目录 Contents
2 前言 郭晓彦 Preface Guo Xiaoyan
4 马戏团 Circus
10 桃花源记（421-2008） Preface to the Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring (421-2008)
14 千手观音 Guan-yin of a Thousand Hands
22 作为开端的黄永砅 汪民安 Huang Yongping: The Opening Gambits Wang Min’an
35 艺术家简介 Artist Biography
36 作品分布 Layout of the exhibition
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前言 Preface
“太平广记”策展之初，曾意向邀请黄永砅2012年创作于纽约的《马戏团》，由于种种因素，该 作品未能于展览开幕时到场。展览结束之际，它或它们终于到来。 “太平广记”这个展览已然结束，但，作为现实一种， “广记”所宣示的这一征兆、志异、影射之 时空却始终留存。《马戏团》的延迟与最终到来，正是“广记”重新开启之缘。尤其是在今天， “马戏团”不再是一个修辞上的隐喻，而是我们的现实：看似正襟危坐的马戏团，但终究是一个 “无头”的“马戏团”；虽然黄永砅当时创作时着眼于更大的时空：时间的终结，未日的景象。 借着《马戏团》的到来，红砖美术馆同时也展出《千手观音》（2012年黄永砅为第九届上海双年 展而作）和他为第三届广州三年展而作的《桃花源记（421－2008）》，并使这三件作品之间产 生新的阅读。 三截“千手观音”或“瓶架”像三个巨大的圆形书架，千条手臂把握着尘世中的一切，如同字典 中的偏旁部首，而在这个“图书馆”里，只有一个潜在的“百科全书”。 《桃花源记（421－2008）》是一纸手稿，艺术家在其中展现了他的转换：思考与书写，正典与野 史，盛世与衰败，乌托邦与全球现实。 这三件作品都贯穿着文学史，艺术史，大众文化，东方和西方，古代和当代，最重要的是我们今 天生活的现实。
郭晓彦
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The Circus made by Huang Yongping in New York in 2012 was originally to be part of the Tales form the Taiping Era exhibition, but the work did not arrive in time due to various reasons. When the work finally arrived after its long journey, the show had already come to its end. Despite the conclusion of Tales from the Taiping Era, the time-space continuum created by the exhibition, indicating the power of omens, unnatural events and visions still remains. The delayed arrival of the Circus became an opportunity to re-start the journey. Today, the Circus is not just a rhetorical metaphor, but is particularly relevant to our reality: the seemingly magnificent circus has actually lost its ring-master. And while making the work, Huang Yongping was certainly referring to a larger time-space: the end of time, the end of the world. Along with the Circus, Guan-yin of a Thousand Hands made by Huang Yongping for the Shanghai Biennale in 2012 and the Preface to the Poem on Peach Blossom Spring (4212008) created for the Guangzhou Triennial in 2008 are also featured in the exhibition. The juxtaposition provides new perspectives from which to view the works. The three stacks of Guan-yin of a Thousand Hands or Bottle Rack remind us of three round bookshelves: one thousand arms holding one thousand objects from the secular world, just like radicals by which characters are arranged in a dictionary. An “encyclopedia” may emerge from such a “library”. The Preface to the Poem on Peach Blossom Spring (421-2008) is a hand-written script, various transitions are indicated in the text: thinking and writing, official history and unofficial history, rise and decline, Utopia and global reality. All three works are connected with literary history, art history, mass culture, east and west, ancient and contemporary times; more importantly, they are relevant to the reality in which we live today.
Guo Xiaoyan
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马戏团 Circus 木头、竹子、动物标本、树脂、钢、线和布 Wood, bamboo, taxidermy animals, resin, steel, cord and cloth 841.1×1000.1×1000.1cm 2012
2012年纽约格雷斯顿画廊展览现场，图片均由艺术家提供。 Installation view, Gladstone Gallery, New York, 2012 All images provided by the artist
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《马戏团》呈现了一个精心安排的，充满戏剧张力的
The Circus presents a carefully planned scene full
场景：两只木制的活动关节巨手，一只悬置在空中，一
of dramatic tensions: two giant wooden hands, one
只支离破碎，散落在地。十五只无头的野兽标本被安
hanging from the ceiling, the other broken, scattered
置在巨大的竹制笼子，或者说是马戏团帐篷的骨架，
on the f loor. Fifteen headless animals standing in
内外。无头野兽标本中既有黑熊、狮子、斗牛、野猪这
uncanny calm around the bamboo cage, ranging from
样的猛兽，也有山羊和野兔，甚至还有一只飞翔中的
a bear, lion, and bull to a goat and rabbit, with even
蝙蝠，动物颈上的切口用红色织物裹住,仿佛鲜血在涌
a bat suspended in mid-flight. The holes gaping from
出的那一瞬间凝固。无头的动物们处在一种诡异的平
the animals’ necks are neatly draped with red-colored
静之中。悬在空中的巨手通过可见的线绳牵引着一具
fabric, as if the blood had congealed the moment their
猴子的骨架，而这猴子手中又操纵着另外一只更小的
heads were cut off. The hanging hand is connected by
猴子。
strings to the skeleton of a monkey, which is operating as a puppeteer the skeleton of an even smaller monkey.
这只较大的猴子披袍戴冠，与上面悬着的巨手似乎构 成对孙悟空与如来佛祖故事的影射；同时，这巨手有
The robbed and hatted monkey skeleton and the
着同木偶如出一辙的活动关节，暗示着它也处在某种
massive hand above it seem to refer to the story of the
不可见的力量的控制之中。
Monkey King and Buddha from the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West”. However, the giant hand
在象征和隐喻的层面上对动物—无论是活的动物
has the same movable joints as a marionette, indicating
还是标本—进行使用，在九十年代以来黄永砅的作
that it is also controlled by some invisible power.
品中经常可以看到。《马戏团》中无头的动物与1993 年《世界剧场》中的那些昆虫和爬行动物，无疑扮演
Animals, either stuffed or living, have repeatedly taken
了相同的角色，人类在此既是观众也是对象。 “这个
on the metaphorical role of human behavior in Huang
马戏团不但是P.T.BARNUM 马戏团的继续，而且是
Yongping’s works since the 1990s. The headless animals
个无兽头马戏团，或无头兽参观木手操控的悬丝傀
in Circus clearly have the same role as the insects and
儡戏，或无头兽代替人的位置，或无头兽成为人的化
reptiles in World Theater of 1993. Here human beings
身。”（黄永砅）
are simultaneousl y the subject and the audience. “The Circus is not only an extension of P.T.BARUM’s circus,
在《马戏团》的象征性结构里，无首的动物、猴子骨
but is a circus of headless animals, or headless animals
架、巨手，并不处在一个单向度的控制与被控制的链
visiting a marionette theater, or headless animals
条之中。那关于信仰的隐喻，其自身不也正是人类意
taking place of human beings, or headless animals as
识形态机制的产物？
embodiment of human beings.” (Huang Yongping) In the symbolic structure of the Circus, the headless animals, monkey skeletons, and giant hands are not in a one-way chain of controlling and being controlled. Faith itself is indeed the product of human ideology.
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桃花源记（421-2008） Preface to the Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring (421-2008)
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作为当代艺术家的黄永砅重读的《桃花源记》有着对
As a contemporary artist, Huang Yongping re-reads the
这一古代经典文本的全新解读。在黄永砅看来， “桃
classic Preface to the Poem on Peach Blossom Spring
花源”并非是一个“纯然古风”的“复古”式的乐土，
written by Tao Yuanming in 421 and interprets the text
而是一个“现实的世界”。
in an entirely new way. From Huang’s perspective, Peach Blossom Spring is not simply an ancient utopia nostalgically
黄永砅 将桃花源之内视为“后历史世界”（弗兰西
revisited in some “unalloyed ancient folksong”, but rather “a
斯·福山，Francis Fukuyama），是经济发展与民主充
real world”, presenting a kind of “modernity”.
