattern of seeking plots and significance in the paintings.

201
opera painting by Ren Bonian
202
Guan Liang　Wu Song
203
Gao Made　Interrogating Servant Girl Hong
204
Han Yu　Official Circle & Theatre
205
Zhou Jingxin　Chinese Opera Figure No.1
206
Lin Fengmian　Chinese Opera Like Life
207
Ding Liren　Chinese Opera Painting No,2
208
Zhu Zhengeng　Chinese Opera Figures
209
Zhang Peicheng　Farewell My Concubine
210
Nie Ganyin　Facial Pattern of Chinese Opera No.4
211
Shen Hu　Chinese Opera Figure No.6

III. Attachment to Opera

As a Cantonese, Guan was especially fond of Beijing opera as he was said to be influenced by the small stage in the "assembly hall of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces" in Nanjing in his childhood. Later, when teaching in Shanghai, Guan often went to watch opera, leaving his traces in the Grand Stage, the Gong Stage, the Tianchan Stage and the Yi Stage. Eacn time he went to watch opera Guan carried his sketch book, trying his best to record the performer's expressions and postures and returning home to arrange the material on rice paper. Because of his affection for Beijing opera, in 1935 Guan learned about Beijing opera for two months from Zhou, who came from the Fuliancheng opera school in Beijing and was recruiting students in Shanghai then. After mastering the full play of Capturing and Releasing Cao Cao, he had a comprehensive understanding of the tunes, characters and postures of Beijing opera and Cao Cao was no longer stiff, superficial and insipid under his paintbrush. Having accumulated a large amount of sketch material, Guan's opera painting was able to reach a high achievement in art. He especially created man sketches of Gai Jiaotian's performances, a famous Beijing opera performer called "Live Wusong", from which they became intimate friends in art later.

As Guan's good friend, Lin Fengmian created opera paintings into his fifties. In his youth, Lin was a steady anti-feudalist, and consequently despising orthodox culture and detesting Chinese opera after the Ming and Qing dynasties. After liberation, the comparatively isolated environment reduced his contact with western countries and Lin had to turn his attention to the national culture. At the beginning of the 1950s, having just returned to Shanghai, Lin had no job and little entertainment. Guan, then an old professor at the National Art College who also stayed in Shanghai idly, often invited him to watch Beijing opera. Guided by this old amateur performer of Beijing opera, Lin soon became so fascinated with the art that he used to wish to demolish with the old society. Not far away from Lin's home, there were the Gong Stage and the Tianchan Stage, the major sites of opera performance in Shanghai at the time. With a company of friend or students, he frequently went there to watch opera including Beijin opera, Kun opera and Shaoxing opera. Just like Guan Liang, each time he went there Lin carried his small notebook in his pocket, recorded the characteristic facial patterns, costumes and stage props, wrote down information regarding important colors and features beside his sketches in English words for the convenience of creation at home. Unexpectedly, Chinese opera turned into one of Lin's favorite themes in his later period. Created during his senior years, the painting Southern Heaven Gate (fig.301) presented gloomy and cold hues and phantomlike figures shrouded in a miserable and depressing atmosphere, completely integrating the painter's life circumstances and psychological changes.

Such is the enchantment of opera and only people familiar with it can appreciate its charm. The painter Nie Ganyin chose opera painting for an accidental reason. In 1959 Nie graduated from the fine art department of the Hubei Art Academy at the age of 23. Knowing nothing about classic Chinese opera, he was assigned to the Hubei Opera Research Institute, which was quite a strange combination of circumstances for him. However, with the environmental influence,. Nie "was gradually absorbed into Chinese opera, and began to understand it. Turning from the realistic Soviet-Union-style sketching of the art academy to the imaginary performing system of national opera masters, he seemed to enter a brand-new world". After watching numerous acts of opera, he was very familiar with the various characters and plots. So much so that, when creating with his paintbrush, he naturally drew these familiar figures and scenes, and his brushstrokes became carefree, unrestrained and unpretentious.

Some become attached to Chinese opera for external causes and some inherently love it. The painter Han Yu boasted that he "naturally could paint - the first day his father took him to watch the opera and the second day he drew the acts and sang at the same time". In his childhood, Han Yu often went to watch village theatrical performances with the adults. In middle school, his fascination of opera led him to begin learning about opera after school. Though Han's Shandong accent was very stubborn, through painstaking efforts he finally gained his teacher's praise. Hart said, "In the practice of calligraphy or painting, the experience of learning to sing opera from teacher Liu surprisingly helped me, enabling me to compare the singing of Beijing opera with the brushwork of painting. I realized the normal sound of the changed words in singing and the normal status of the transformation in painting, thus brushwork and singing go in the same way." Like Han, Ding Liren also had many opportunities to experience opera in his childhood. On account of his family's financial power in Haimen, Ding became acquainted with many scholars, especially talents in art and drama. Every time the troupes arrived in Haimen, they were sure to visit the Ding's. At the age of 13 or 14, Ding would perform in other places with a troupe as a musician. The pleasant memories of the past were an important source for Ding's creation of opera painting. Ding himself said, "Opera painting not only presents the characters, but also reproduces those familiar performers in the past through these images, it enables me to devote myself to the troupe life of traveling and performing among small towns." From watching village theatrical performance to playing accompanying music on the stage , to drawing about the opera, the painters have insisted on this pursuit for several decades, eventually producing a great deal of opera figure paintings with strong and unique individuality.

