Chinese Painting and Calligraphy
The One Brush Stroke
Marnix has long had a fascination with Chinese calligraphy which he saw as ‘the seismograph of the soul’.
Buddhist Guardian on Tang hanging from Dunhuang Cave
Marnix was dining Trevor Leggett, of judo and Buddhist fame, whom he had invited to address the Oxford Buddhist Society (c. 1965) and enquired about the relation of calligraphy to Zen. Leggett replied that the test was in writing from the tanden point (dantian, below the navel) as the single horizontal stroke to the character ‘ichi’ (one) which he then proceeded to execute powerfully on a paper napkin. The challenge of the brush is the vertical grip, controlled and steady, ideally suspended and unsupported, as well as control of the ink on the porous paper.
Marnix attended calligraphy classes in Tôkyô (1969-1970) where he found himself the only male student among pre-nuptial ladies, intent on refining their spiritual eligibility. Training consisted of repeatedly copying the same large character, or a page of four, which the teacher would correct and over-write with red ink. During a summer break he had some private lessons with an art lecturer in Taiwan. He introduced me to appreciation of the Northern Wei stone inscriptions with their powerful and unconventional composition. He emphasised ‘tight’ close concentration in structure and ‘smooth’ continuity of stroke.
The Year of the Rat
In the early 1990s Marnix attended classes in the old Insadong area of Seoul. Here he was taught from the basics of drawing straight lines, horizontal and vertical in a castellation pattern. Then he learnt small seal script from the ancient Stone Drum inscriptions of Qín c.300-400 BC with its steady curves strong shapes.
Marnix feels the loss of handwriting ability, inevitable due to the growth of electronic keyboard use, makes it timely to revive traditional calligraphy. He believes brush calligraphy in particular builds character and concentration, nourishing and expressing the individual will, as well as providing a mental relaxation and an aesthetic meditation in movement. Marnix experiments with applying Chinese calligraphic skills and composition to other scripts including our own Roman script.
The Murals of Wú Dàozî
Daoist Immortals, on scroll attributed to Wu Zongyuan of Northern Song
Marnix is an admirer of Chinese painting, especially the masters of the Táng and Sòng. He has been intrigued in particular by the legendary Wú Dàozî (Wú Dàoxuán, fl. early 8th c.), known for his bold, untrammelled brush strokes, and his vibrant figure and cascading water paintings. He received the patronage of art-loving emperor Mínghuáng (Xuánzong, r. 713-755) and is said to have painted murals in over three hundred temples. Today not one single authentic Wú Dàozî is known to survive, though there are many purported copies and later imitators.
Beiyuemiao 'Flying God', attributed to Wu Dao Zi, from Ming stone engraving
A number of stone engravings from temple murals are claimed to represent Wú Dàozî originals. Of these one of the most striking is the Flying God or demon from the Northern Mountain Range Temple (Bêiyuè Miào) in Qûyáng, Hébêi. The stone tablets from which rubbings were taken, one from late Míng and another from Qing, have been mounted in an outbuilding wall. Yet amazingly the painted walls with the image from which the engraving was copied still survive. These are the east and west walls of the great Virtuous Tranquility Hall at the back of the huge shrine compound. Each measures about thirty by sixty feet.
Marnix has been in continuous contact with the Chinese authorities over the past few years to reproduce these images (partly obscured by dust) photographically and digitally for full publication. Tantalisingly this still remains to be accomplished.
Other content by Marnix Wells can be viewed in the following pages.
Wú Dào Zî and Beiyuemiao (click here)
Letter to The Times - Seoul's lost South Great Gate (19th Feb 2008) (click here)