分扩大的世界，是普遍均质的，超越于盛衰循环之外 的社会。而桃花源之外是“历史世界”，是充满矛盾、
Huang takes Peach Blossom Spring to be a post-historical
斗争、统治与被统治的，处于历史进程之中的社会。
world in Francis Fukuyama’s sense, a world where
渔人从“历史世界”误入或者说提前进入“后历史世
economy and democracy are fully developed, a world
界”，而又主动选择离开，他本人和他的后继者们都
that is universal and homogeneous, and has transcended
再也没能找到那个入口。《桃花源记》成为一个现代
the cycle of rise and decline. The world outside Peach
性的政治寓言，从中我们可以读出对冷战结束后全球
Blossom Spring is, in contrast, the historical world, filled
化语境之下不同制度与文化的冲突与渗透，西方与非
with contradictions and struggles, the rulers and the ruled
西方之间的张力以及西方社会中非西方知识分子处
- it is a society within the historical process. From the
境等问题的深刻反思和预见。
historical world, the fisherman entered the post-historical world by accident, in a sense ahead of time. He chose to
文本写作一直是黄永砅重要的工作方式，早在“厦
leave in the end, but he and his followers could never again
门达达”时期，他执笔的《厦门达达— 一种后现
find the entrance. The text Preface to the Poem on Peach
代？》、《焚烧声明》、《发生在福建省美术馆的事件
Blossom Spring is here interpreted as a political metaphor
展览前言》不仅成为“厦门达达”的纲领性文件，也
in the modern sense, from which we can see profound
远远超出于那个时代，提出对于现代主义、展览制度
reflection and insight on the post-cold war global reality,
和秩序本身的质疑。2008年，黄永砅作为第三届广州
the tension between the west and the non-west, and the
三年展“与后殖民说再见”的参展艺术家，创作了《桃
dilemma of non-western intellectuals in a western world.
花源记（421-2008）》，成为黄永砅近年最重要的文本 创作之一。
Writing has always been an important part of Huang’s practice. Huang’s w r itings du r ing the Xiamen Dada period in the 1980s, such as “Xiamen Dada – Postmodern?”, “Preface to the Events Exhibition that Took Place at the Hallway of the Fujian Art Museum”, and “Statement on Burning the Works”, not only became the guiding documents of the group, but were far ahead of their time, in questioning modernism and institutions. In 2008, Huang wrote Preface to the Poem on Peach Blossom Spring (421-2008) for the Guangzhou Triennial, and the article has been widely regarded as one of Huang’s most important writings in recent years.
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千手观音 Guan-Yin of a Thousand Hands 铸铁、钢架、各种物品 Steel, iron rack, various objects 1800×800×800cm 1997－2012
2012年上海双年展现场，图片由艺术家提供。 Installation view, Shanghai Biennale, 2012 Images provided by the artist
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1997年，黄永砅受邀参加德国明斯特十年一度的国
In 1997 Huang Yongping was invited to participate in
际雕塑艺术展“Skulptur Projekte”。他在当地教堂
“Skulptur Projekte” in Münster, Germany. While doing
里看到一樽在二战期间双臂被毁基督像塑像，塑像
research in the city, Huang came across an astonishing
仍保持被毁后的样子，只在原来手臂的位置写了一
statue of Christ in Münster Cathedral. The statue lost
句话： “你们的手就是我的手。”（ICH HABE KEINE
both arms during WWII and has remained so until
ANDEREN HÄNDE ALS DIE EUEREN）为此，黄
today. A line scribbled next to the statue read: “Your
永砅在这座城市创作了东方的“千手观音”立于街
hands are my hands” (ICH HABE KEINE ANDEREN
头，与教堂内的断臂基督相互映照。
HÄNDE ALS DIE EUEREN). Responding to the armless Christ, Huang decided to make Guan-yin of a
创 作《千手观音》的另一 个意向来自马塞尔·杜尚
Thousand Hands, a Buddhist deity.
（Marcel Duchamps）的《瓶架》。黄永砅的《千手观 音》将观音的手臂直接嫁接在“瓶架”上，两种形象
The work also bears a strong connection to Marcel
相互为解释： “我把这个西方艺术界熟悉的形象‘繁
Duchamp's 1914 ready-made Bottle Rack. In the work,
殖’成另一个东方的千手观音。 ‘瓶架’作为现成品的
Guan-yin’s arms are placed on a steel structure which
冷默、超然的趣味被繁多的形象，复杂的象征所遮
is itself an enlarged version of the Bottle Rack - two
蔽。”（黄永砅）
figures are in conflict yet complement one another: “I have ‘re-produced’ the famous work in Western art
2012年上海双年展上，这个发端于十五年前的作品，
history into an Oriental Buddhist Guan-yin. The sense
实现了最初构想的张力—高达18米的纪念碑似的
of detachment and indifference associated with the
巨型体量伫立于展厅入口处；铁制的一千只手，或拿
ready-made Bottle Rack is complicated and shrouded
或托着各种法器及日常用品。从明斯特街头到上海
by various figures and symbols”. (Huang Yongping)
的美术馆，语境转变，原来多元文化、文化身份的讨 论随着这一转变而发生迁移，庞大、聚集和复杂的
For the early version of Guan-yin of a Thousand
“千手观音”呈现出了对于宗教、艺术史和现实的诸
Hands in Münster, Huang Yongping only succeeded
多指涉。
in completing fifty hands due to limited conditions at that time. In the 2012 Shanghai Biennale, an idea
（《千手观音》2012年为红砖美术馆收藏。这是该作品第
conceived fifteen years ago was finally got fully
一次在馆内展出。这次展览，“千手观音”由原来的一座拆
