来源：劉墨詩文書畫館 

引言

Preface

幽怀清襟，墨圃耕心。

桃源深处，山水知音。

Modesty, tranquility, the hearts are intoxicated in art’s ebriety. Where peach blossoms bloom, hills and rivers, picturesque and poetic, listen to nature's sounds, meet bosom friends.

 

这是在看到圃生发来的图时，我随手写下的四句，可以说是诗，也可以说是四句话。

There are the words I wrote down undesignedly when I saw the pictures sent by Pu Sheng, which can be said to be a poem or four sentences. 

还是冬天，圃生和张伟来到家中，聊了一会儿闲话，张伟就以策展人的身份，说在圃生的新空间，等春天的桃花开得漫山遍野的时候，和我一起办一个展览——这是圃生新空间的第一个画展。

Back in the winter, Pu Sheng and Zhang Wei came to visit and chatted for a while. Zhang Wei, acting as the curator, said that he would hold an exhibition with me in Pu Sheng's new studio when the peach blossoms blossomed all over the mountains in spring. This would be the first painting exhibition in Pu Sheng's new studio. 

我连忙答应，因为圃生的空间意识极好，他的画无论题材无论装裱，更是适合他的空间；相反，我倒是要调整一下我的画风，才有可能和他的空间协调起来。

I readily agreed, because Pu Sheng has an excellent sense of space, and his paintings, regardless of subject matter or mounting, are more suitable for his studio. On the contrary, I would like to adjust my painting style to be able to coordinate with his place.  

一个类似于美术馆的展出空间，不管大小，必是一个实体空间、物质空间、质感空间；画也不管大小，则是一个“虚拟空间”，是作者在绘画材料上创造出来的幻觉空间、理想空间和自由空间。

An exhibition space similar to an art gallery, no matter its size, must be a physical space, tangible and textured. No matter the size of the painting, it is a "virtual space", illusory, ideal and free, created by the creator with the painting materials. 

把画挂在墙上，是实和虚的对比；把两个不同作者的画挂在一起，是虚和虚的对比。圃生的画是明快的，一角庭院，有花有竹，屋中虽不见有人，但书卷、桌案以及陈设，却分明有人。

Hanging a painting on the wall is a contrast between the real and the virtual; hanging paintings by two different artists together is a contrast between two kinds of invisible instinct. Pu Sheng's paintings are bright, mostly of courtyards, flowers and bamboo, tables, chairs and books. Although there are no people in his paintings, these subjects are arranged as if someone had taken care of them.

我的画，因喜欢东想西想，从无定形，或意在于明清，或心驰于山林，随笔点染，以悦己心。一个画展过后，又不知道会偏向于哪种风格。

 My painting style is changing and never has a fixed form. Some focus on the Ming and Qing Dynasties, while some take meanings from the mountains and forests, freely painting and pleasing myself. Usually after an exhibition, I don't know what style I'm going to explore.   

这几天正巧我重新研究八大山人，看到八大山人这样一段极为优美的画跋：

Recently I happened to be studying Zhu Daagain. I came across this very graceful painting colophon of Zhu Da.

 静几明窗，焚香掩卷，每当会心处，欣然独笑，客来相与，脱去形迹，烹苦茗，赏文章。久之，霞光零乱，月在高梧，而客在前溪，呼童闭户，收蒲团，坐片时，更觉悠然神远。

Burning incense and reading in a neat and clean room, whenever I felt the resonant, I would be delighted alone. Then a friend came, just opened our mind, enjoyed tea and articles together. 

Time passed imperceptibly, the sunset faded away and a bright moon rose. I saw my friend off to the stream. When I returned, I told a kid to close the door and then rearranged my seat and sat still for a while, feeling even more content and infinite reverie. 

 

如果我不事先说这是八大山人的文字，读者大概会认为这一定是出于生活在一个极平静时代的艺术家之手，生活安定而富足；他也让我想起苏东坡在贬谪黄州后写的《记承天寺夜游》一文，简洁、轻松、明快、满足。

If I had not said in advance that it was written by Zhu Da, you might have thought that it must have been written by an artist who lived in a time of great tranquillity and prosperity; He also reminds me of Su Dongpo's "A Night Tour of Chengtian Temple" written after he was banished to Huangzhou,which is concise, easy, lively and satisfying. 

人生当然不是这样，但画何尝不可以那样呢？我在写完《天地一沙鸥——八大山人的心灵与艺术》这部书稿后，也写了一个后记，不妨顺便将最后一段移于此处：

Life is never like this, but painting is different. I also wrote a postscript after finishing the manuscript of my new book"A looming sea-gull -- The Soul andArt of Zhu Da ". I might as well put the last paragraph here at will: 

 

虽然八大山人离我们已经有三百多年，而我们也终将年华老去，虽然我们已经无法回到八大山人那个时代，更不用说回到自己的年轻时代，当夜阑人静，一个人或几个朋友静静地翻开八大山人的画册时，你似乎可以从他的作品中渐渐地看到八大山人“这个人”，他满脸泪痕而又得意洋洋，他洞明世事而又烂漫天真，仿佛听到他无声的叹息，或喑哑的笑声，我们沉浸在现代社会中久已麻木的感情会再次被他感动，因而唤醒，于是，我们都应该感谢八大山人，中国画也因为有了八大山人，抒了我们的情，勾勒了我们的梦，他使我们不相信，世界除了现实之外，别无境界。

Although Zhu Da already has more than three hundred years from us, and we will all grow old, even though we have been unable to return to Zhu Da’s time, not to mention returned to our young age, at the dead of night, when we open Zhu Da's painting album quietly by ourselves or with friends, we can gradually see him from his works, just like he's standing right in front of us.  His face is full of tears and he is full of pride. He is still ingenuous though he knows how the world is, and we can almost hear his silent sigh or dumb laugh. 

Our long-lostfeelings immersed in the modern society will be moved and awakened by him. Therefore, we should all thank Zhu Da. Because of him, Chinese painting has expressed our feelings and sketched our dreams. He convinces us that there is an idyllic transcendence beyond reality.  

国画对中国人的意义，大抵是这样的吧？

The meaning of traditional Chinese painting to Chinese people is roughly like this, right?

而我们所以还能沉浸于艺术之中，大抵也是因为如此。

And that's probably why we're still immersed in art. 

2022年3月13日星期日灯下  刘墨

Liu Mo March 13, 2022

这次和刘墨老师的展览起意于年前我的工作室简装完成后的暖房小聚，当时正值寒冬，温度极低，空间没有安装供暖设备，不适合做展。因此和刘老师约好来年春暖花开时节一起办个小展作为工作室落成的首展。在这特别感谢远山影像的策划和刘墨老师的支持。

This exhibition with Mr. Liu Mo started from a reunion in my conservatory after the simple installation of my studio. At that time, it was winter and the temperature was extremely low. The studio was not equipped with heating equipment yet, so it was not suitable for exhibition. 

 Therefore, I made an appointment with Mr. Liu to hold a small exhibition next spring as the first exhibition of my studio. Special thanks to planner Zhang Wei and Mr. Liu Mo.

 

工作室坐落在位置极偏僻的北郊小山村，后面就是绵延的群山，每到这个时候，漫山遍野的山桃花恣意绽放，壮观极了，欢迎朋友们周末来看展赏花。

My studio is located in a remote village in the northern suburbs, with rolling mountains behind it. 

At this time of year, the peach blossoms everywhere are in full bloom and spectacular. Friends are welcome to visit the exhibition and appreciate the flowers this weekend. 

圃生

Pu Sheng