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I am often
asked about the difference between Japanese and
Chinese ink paintings. The roots of Japanese ink
painting go back to the fourteenth century. They came
from China where, as already mentioned, two different
styles already existed. These were the objective,
distinct, and stylised lines of northern China and the
subjective, lyrical, and expressive style of southern
China. The latter style came to Japan together with
Zen Buddhism. The Japanese aesthetic sensibilities are
clearly expressed in these choices, as well as in the
way sumie subsequently developed in Japan.
常有人问及我中日水墨画的区别。日本水墨画根源可追溯到十四世纪，源于中国。如早已提及的，当时中国已存在风格迥异两派，即客观写实，水墨分明，雄浑朴实，笔法奔放洒脱的北方派与注重意念气韵，乡村田园风格，朦胧绰约写意的南方派。后者随着禅憎传入日本。日本画对美学的细腻表达不仅在吸呐南方派的技艺过程中，而且在日本随后发展的墨绘画中，表现得淋漓尽致。
My
Japanese teacher, as a way of introduction, was
painting an orchid in absolute silence and extreme
anticipation, using only a few brush strokes that were
almost invisible. Another student, watching in
amazement, exclaimed that it was difficult for her to
describe the beauty she sensed in the painting. While
only a hint of ink touched the paper the
"breath" of the orchid seemed to touch our
faces, quietly, delicately. The flower was only a
shimmer of life on the paper, but the space
surrounding it was like a large protective veil. The
petals of the orchid became the centre of the cosmos.
It was an experience that gave me a sense of total
happiness. All of use felt the beauty in the presence
of that flower.
作为入门课，我的日本画师挥毫画了一棵兰花，寥寥几笔，难察笔墨，一泓静谧，意境无限。另一学生看得瞠目结舌，惊叹非言语所能表达画中那出神入化之美。纸上的水墨微毫几许，我们的脸颊可以感受到兰花的呼吸，行云流水，天衣无缝。画卷上兰花只是生命的蕴含，微微闪光，而四周的空间如硕大的护幔。兰花的花瓣成为和谐宇宙的中心。给人感觉的是一种至上至美的幸福感，无人不能感受兰花所表达的隽永灵秀。
In
contrast, the style used to paint that orchid was not
what my Chinese master understood an ink painting
should be. For him the orchid must be created in a
clear, distinct form as required by Chinese tradition.
For that reason, he mad a pencil sketch to show me
what the orchid looks like in nature. Even though
stylised Chinese ink paintings are, to be sure, not
realistic representations of nature, like a
photograph, they are very naturalistic studies of
nature. This is a style that has as its underlying
concept a desire for idealization and does not
necessarily depict nature in a problematic sense.
相比之下，那兰花的笔墨风格不是我的中国画师所理解的那种水墨画风格。他认为兰花必须按中国传统画得简练质朴。为此他用铅笔作了素描，画给我看兰花的自然本色。尽管笔法奔放洒脱的中国水墨画都尽量不象照相一样刻板照搬写实自然，但他们都追求不加修饰的自然。这种风格的基调是一种理想化的写意，而非不必要地从一种争议的意识来表达自然。
A German
student proudly showed our Chinese master his painting
which depicted a bare, dying pine tree on a mountain.
The master immediately reached for this brush and
painted needles on the branches, to show how strong
and enduring the pine tree is. The student was
speechless and then outraged that his depiction of the
destruction of nature was discounted and changed.
However, for the Chinese master, bound by this
tradition, it was unthinkable that the pine tree, the
symbol of long life, would shd its needles. He said,
"No, what you painted does not exits. Did you
ever observe something like it in nature?" This
"observing with the intellect" is an
objective attitude, as when a painter expresses in
words many of the theories and principles that are to
be adhered to when creating a painting. "These
theories and principles have been handed down to us.
They exist in Chinese paintings, in contrast to
Japanese ones, where observations are much more
influenced by subjective feelings.
一位德国学生自豪地向我的中国画师展示他的一幅画，山上一棵光秃秃的松树濒临死亡干枯。我的画师顿时挥毫添松针于树枝，已示松树坚韧不拔顽强抗争的生命力。那位学生目瞪口呆，然后艴然不平，因为他所表达的自然摧毁力遭到了扭曲和篡改。而中国画师受其传统意识禁锢，作为生命和永恒象征的松树，落叶枯萎实夷匪所思。画师说："错也，你所作的画并不存在，何时在自然观察中见此现象？"
此种"用心观察"
属客观态度，就如一位画家用言语来表达其创作时必须坚持使用的许多理论与原则。这些理论原则世代相传至今，在中国绘画中根深蒂固。而日本画却与之不同，因为日本画中画家的观察受客观感受的影响很大。
In
addition to a more objective logical depiction,
Chinese ink painters also admire the clarity expressed
in dynamic lines. If something is meant to be hidden,
Chinese artists depict it in symbols, while Japanese
ink paintings require a "being inside." When
my Japanese master painted a flower, this flower was
reaching out, towards light, towards the open space,
and the longing and reaching out would flow into the
white space. My Chinese master was portraying what he
was painting. When he painted trees, they would stand
arrogantly against the white space, which they
perceived to be a blessing from beyond.
When I
looked at the painting Trees in Daylight, by the
Italian printer Morandi, I was immediately reminded of
trees as my Chinese.
中国水墨画家除了描写更为客观并符合逻辑，还追求笔墨流畅明快，表达简洁清晰。如要刻意言而不露，中国的艺术家会作象征性表达。而日本水墨画家常使用象征主义，或以笔写心，明比暗喻。日本水墨画家要做到"身入其中"
。当我的日本画师画了一朵花，这花是在外张开放，渴望光线，渴望空间，这种追求和渴望自然流向不着水墨的画卷留白。我的中国画师作画时实在是一种素描。当他画树木时，这些树木傲慢地雄立于四周的空白，其用意是起到积极的题外之意。
当我注目着意大利画家Morandi的油画"日光下的树"
，我立刻联想到我的中国画师画的那些树木。
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