realized, Guan-yin of a Thousand Hands, with one
分为三座，被赋予新的解读。）
thousand hands holding various objects, making references to religion, art history, and reality. (Guan-yin of a Thousand Hands was acquired by Red Brick Art Museum in 2012 and this is the first time the work has been displayed in the museum. Here, Guan-yin of a Thousand Hands is divided into three stacks, providing new ways of viewing and interpreting the work. )
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1997年版《千手观音》草图及艺术家说明 Sketches and instructions of Guan-Yin of a Thousand Hands in 1997
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《千手观音》局部 Guan-Yin of a Thousand Hands (detail)
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2014年红砖美术馆布展现场 Installation view, Red Brick Art Museum, 2014
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作为开端的黄永砅 Huang Yongping: The Opening Gambits
汪民安
我并不想在这篇文章中讨论黄永砅的具体作品，而
感的衰败和匮乏。他们的作品就此充满着悲剧意味。
是试图回顾性地分析黄永砅对中国当代艺术的开拓
但是，这种悲剧感恰好是生命振奋的刺激物，就像尼
性意义。或许现在是需要探讨当代艺术的谱系学的
采笔下的狄奥尼索斯一样，痛苦，才能获得新生。这
时候了。因此，我们必须回到1980年代。这也是黄永
种痛苦既来自个体自身，来自人生的永恒悲剧，也来
砅开始活跃的年代。那个时候，人们开始摆脱文革
自周遭，来自社会的不公。但是，像黄永砅这样的艺
美术模式，从事各种激进的艺术实验，各种探索纷
术家则完全相反，他们摆脱意义，嘲笑意义，甚至嘲
纷涌现。人们将这个时期激进的艺术实验称为85新
笑艺术。他不是宣示痛苦或崇高，而是崇尚虚无和亵
潮美术。大体而言，艺术家既受到西方现代主义的
渎。事实上，如果说，数十年来，甚至上百年来，人们
影响，也受到西方哲学，尤其是生命哲学（尼采，萨
长期处在焦虑之中，处在一个紧张的状态，长期被崇
特和弗洛伊德）的影响，他们大都表现出对生命、对
高和理想以及这种崇高和理想所奠定的价值标准所
灵魂、对自我意识的关注，作品要么充满激情，要么
绑架，也为这种崇高而痛苦不堪的话，那么，现在是
充满理性—这是主体性哲学在1980年代的艺术表
可以放弃这一切的时候了，是看透了这一切的时候了。
达。欲望的宣泄，灵魂的宗教救赎，理性的崇高，多
一种对痛苦和崇高的蔑视出现了：无论是政治的崇
少都带有一些英雄主义的痉挛姿态。这是85新潮的
高，精神生活的崇高，还是艺术的崇高。对崇高的长
主流。但是，从黄永砅开始，我们看到了英雄主义的
久追逐，最终必定导向对崇高的放弃。人类在大多数
反面，或者说，我们看到的英雄是以亵渎的方式来出
时候是在追逐意义和崇高，但是，在某些特定的情况
场的。如果说，前者是要在一片虚无和溃败的氛围中
下，总是有一场反向的精神运动。
寻求救赎，黄永砅正好相反，他则是要让所有的神话 崩溃，让它们彻底地虚无。大体而言，他的开创性工
在西方的艺术传统中，达达或许是最早意识到这一
作，不是去从事文化拯救，而是去从事文化亵渎；不
点的。对于达达而言，游戏是抵御崇高的绝妙方式；
是去做一个艺术巨人，而是做一个艺术的渎神者；不
偶然是对付目标的绝妙方式；虚无是对付执著的绝
是去确立一种艺术思想，而是放弃艺术思想；不是让
妙方式。就达达而言，生命是一个偶然的游戏，它骨
作品获得永恒的在场，而是让作品迅速地消失。这是
子里面充满着虚无色彩。痛苦和崇高并非人生和艺
以渎神的方式来获得神秘感，以破坏和虚无的姿态
术的标准。人生和艺术是一场大游戏，一场大虚空。
来获得英雄的形象。
就此，艺术家应该放弃梵高那种愤怒而执著的“手 枪”，而是应该采用杜尚那种满不在乎的“微笑”。
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为什么会在此刻— 80年代总体上来说还是一个
黄永砅是中国最早认识到达达和杜尚的意义的人。
百废待兴的亢奋时刻—出现这样充满亵渎和虚无
但是，他并非对达达的照搬。对达达而言，是战争带
色彩的艺术家和艺术作品？那些宣泄激情，展示痛
来的对崇高的幻灭，对黄永砅等人而言，是漫长的世
苦，旨在拯救的作品，他们的共同特征是对意义的
纪革命带来的对真理的厌倦。对达达而言，要摆脱的
执著。正是意义的丧失让他们痛苦，让他们感到生命
是梵高式的痛苦；对黄永砅等人而言，要摆脱的是同
代人的精神焦虑。对达达而言，艺术并没有特定的形
义，不论是哪一种意义；艺术总是要遵循某种标准和
式，或者说，艺术可以随心所欲，放弃美学；对黄永砅
法则，无论是哪一种标准和法则。抽象对写实的挑
而言，艺术意味着一场彻底的亵渎，彻底的怀疑和不
战，现代主义对现实主义的挑战，不过是用一种意义
信任，彻底的放弃：放弃崇高，放弃标准，放弃创新和
取代另一种意义，一种表意模式取代另一种表意模
竞争。正是在这个意义上，黄永砅将达达和禅宗结合
式。但是，现在受达达和杜尚影响的黄永砅开始挑
起来：
战这一切了。他不是在苦心地提出一种特殊的意义， 甚至也不是反省如何去表现某种特定意义，也就是
在某种精神意义上可以这么说：禅宗即是达达，达达
说，不是对艺术的恰当形式进行苦思冥想，而是去放
即是禅宗，而后现代则是禅宗的现代复兴，它们都以最
弃意义，放弃各种艺术标准和体制，从根本上让非艺
坦率和最深刻著称，而且基本上不是美学意义的，而
术成为一种艺术形式，或者说，让艺术成为一种非艺
是关于真实的不可能真实，以及极端的怀疑和不信任。
术。他试图像杜尚和达达一样，扩充艺术的概念。在
查拉在1922年达达演讲中宣称：达达之开始，非艺术
1980年代的中国，正是艺术创新和竞技的时代，人们
之开始，而是恶心之开始。正是由于一阵恶心之后，非
都为自己的艺术创造苦苦折磨。但黄永砅反其道而行
艺术—不是艺术，开始转换为：非艺术—一种新
之，他对艺术进行了贬损，他以各种方式，强调了对
艺术之开始，这是个对每个人开放的运动，尽管并不是
艺术的不以为然。当大多数艺术家信念执著，热爱艺
所有的人都想解放自己，在艺术领域中一切皆被容许，
术，并坚称艺术在人生中不可或缺的时候，黄永砅则
但这种解放和容许本身却无需称道，因为任何解放和
说， “不消灭艺术生活不得安宁。”2这种无视艺术的
最大程度的容许都意味着存在不真，因而一种新的艺
态度，或者说，将艺术故意贬损的态度，与同时代的
术仿品，艺术家和新的公众的一个最大特征，即是其界
理性主义，同时代的悲剧精神，同时代的英雄主义，
限模糊不清，艺术作品开始不以私人杰作的积累而是
同时代的喧嚣、崇高和焦虑完全针锋相对。一种新
公众参与或消亡，艺术家开始不用手枪，而是用微笑来
的艺术倾向开始出现了。一种挑衅和嘲弄的方式出现
行事，这意味着放弃艺术家崇高的假象，放弃竞争和创
了，一种不寻求经典的艺术诉求出现了。也可以说，一
新，放弃价值标准。1
种笑声—不仅是微笑，而且是坏笑和大笑—在 艺术中爆发了。
这样的艺术态度—无论是它是达达的，还是黄永 砅自己的—在中国前所未有。社会主义现实主义，
毫无疑问，这正是达达、杜尚以及劳森伯格的作品
之后陈丹青和罗中立的写实主义，以及星星以来各
所带来的革命性后果。黄永砅马上被他们所吸引。他
种各样的现代主义尝试，我们甚至可以说，在整个中
和他的小组公开命名为“厦门达达”。就像在西方当
国的现代艺术史中，无论艺术之间存在着怎样的风格
年发生的情况一样，杜尚也改变了中国当代艺术的
差异，无论它们之间存在多少较量和竞技，但所有的
路径。在整个85新潮中，没有人比杜尚（通过劳森伯
艺术家都有一个共同的前提，即艺术总是在创造意
格）对中国当代艺术产生更直接更重大的影响了。事
23
现代的。在他这里，杜尚是一个后现代的艺术家。对 他来说，同时代人的艺术受现代主义的影响，但是， 他们还没有关注到“后现代”。 不清楚黄永砅当时是否了解德里达。实际上，德里达 的解构主义同杜尚的许多观念有接近之处。按照黄 永砅的理解，杜尚的作品不是去解释意义，而是抹去 对意义的解释，不是在各种对象之间区分高低，而是 强调齐物并存；不是去确切地回答问题，而是将问答 视作为无意义。以杜尚为代表的后现代打破了各种在 场、呈现、意义的执著，打破了各种实证性和确定性。 它们相反地强调虚空、无意义（或意义的歧义）、偶然 和任性— 这和德里达的解构主义多少有些契合。 如果说，超现实主义是对弗洛伊德精神分析的实践， 《中国绘画简史》和《现代绘画简史》在洗衣机里洗两分钟 The History of Chinese Painting and the History of Modern Western Art Washed in the Washing Machine for Two Minutes
那么，达达主义和杜尚则为后来的解构主义提供了一 个艺术前提—尽管德里达并没有专门谈论达达。 无论如何，这次艺术走在了哲学的前面。黄永砅没有
