Edification from Ni Zan
读者：
630
发布时间：
2007
Ni Zan was born at Qi Tuo Village of Mei Li in Wuxi. His grandfather was a local squire of wealth and enjoyed many privileges. Ni Zan was fostered by his big brother under comfortable environment, educated well and got sound influence from family. He lived carefreely. All these endowed him unusual living attitude. He was aloof, proud and preserved his own moral integrity. He never cared polity and contributed himself fully to poetry and drawing and out of the rule of Confucian living ideality.
Although Ni Zan spent richly during his youthhood, he never became a dude. He thought a lot of his study and culture.
At his age of 48, he had his belief in Taoism (also Quanzhenism) and cultivated his escapist thinking. This kind of thinking was also reflected into his paintings that extend to bleak with primitive simplicity, peaceful but desolate.
His works feature differently with special and simple writings. There were a hillock in close shot with several trees alongside it, one or two hutches and grass kiosks. He made the upper paper blank in the middle position to express vast lakes and broad sky. And left mountains gleamingly beyond. His pictures are calm and indifferent to popularity with perfect artistic conception. This kind of pattern is unprecedented.
Dong Qichang learned from Ni Zan’s paintings when he was young but never understand Ni Zan’s essence of simple but remoting in time and space even when he was old.
For us, what do we learn in deed from Ni Zan’s story? You will be rewarded an easy but pleasant life, if you can leave money, rights and fame and so on behind which are external stuffs besides the body to keep a quiet and elegant spirit…