As everyone knows, Cheng Shifa, the master of Chinese painting, was obsessed with Kun opera. Though he rarely drew opera figure paintings later, he always patiently took his paintbrush to create no matter which performer of Kun opera asked him. When Ji Zhenhua and Liang Guyin were acting Butterfly Dream, the portrait of the sanctimonious Zhou on the stage was created by Cheng; the plum blossom fan treasured by Yue Meiti for more than twenty years and never easily shown to others except for important performances was also drawn by Cheng. Although Cheng was one of a new generation of figure painters to rise after China's foundation, his painting was not obviously influenced by western painting, showing no signs of new figure painting sues like the sketch / brushstroke technique. Rather he inherited the tradition of senior masters Ren Bonian and Ohen Laolian, expanding expressive capability on the usage of the figure paintings' lines, especially the long lines which explored almost all the possibilities of change under Cheng's paintbrush. So, the modeling of Cheng's opera painting didn't score at peculiarity or exaggeration, but created amiable imagination and the realm of gentleness and connotation in traditional Kun opera on the proportional foundation (fig.302).

Among the painters creating opera figure paintings in the early years was Zhang Guiming with his strong Shaoxing accent. In the middle of the 1980s, he turned away from the figure painting circle to the exploration of new painting style, bringing red and green odors to the picture surface and completely breaking through the limitations of literate painting. However, such bright colors also remind us of the loud, sonorous, solemn, stirring and rude Shaoxing daban show, the hometown drama which fascinated Zhang for several decades. Zhang loves watching opera, loves watching Shaoxing daban. When he drew The Mountain of Fire, where the Monkey King swiftly gets out of princess Iron Fan's stomach using a trick to borrow he palm-leaf fan, was it tapping into the fantasy left in his mind while Watching opera in his childhood (fig.303)?

People always say, "The opera performer is crazy, and the audience is stupid." Is the opera painter also obsessed by it?

301
Lin Fengmian　Southern Heaven Gate
302
Cheng Shifa　Reed Grove of Kun Opera
303
Zhang Guiming　Impression of Flaming Mountain of Shao Opera

IV. Ink and Opera

What kind of enlightenment and inspiration has traditional Chinese opera brought to modern ink painters? How could the expression of modern ink present and expand the connotation and extension of opera? These two problems, especially the relation between ink and opera, evoke my great interest to find the answers. I feel that, firstly, there is an inherent agreement between the expressive forms of Chinese painting and opera. As Chinese opera originated from singing and dancing, the opera posture inherited the expression of dancing and expressed all the situations about plots and objects, and this dynamic expression and vigor could be captured by lines most swiftly and deftly. Second, both Chinese opera and Chinese painting pursue similarity in soul instead of simple similarity in form. Just like the opera facial patterns reflect the character's personality instead of their appearance, Chinese painting endeavors to render the soul and doesn't require the exact same colors. Traditional opera doesn't allow any real prop or setting on the stage in order to provide the most performance space for the performers. Instead, the performers only use their postures to indicate time passing, site transition and the objects of action. Likewise in Chinese painting, the bold and decisive choice in secondary objects and background enables Chinese painting to obtain the highest flexibility in expression, allowing painters to exert their initiative to full extent. Traditional Chinese opera illustration and the Spring Festival picture have already achieved the elaborate effect of reflecting the spirit with the term.

Liu Haisu, an art master, said, "Though Beijing opera sometimes is meticulous, it is mainly impressionistic. From the perspective of skills and profundity, it is very similar to Chinese painting. Like play writing, it emphasizes simplicity to create atmosphere in small scenes and to highlight the personality of the characters in important scenes. It delicately conceals a part and reveals a part, using the emptiness to set off the fullness." As a folk art, Chinese opera reflects the creation and the spontaneousness of an art form which happens to coincide with the randomness of ink art. The fusion of these two brings more freedom of emotion and imagination to the painter and the audience. Through a transformation that originates from opera yet is able to transcend it, the painter converts the truest elements of opera art - its spirit and personality - into specific art images. The masculine side of opera, its exaggerated and distorted facial patterns, brightly colored costumes, loud and sonorous singing voices, intense and hurried percussion instruments of gong and drum, offers ceaseless creative inspiration for the painter. Through the theme of opera, many contemporary painters have been boldly and resolutely reforming the shortcomings of traditional ink painting in terms of modeling, color and artistic tension for a long time.

In my opinion, the enchantment of ink opera painting lies in the self-transformation of modernization with tradition as the carrier, in this sense, I wonder about some of the same questions many theorists are considering like "where is the local cultural value? How to embody it? Should modern ink art be separated from tradition in order to reconnect with the world? Or could it maintain its national cultural individuality by insisting on tradition despite the process of globalization?" And finally, is it possible to find a little enlightenment from the ink opera painting?