中国茶叶箱、纸浆、玻璃 Chinese teabox, paper pulp, glass 76.8×48.3×69.9cm 1987/1993
将达达和解构主义联系起来，但是，他却将它们和庄 禅联系起来，认为达达才是庄禅真正的同路人。 不过，艺术，一旦采用艺术的形式，其虚空和无意义
24
实上，也正是受杜尚影响的一批人，成为85新潮中最
来自何处？它们来自各种词与物的碰撞，来自彼此之
有活力的艺术家。他们也据此重写了艺术家的形象：
间的解构。正是这种撞击，使得原先的意义崩溃了，
艺术家不再是画家，不再是呆在画室中安静地或者
但又并不通向一种确切的意义。这是解构主义的方
焦虑地凝视画布的人物，也不再是通过画面图像来
式。现在，一种纯粹涉及观念的艺术开始出现了。它同
自我展示的人物，艺术家现在可以走出画室之外，抛
80年代其他新潮艺术不一样的是， 它不再在生命，
弃画笔和画框，他们将行动、事件和创作融为一体，
激情和人文的层面上逗留，不再是对自我的激进表
既以艺术的方式来挑衅艺术，也以艺术的方式来挑
达，甚至也不是对一般意义上的人的状况的苦苦探
衅社会，从而激起社会和艺术界的巨大喧嚣。也就是
索，它让自己摆脱了笼罩在80年代上空的人文主义情
说，艺术扯掉了它的含蓄面纱，它以其多重意义上的
结，而让自己在纯粹哲学和观念的层面上嬉戏。黄永
亵渎和虚无而变得咄咄逼人。黄永砅将这看作是后
砅的作品，从一开始，就很少谈论个体，谈论他自己，
谈论生命。他有兴趣的是万物的无穷奥妙和观念的伟
或者说，东方传统，只有在艺术的视野中才能被认
大游戏。事实上，当黄永砅将达达和禅宗联系在一起
真地对待。这是他和大部分艺术家不一样的地方。
的时候，他开始了一种观念的游戏。 “达达已经不是
他有达达式的亵渎精神，但是，这种亵渎气质恰好又
西方美术史中的达达，禅宗也不是佛教史意义中的禅
吻合于传统。他发现了传统的另外一面，发现了传统
宗，这种让词语自我碰撞、自行消解的方式，不能不
巫术、神秘和非理性的一面。也就是说，这些非理性
3
说多少有些晦涩。”当黄永砅后来追加补充的时候这
的传统思维正好匹配艺术的思维。这同八十年代对
样说，他恰如其分地把握了二者之间的关系，以及这
传统的理解迥然不同，人们从文化方面将传统理解
种关系可说不可说的界线。事实上，这甚至构成了他
为统治性的孔儒精神，从艺术方面将“传统中国画作
的一个重要的风格化线索。他后来的诸多作品，就像
为封建意识形态的一个方面，它根植在一个绝对封
他所说的让达达和禅宗相互碰撞一样，他也是让完
闭的专制社会里”4（李小山）。而黄永砅作为一个艺
全不同的（语义和语境都不同）诸种观念，诸种物件，
术家探索到传统中，但是同时跳出了孔儒精神和国
诸种事件，也就是说，不同的词与物（词语）相互碰
画传统。这样，他怀疑一切，但是又偏爱传统；他偏
撞。他后来在西方的经历，进一步刺激了这种碰撞，
向传统，但从不试图在那里寻根；他是个艺术家，但
他常常将西方的观念（词语）来比附（或者撞击）东
对传统艺术毫无兴趣；他喜欢传统哲学，但是，他最
方的观念（词语），最后形成的观念（词语）既非东方
终是以当代艺术的方式来进行表述。
的，也非西方的。也可以说，他总是用西方的观念来 消解东方的观念，用东方的观念来消解西方的观念。
实际上，80年代有一批知识分子注意到了中西文化
他让这两种观念相互消解，从而让一种确切的意义和
的沟通问题。西方的一些当代哲学家同东方古老思
观念要么扭曲，要么轰然坍塌。让意义消失，这本身
想的亲近引起了很多人的关注，人们在老子那里发现
就是达达的目标。在这个意义上，断言达达是禅宗但
了海德格尔，在庄子那里发现了德里达。似乎后现代
绝非真正的禅宗；同样，禅宗是达达但绝非真正的达
哲学在某些方面是对东方哲学的出人意料的回归，
达，就是黄永砅一个基本的工作思路。
虽然这些哲学比较在当时仅仅是开端，并不深入。 而黄永砅是在艺术的领域来完成同样的工作，他在
这是一种有意无意的附会，也许只有这种附会才能找
禅宗那里发现了杜尚（实际上，杜尚也完全可以被当
到杜尚在中国的合法性，从而为自己的杜尚式的实践
做一个哲学家来对待）。同哲学家的学院比较不一
找到合法性—我们并非没有这样的传统，西方的当
样的是，他是要把杜尚和达达直接引入到自己的工
代艺术和古典的东方文化之间并非对立，就如同当代
作方式中来。他非常明确地以杜尚／禅宗的方式，以
的西方哲学与东方的古典哲学有相关性一样。杜尚看
对他们的附会方式，来从事艺术活动。就此，从一开
上去匪夷所思的行为，实际上接近东方伟大而神秘的
始，他的作品就并非简单地是对装置艺术的照搬，也
哲学传统。从这个角度而言，黄永砅获得了一种特殊
不是对现成物的盲目处理。这是他和当时大多数装
的历史视野。他甚至是用艺术的目光看待东方传统，
置艺术家的区别所在。对于许多艺术家而言，看到了
25
劳森伯格的展览后，就大胆地使用现成品来从事创
样的东西方文化对话，最终通向的结局是虚空。这是
作，但是，现在看来，这些装置和行为作品，虽然大
彻底的亵渎。而整个过程中的清洗，搅拌，毁灭和亵
大地扩展了艺术实验的范围，但是，它们的作用也随
渎，甚至不需要人来处理，而是用机器来处理，一种
着装置艺术的通俗化而消失了。80年代有无数的现
非人化的生硬的自动的机械般的方式来处理，从而让
成品、装置和行为，但是，它们大都只是作为一个或
亵渎获得更冷漠更无动于衷的效果。是机器，而不是
大或小的事件而偶然地被艺术史所记录。
人，让历史粉身碎骨。对历史的清洗，不是将它变干 净，而是将它无情地擦去，将它抹掉。这种对意义的
而黄永砅或许是最清醒地理解杜尚的艺术家。他早
毁灭，既坚定又随意，既蛮横又嘻嘻哈哈，既粗鲁也
期的作品就是对杜尚的典型运用。在1986年的一个
细致，既刻意也任意。无论如何， “意义”在这种清洗
展览中，黄永砅和厦门达达的成员将美术馆大院内
中灰飞烟灭。这是我们所知道的中国当代艺术（或许
堆放的各种物质直接地移入展览大厅内部，不作特
不仅仅是当代艺术）几十年来的第一次对意义的彻底
殊的处理， “就像它们在露天的情形一样”，他们视
流放。在这个意义上，黄永砅打破了中国当代艺术的
这样的举动为一次袭击，对艺术、美术馆、艺术体制
意义神话和崇高神话。艺术的亵渎之门就此打开。
和观念的袭击。黄永砅的作品不仅开启了对物的重 新思考，也开启了在艺术领域中中西文化一场漫长而 怪异的对话。他的《洗衣机》是这场对话的一个绝妙 序曲—这可能是85新潮中最重要的作品，也是中国 当代艺术的一个里程碑式的作品。在80年代的文化 大讨论中，几乎所有的人都绕不开中西文化的定位和 交流的问题、它们的价值评判问题、它们各自涌现出 的真理问题。也就是说，中西文化到底是什么关系， 对它们究竟应该采取什么态度？这是所有人的问题， 他们都努力地寻求一个确定的答案。但是，对黄永砅 来说，这样的提问没有意义。他介入的方式是典型的 杜尚／禅宗式的。他通过将两本书，一本《中国绘画 史》，一本《现代绘画简史》，放到洗衣机中搅拌了两 分钟，使之变成一堆灰烬。不要说，对话成为灰烬， 两种文化的融合成为灰烬，书籍也成为灰烬，历史成 为灰烬，一切过去的，确定的，已知的文化都成为灰
26
1 黄永砅， 《厦门达达—一种后现代？》，载《’85新潮档案：2》，费大为主编， 上海人民出版社，2007，p215
烬。书作为一个活的载体，一个文献记录，一个人类
2 黄永砅， 《焚烧声明》，同上，p218
所确立的文明的物质载体，在这里都遭到了嘲弄。这
4 李小山， 《当代中国画之我见》，载《江苏画刊》，1985年7月
3 史建， 《黄永砅访谈》，同上，p26
In this article I do not set out to discuss the specific
engaged with cultural salvation, but with cultural
work of Huang Yongping, but attempt to analyze
desecration; rather than setting out to be an artistic
retrospectively the pioneering significance of Huang
giant, he sought instead to be an artistic blasphemer;
Yongping for Chinese contemporary art. Now is
he did seek to establish an artistic philosophy, but
possibly the time to examine the genealog y of
rather to discard artistic philosophy; he did not
contemporary art in China and, to do that, we must
want his works to win a place forever in art history,
go back to the 1980s. This was when Huang Yongping
but wanted them to pass rapidly into oblivion. He
became active. At that time, people were beginning to
chose blasphemy as the means of attaining a sense
discard the modalities of Cultural Revolution art and
of mystery, and adopted destructive and nihilistic
engage in a variety of radical artistic experiments,
posturing to deride the image of the hero.
fomenting var ious explorator y projects. People call the radical artistic experiments of this period,
W hy at this par ticular time (the 1980s can be
the 85 New Wave Art. In general, artists were not
described as an exuberant age in which there was
only inf luenced by Western modernism, but also
a shattered world to address) did an artist and art
by Western philosophy, especially the philosophies
works filled with profanity and nihilism make their
of life (Nietzsche, Sartre, and Freud) that largely
appearance? What art works that vent passion, reveal
focused attention on life, the soul, and self-awareness,
pain, and take redemption as their theme have in
and these works were replete with either passion
common is that they are all inf lexibly devoted to
or rationality; these were the main philosophies
meaning. It was the loss of meaning that caused artists
expressed in the art of the 1980s. The catharsis of
to suffer and feel that life is decay and deprivation.
desire, the religious redemption of the soul, and
Their works are replete with the sense of tragedy.
the reverence for rationality brought with them the
However, this sense of tragedy was a vitally inspiring
convulsions of heroism. This was the mainstream of
stimulant, and like Nietzsche’s Dionysus, they felt that
the 85 New Wave. However, beginning with Huang
through pain they could gain new life. This suffering
Yongping, we can observe a reversal of heroism, the
was seen as deriving from the individual, the eternal
idea that the hero is the opposite of heroic, and the
tragedy of life, the surroundings, and from social
notion the hero signals the appearance of profanity. If
injustice. However, an artist like Huang Yongping was
the usual type of hero seeks redemption in a nihilistic
quite the opposite; he rejected meaning, he mocked
and defeatist environment, then Huang Yongping by
meaning, and even mocked art. He did not proclaim
contrast wants to overthrow myths and render them
pain or the sublime, but advocated nihilism and the
void. In general, his groundbreaking work was not
profane. In fact, if we say that for decades, and even
27
the first to realize this. For Dada, play was the perfect way to resist the sublime; chance was the perfect way to deal with objectives; and, nihilism was the perfect way to deal with inflexibility. As far as Dada was concerned, life was a game of chance and what is inside the dice is devoid of color. Pain and the sublime are not the criteria of either life or art. Life and art are a big game, a big void. In this connection, the artist should give up on Van Gogh’s feelings of 四个轮子的大转盘 Large Turntable with Four Wheels
anger and his inf lexible attachment to “the pistol”, and embrace instead Duchamp’s indifferent “smile”.
涂过油漆的木头 Painted wood
Huang Yongping was the first artist in China to
90×120×120cm
recognize the significance of Dada and Duchamp.
1987
However, he did not simply expropriate Dada. Dada, at source, was disillusionment with the ideals that
for centuries, people were perpetually immersed in
ushered in the Great War; Huang Yongping was tired
a state of anxiety and tension and long held hostage
of truths brought in by a long century of revolution.
by reverence and ideals and the values and criteria
Dada wanted to escape Van Gogh’s suffering; Huang
set in place by that reverence and those ideals, for
Yongping and others wanted to escape the spiritual
which they suffered, then now it seemed possible
anxiety their generation in China had suffered. For
to reject all this and see through the lot. A scorn for
Dada, art does not have specific forms; rather, art
reverence and for suffering had emerged; whether it
can extemporize and reject aesthetics; for Huang
was political reverence, reverence for the spiritual
Yongping, art implies complete desecration, total
life, or artistic reverence. The protracted pursuit of the
skepticism and disbelief, complete rejection: the
sublime ultimately and necessarily led to the rejection
rejection of noble ideals, standards, innovation, and
of the sublime. Humankind for most of the time is
competition. It is in this sense that Huang Yongping
in pursuit of significance and the sublime, but, in
combined Zen and Dada:
certain circumstances, there is invariably a spiritual movement that reverses the trend.
In some spiritual sense, we can say: Zen is Dada, Dada is Zen, and post-modernism is Zen’s modern revival,
In the tradition of Western art, Dada was probably
28
in that they can all be described as completely open
and profound, and basically they do not have aesthetic
shared the premise that art always created meaning,
meaning; they cannot be real about reality, given
regardless of the meaning that was created, and
their skepticism and distrust. In 1922 Tristan Tzara
that all art adhered to certain standards and rules,
proclaimed of Dada in his speech: “The beginnings
regardless of what those standards and rules were.
of Dada were not the beginnings of an art, but of a
The challenge abstract art presented to realistic art
disgust”. It is in the wake of this disgust that non-art
and the challenge modernism presented to realism
or what was not art began its transformation. With
were simply positing one meaning to substitute for
non-art, a new art began, and this was a movement
another or having one mode of expression replace
that liberated everyone, even if not all people wanted
another. Instead, Huang Yongping, inf luenced by
to liberate themselves. In the field of art everything
Dada and Duchamp, was beginning to challenge
was permitted, but this liberation and toleration could
everything. He was not painstakingly proposing
not be praised in and of themselves, because any
any specific meaning, and was not even ref lecting
liberation and the maximum degree of tolerance signify
on how to express any particular meaning. In other
that existence is not real, and so a new art produces
words, he was not concerned with contemplating the
imitations, this being the most notable feature of the
appropriate forms of art, but was rejecting meaning
artist and his new public, in that the boundaries are
as well as all artistic standards and institutions,
blurred, works of art are not accumulated as private
and fundamentally calling for non-art to become
masterpieces and the public must participate or perish.
an art form, or rather, allowing art to become non-
From the beginning our artists began without guns,
art. Like Dada and Duchamp, he tried to expand
but only grins, meaning that artists have rejected the
the concept of art. The 1980s in China were an age
illusion of the sublime, renounced competition and
of artistic innovation and competition, with people
innovation, and rejected all criteria of values. 1
actively engaged in the tortured and tormented effort to create art. But Huang Yongping went in the
Such an artistic attitude - whether it is Dada or Huang
opposite direction; he denigrated art and stressed
Yongping himself – had never previously existed in
in a variety of ways that the approach to art was all
China. There was socialist realism, then the realism
wrong. While most artists had rigid beliefs about
of Chen Danqing and Luo Zhongli, and the various
art, were passionate about art, and maintained that
modernist experiments from the Stars onwards, and
art was an integral aspect of life, Huang Yongping
we can even say that in the entire history of modern
countered that “unless art is eliminated, one can find
art in China, regardless of the stylistic differences,
no peace in life”2 . This disdainful attitude to art, or
disputes, and competition among artists, all artists
rather, this intentionally derogatory attitude to art,
29
was diametrically opposed to the idealism, the tragic
the artist could now synthesize action, event, and
spirit, the heroism, the clamor, the loftiness, and the
creation, so that the mode of art could provoke art
anxiety that characterized his artistic contemporaries
and society, and make an enormous din in society and
and their art. A new trend in art began to emerge. A
in the art world. In other words, art had pulled off its
mode of provocation and mockery appeared, and the
veil of subtlety, and with its profanity and nihilism
complaint was voiced that art should no longer seek
in the face of meanings it became aggressive and
to be classical. It can also be said that laughter, not
threatening. Huang Yongping regarded this as post-
just a wry smile, but hysterical and hearty laughter
modern. For him, Duchamp was a post-modern artist
was breaking out in the art world.
and, as he put it, the art of his contemporaries had been influenced by modernism, but they had failed to
There is no doubt that these were the revolutionary
notice the “post-modern”.
consequences of the int roduction of Dada and
30
Marcel Duchamp, as well as Robert Rauschenberg’s
It is not clear whether or not Huang Yong ping
work. Huang Yongping was immediately attracted
knew about Derrida at that time. Indeed, Derrida’s
to them. He and his small group publicly called
deconstructionism has many points that are close
themselves “Xiamen Dada”. As had happened in the
t o D u ch a m p’s c onc e pt s. Ac c ord i ng t o Hu a ng
West previously, Marcel Duchamp also changed the
Yongping’s understanding, Duchamp’s work did
path of contemporary Chinese art. Throughout the
not set out to explain meaning, but to eliminate
85 New Wave, no other person made such a direct
the interpretation of meaning; he did not seek to
and significant impact on Chinese contemporary art
make judgments or discriminate between various
as Marcel Duchamp (through Robert Rauschenberg).
objects to distinguish between what was high and
I n fact, it was u nder t he i n f luence of Ma rcel
low, but stressed the equality and coexistence of all
Duchamp, that one group of people became the
things; he did not precisely answer questions, but
most dynamic artists of the 85 New Wave. They
regarded all questions and answers as meaningless.
also accordingly rewrote the image of the artist: the
Represented by Marcel Duchamp, the post-modern
artist was no longer a painter, was no longer a person
broke with rigid attachment to presence, rendering,
who remained in his studio tranquilly or anxiously
and meaning, and demolished the various forms of
contemplating the canvas, and was no longer a
empiricism and determinism. It stressed instead the
person who attempted to reveal his own character
void, meaninglessness (or ambiguity of meaning),
through the works he painted. Now the artist could
extemporariness, and caprice; this was contiguous
leave his studio and abandon his brushes and paints;
with many aspects of Derrida’s deconstructionism. If
we say that hyper-realism was the practice of Freud’s
Western art history, nor is Zen the school which has
psychoanalytic practice, then Dada and Duchamp
significance in the history of Buddhism; they are
provided an artistic premise for deconstructionism
just words I collided into and they are free-floating.
later, even though Derrida never specifically talked
But I can say they’re somewhat obscure”3. When
about Dada. In any case, ar t was now ahead of
Huang Yongping later made these comments by way
philosophy. Huang Yongping never linked Dada and
of explanation, he had aptly grasped the relationship
deconstructionism, but he did link Dada and Zen,
between them, as well as how this relationship can
believing Dada to be the true companion of Zhuang
be said to have boundaries, but not have boundaries.
Zi and Zen.
In fact, this even constitutes one of the clues to his important stylization. Many of his later works, as
However, how does art, as soon as it has adopted
he said, allow Dada and Zen to collide, and he was
artistic form, handle emptiness and meaninglessness?
fond of allowing concepts, as well as objects and
They are derived from the impact of words and things,
events, that are completely different (semantically
and need to be deconstructed into their sources. It is
and contextually) to collide; in the same way he
this impact that causes original meanings to collapse,
allows different words and things (words) to collide.
but does not lead to any definite meaning. This is the
In his experiences later in the West, he was further
method of deconstruction. Now, an art purely related
stimulated to orchestrate such collisions, often
to concepts began to emerge. Unlike other new wave
combining Western concepts (words) as analogies (or
arts of the 1980s, art no longer lingered around the
collisions) with Eastern concepts (words), eventually
levels of life, passion, and humanity, no longer gave
forming concepts (words) that were neither Eastern,
radical expression to the self, nor even strenuously
nor Western. We can also say that he always used
sought to explore human states in the general sense;
Western concepts to dissolve and break up Eastern
instead it threw off the view of the humanistic
concepts, and vice-versa. He allowed these two
complex that shrouded the atmosphere in the 1980s
sets of concepts to break each other up, and so
and played on its own level of pure philosophy and
precise meaning and concept were distorted, or
concepts. Huang Yongping’s works, from the outset,
totally exploded and collapsed. He made meanings
rarely discussed the individual, himself, or life. He
disappear, which was in itself the goal of Dada. In
was interested in the infinite mystery of things and
this sense, his assertion that Dada is Zen but not real
the grand play of ideas. In fact, it was when Huang
Zen, and similarly that Zen is Dada but never real
Yongping linked Dada and Zen that he initiated a
Dada was a basic line of thinking running through
game of concepts. “Dada is no longer the Dada of
Huang Yongping’s work.
31
contemporar y Wester n philosophy and classical Eastern philosophy. Duchamp’s seemingly eccentric behavior was, in fact, very close to the great mystic tradition of Oriental philosophy. From this point of view, Huang Yongping acquired a unique historical perspective. He even looked at the oriental tradition through the eyes of ar t; in other words Easter n traditions can only be seriously received through the artistic vision. This is where he was different from most other artists. He had the Dada spirit of profanity, but this profane temperament happened to be consistent with tradition. He found another other side of the t radition, in his discover y of traditional shamanism, mysticism, and the irrational. In other words, this irrational traditional thinking exactly matched his artistic thought. This was a diametrical divergence from the understanding of 2000-2046年的旅行指南 Travel Guide for 2000–2046
the tradition in the 1980s, when people culturally interpreted tradition as the domineering spirit of the
铜条、印制标签、装裱在木材上的地图 Bronze, printed labels, map framed on wood 304.8×94cm 2000
Confucian scholars, and from the perspective of art saw “traditional Chinese painting as an aspect of feudal ideology, rooted in a dictatorial society that was absolutely closed”4 (Li Xiaoshan). Yet Huang
32
T h is wa s a n i nt e nt ion al ly or u n i nt e nt ion al ly
Yongping, as an artist exploring the tradition, was
false analogy, but perhaps only by resor ting to
at the same time leaping away from the spirit of
such a strained interpretation has Duchamp been
the Confucian scholars and the Chinese painting
legitimized in China, and has his own Duchampian
tradition. In this way, he was skeptical of everything,
practice also found legitimacy. It is not that we do
but had a fondness for the traditional; in fact he
not have such a tradition; Western contemporary
preferred the traditional, but never sought to find
art and classical Oriental culture are not necessarily
his roots there. As an artist, but he had no interest
antagonistic, just as there are resonances between
in the traditional arts; he was fond of traditionals
ph i losophy, but he u lt i m at ely ex pla i ne d it i n
art. In the 1980s there were countless ready-mades,
contemporary artistic terms.
installations and performance art, but most of them, whether large or small events, are only occasionally
In fact, one group of intellect uals in the 1980s
mentioned in art histories.
d id d i r e c t t hei r at t e nt ion t o is s ue s r ega rd i ng t he i nt e r a ct ion bet ween Ch i nese a nd West e r n
Hu a ng Yong pi ng h a s p e r h ap s t he mo st lucid
cultures. Many also noted that some contemporary
understanding of Duchamp as an artist. His early
philosophers in the West were also close to ancient
works were the typical use of Duchamp. At an
Eastern ideas. People found Heidegger in Lao Zi, and
exhibition in 1986, Huang Yongping and members
Derrida in Zhuang Zi. Post-modern philosophy in
of Xiamen Dada simply moved everything stacked
some ways seemed to return unexpectedly to Eastern
in the grounds of the National Ar t Museum of
philosophy, although such philosophical comparisons
China into the exhibition hall and left it there
were only preliminary and not thorough. Huang
just as they had found it outside, but their action
Yongping did similar work in the field of art, with
was seen as an attack on art, on the Museum, on
his discovery of Duchamp in Zen (in fact, Duchamp
China’s art system, and on concepts themselves.
can also be regarded as a philosopher). How Huang
Hu a ng Yong pi ng’s work s not on ly i n it iated a
differed from academic philosophers is that he took
reconsideration of things; they have also opened
Dada and Marcel Duchamp directly into his own
up extended and fantastic dialog ues in the ar t
style of work. He explicitly used Duchampian/Zen
world between Chinese and Western cultures. His
modes and their style of putative analogies in his
Washing Machine was a wonderful overture in this
own artistic activities. In this connection, his works
dialogue; it is possibly one the 85 New Wave’s most
from the outset have not simply been appropriations
important works, as well as being a landmark work
of installation art or blindly arranged ready-mades.
in Chinese contemporary art. In the large-scale
This is the difference between his work and that of
cultural debates of the 1980s, almost all participants
other contemporary installation artists. Many artists,
constantly circled around the questions related to
after seeing Robert Rauschenberg’s exhibition, boldly
the positioning and the interaction of Chinese and
used off-the-shelf products in their creative work, but
Western cultures, value judgment issues, and the
looking at their installations and performance works
questions of truths that emerged. In other words, the
today, it seems that while they might have greatly
debates kept asking what the relationship between
expanded the scope of experimentation, their role also
Chinese and Western cultures was, and what attitude
disappeared with the popularization of installation
should be adopted? T hese were t he quest ions
33
everyone was asking, and everyone was striving
and arbitrary. In any case, “meaning”, as a result of this
to come up with definitive answers. However, for
cleansing, was reduced to dust. This was the first time
Huang Yongping, the questions themselves did not
we know in the decades of Chinese contemporary art
make any sense. His intervention was in the typical
(and maybe not only contemporary art) that meaning
Duchampian/Zen mode. He placed his two books,
was sent off packing into exile. In this sense, Huang
The History of Chinese Painting and The Concise
Yongping shattered the myths of meaning and of the
History of Modern Painting, in the washing machine
sublime in contemporary Chinese art. With this, the
and agitated them for two minutes, reducing them
door of artistic profanity was wide open.
to a pile of pulp. It goes without saying that the dialogue was pulp, the fusion of the two cultures was pulp, books also become pulp, history becomes
Wang Min’an
pulp; everything past, affirmed, and the cultures with which we are familiar are all reduced to pulped. A book is a medium of life, a documentary record, and a material carrier by which humankind affirms civilization, and here it was, completely mocked. Such a cultural dialogue between East and West eventually led to a conclusion that was void; this was outright profanity. Throughout the process of cleansing, spinning, agitation, destruction, and desecration, no one was required to handle the process. A machine was used instead. Handling objects usi ng such dehu man ized , ha rd- edged , automated a nd mecha n ical met hod s produces desecrated, cold, and emotionally indifferent results. It is machines, rather than people, that shred history. If cleaning up history is not wiping it clean, then it is mercilessly erasing or rubbing it away.
1 Huang Yongping, “Xiamen Dada – Postmodern?”，in Fei Dawei, ed., The 85 New Wave Art Archive: II (Shanghai People’s Press, 2007) p215
The destruction of meaning is resolute and random, barbaric and hilarious, crude and meticulous, deliberate
34
2 Ibid., p218 3 Ibid., p26 4 Li Xiaoshan, “Sentiments on Chinese Paintings”, Jiangshu Art Journal, July, 1985
艺术家简介 Artist Biography
Huang Yongping was bor n in 1954 in Xiamen. Since 1984, he has lived and worked in Paris. As a non-Western artist based in the West, the artist is especially skilled at utilizing cultural diversity in making ar t. Plumbing the depths of Chinese traditional culture, the artist looks for symbols in texts like The Book of Changes, The Classic of Mountains and Seas and The Philosophers of 黄永砅 Huang Yongping
Huainan, to construct a dialogue with contemporary culture. In exploring the dialectic between the seen and the unseen, he ceaselessly expands and enriches t he mea n i ng of codes. Mea nwh ile, i n t u r n i ng
黄永砅1954年出生于中国福建厦门，自1989年起生
inexplicable social events into contemporary fables,
活、工作于巴黎。作为一位在西方从事艺术的非西方
the artist creates both multidimensional realities and
艺术家，黄永砅擅长运用文化背景的差异性来进行
imaginary space through constant transformations
工作。他深度挖掘中国传统的文化脉络，从《易经》、
and disassemblies.
《山海经》、《淮南子》等文本中找寻与当代文化对 话的象征物，在隐（藏）和喻（明）的辩证中，不断拓
From t he X ia me n Da d a g roup i n 1986 t o h is
展、丰富符码的意义。另一方面，他不断地为社会事
participation in the 1989 Magicens de la terre exhibit
件留下难以消化的“尾巴”，将它们点化为当代寓言，
at Centre Pompidou, Huang Yongping has regularly
拆解出多维的现实与想象空间。
shown at museums around the world. His recent solo exhibitions include Huang Yongping at Nottingham
从1986年的“厦门达达”，到1989年受法国蓬皮杜
Contemporar y ( U K 2011); Huang Yong ping at
艺术中心邀请参加“大地魔术师”展览，黄永砅开
Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse (Lille 2012); and
始在世界各地的美术馆实施展览项目。近年个展包
Amoy/Xiamen at M AC Lyon (France 2013). I n
括： “黄永砅”，诺丁汉当代艺术中心（2011）； “黄永
addition to museum spaces, Hong Yongping has
砅”，里尔伯爵夫人济贫院博物馆（2012）； “Amoy／
also created work at Chapelle des Petits Augustins
厦门”，里昂当代美术馆（2013）。除了美术馆空间，黄
in Paris and at Musée Océanographique in Monaco.
永砅曾在巴黎小奥古斯丁礼堂、摩洛哥海洋美术馆进
In 2014, Huang Yongping was featured in Red Brick
行在地创作。2014年黄永砅参加了红砖美术馆开馆展
Art Museum’s inaugural exhibition Tales from the
“太平广记”。
Taiping Era.
35
作品分布 Layout of the exhibition
36
千手观音视频
3号展厅
Guan-yin of a Thousand Hands Video
Gallery 3
千手观音
6号展厅
Guan-yin of a Thousand Hands
Gallery 6
桃花源记（421-2008）
7号展厅
Preface to the Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring (421-2008)
Gallery 7
马戏团
8号展厅
Circus
Gallery 8
37
自驾：机场高速北皋出口，上京密路（顺义方向），经来广营东路至马泉营 西路，北行至顺白路丁字路口左转 250 米即到。 BY CAR: Take the Airport Expressway to the Beigao Exit. After passing through the toll gate, bear right and get on the road to Shunyi, called Jingmi Road. At the first stop light, turn left onto Laiguangying East Road. At the third stop light, turn right onto the Maquanying West Road. At the end of the road turn left onto the Shunbai Road. The museum is on the right side of the road.
地铁：15 号线马泉营站 B 口 公交：944 路何各庄站、988 路香江北路西口站 BY SUBWAY: Line 15 - Maquanying Station, Exit B. BY BUS: 944 - Hegezhuang Stop 988 - Xiangjiangbeiluxikou Stop
地址：北京市朝阳区崔各庄乡何各庄 Add: Hegezhuang, Cuigezhuang Village, Chaoyang District, Beijing 开馆时间：周二至周日 10:00 – 17:00，周一闭馆 Opening Hours: 10am – 5pm, Tuesday – Sunday, Closed on Mondays Tel: +86 10 8457 6669 info@redbrickartmuseum.org www.redbrickartmuseum.org
38
39
“太平广记”之结束—《马戏团》的到来 The Conclusion of Tales from the Taiping Era – the Arrival of the Circus 2014.10.17 – 2015.1.16
主办 : 红砖美术馆 出品人 : 闫士杰 曹梅 艺术家 : 黄永砅 策展人 : 郭晓彦 Organizer: Red Brick Art Museum Producers: Yan Shijie, Cao Mei Artist: Huang Yongping Curator: Guo Xiaoyan 出版 : 红砖美术馆 主编 : 唐泽慧 编辑 : 谷静、秦映汇
翻译 : 陶步思 设计总监 : m 设计 : 王倩 摄影 : 邢宇 Publisher: Red Brick Art Museum Chief Editor: Tang Zehui Editors: Gu Jing, Qin Yinghui
Translator: Bruce Doar Design Director: Mei Shuzhi Designer: Wang Qian Photographer: Xing Yu 2014 红砖美术馆，艺术家，作者版权所属。未经出版方授权，任何单位和个 人不得擅自对本出版物进行复制、销售、翻译出版和使用，翻印必究。 ©2014 Red Brick Art Museum, the artists, and the authors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
40
Preface to the Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring (421-2008) Huang Yongping
桃花源记（421-2008）
《桃花源记》我是通过2008年广州三年展早些时候发的一份“关于展览构架”的文字材料中得 到，它放在展览整体框架的两个主题之中： “盛墟”与“桃花源记”。在临近展览的最后文稿中， 这些字眼消失了，使我有重新阅读《桃花源记》原文的愿望。我的意思是说， 《桃花源记》起因 于衰世，衰世才会想起“桃花源”。借这一阅读我将绕过此届三年展的主要议题或题目，从原 文出发。但“出发”的原义是“离开”，所谓的阅读原文的意义就在于离开原文。 《桃花源记》原 文并无分段落，去标点共三百二十一字，为叙述方便，将原文分为十二个段落：
1、 “晋太元中，武陵人捕鱼为业。缘溪行，忘路之远近。” “晋太元”在公元376-396年之间，中 期约380年间，陶潜写此文约在421年，正处在晋末衰世。420年刘裕废晋恭帝司马德文，自立为 南朝宋武帝，三年后422年换少帝刘义符，二年后又改文帝刘义隆。421年距他写故事发生的时 间380年约41年。他41岁那年弃官归隐。 “武陵人”今湖南常德，附近有桃源县，距离（常德）约50 公里。 “捕鱼为业”，渔人，普通职业，卑微之人。 “缘溪行”，顺路，没有特殊性。 “忘路之远 近”，渔人专心求鱼心切，故忘远近。 “忘”，心的某些意识逃离。渔人的目的在于鱼，其他的事 情则处在无意识之中。
2、 “忽逢桃花林。夹岸数百步，中无杂树，芳草鲜美，落英缤纷。渔人甚异之。复前行，欲穷其 林。” “忽”和“忘”都是在心的把握之外。忽然出现一个明显标志，但遇于偶然性之中。第一次 出现“桃”字， “桃花林”也许跟桃源县有关。 “夹岸数百步，中无杂树，芳草鲜美，落英缤纷。” 渔人处在衰世之中，他所经过的地方可能是荒草荒地，并无人烟和兽迹，也没有固定地方得 鱼，作为公共财产的鱼也减少，故只是四处奔走并无目标。 “桃花林”此时此地如此集中，盛世 和衰世的差别，但还不是边界，只是一些前识先兆，只是衰世如此紧紧地临近着盛世。在原文 中，其实“桃”字连同标题仅出现两次，但它如此触目，后世只要接触到“桃”、 “桃花”、 “桃花 源”便知道另一世界的开始。如果我们想到1964年“桃园经验”也无意中用了“桃”字，以及它 “欲穷其林”。 所带来的厄运，不得不和渔人一样惊异。渔人已经有了新的目标—
3、 “林尽水源，便得一山。山有小口，仿佛若有光。便舍船，从口入。初极狭，才通人。复行数十 步，豁然开朗。”这一新目标对一个渔人来说并没有带来好处，桃花林结束了，到了水的源头， 鱼也终结了。 “山”在这里另有所指，无论溪水、河水、江湖、大海，水在本质上是连在一起的。 “山”也可以是大山，另一个大陆，或另一个洲，水把它们分割开来。 “山”没有拒绝来者，也没 有大开门户，只是“小口”和“仿佛若有光”。所以这一通道也许是直线形的，也许是略有弯曲，
但不长， “数十步”。前面说到桃花林也不大， “夹岸数百步”，可用步量。我们知道现实中存在 着不同的“丈量”，当我们在飞行的飞机中踱步丈量距离时，已经不同（于）在地面上踱步那种距 离。古代称为“缩地术”， “能缩地脉，千里存在，目前宛然，放之复舒如旧。”这里引用的是《神 仙传》中的《壶公传》或《费长房传》。壶公“常悬一空壶于屋上，日入之后，公跳入壶中，人莫 能见”。而《桃花源记》中的“从口入。初极狭，才通人。复行数十步，豁然开朗”很像壶公之壶， 但仅此而已。费长房随壶公跃入壶中， “果不觉已入，入后不复是壶，唯见仙宫世界，楼观重门 阁道……”。从衰世过来的人（渔人），或是受衰世→盛世→再衰世→再盛世，又重新落入衰 世的世代焦虑来说， “豁然开朗”带来的不是魏晋时期盛行的“仙宫世界”，它带来一种“现代 性”，一个现实的世界。
数十步
或数十小时 口1 口2
小口
豁然开朗
4、 “土地平旷，屋舍俨然，有良田美池桑竹之属。阡陌交通，鸡犬相闻。其中往来耕作，男女衣 着，悉如外人。黄发垂髫，并怡然自乐。”如果我们不把这些描述放在历来“桃花源”的框架上， 尽管历来对“天堂”的描述也无法摆脱地面现实的参照，如果我们把它当作另一个地面现实的 如实描述， “悉如外人”， “外人”一词是重要的，我们今天对“外国人”一词是直白明确的，我们 知道所指的是什么。每一个第一次来欧美旅行的人（非欧美人），如果你愿意坦诚地说，当你从 飞机上，在降落的时候，你的第一个俯视印象，难道不是“土地平旷，屋舍俨然，有良田美池桑 竹之属。阡陌交通（南北交通），鸡犬相闻”。当你着陆时，难道不是 “男女衣着，悉如外人。黄 发垂髫，并怡然自乐”。 “黄发垂髫”，按1696年康熙年间《古文观止》的注释： “黄发，老人发白 转黄。髫，小儿垂发，并注明：纯然古风。”但“黄发”明摆着不是“金发”，汉人黑发老了转白，但 无论如何不可能由白再转为金黄。 “鸡犬相闻”可能来自《老子》八十章中“甘其食，美其服，安 其居，乐其俗。邻国相望，鸡犬相闻，民至老死，不相往来”。这段文字要么看作是“纯然古风”， 要么被看作“蒙昧时期”的倒退，但在今日欧洲，难道不是“邻国相望”。 “鸡犬相闻”如果是个 和平景象，而不是“鸡飞狗叫”的兵荒年代， “民至老死，不相往来”也不是不交往，而是互不干 “民至老死”甚至更长。这是一个现实 扰，一个国家和另一个国家可以保持八九十年的相安— 的现代性社会，我们是在讨论俄裔法国哲学家科耶夫（Alexander Kojève）提出的“普遍同质的 国家”的观念，或是讨论日裔美国哲学家福山（Francis Fukuyama）提出的“后历史世界”。
飞行时间
口2
口1
豁然开朗
小口
5、 “见渔人，乃大惊。问所从来，具答之。便要还家，设酒（杀鸡）作食。村中闻有此人，咸来问 讯。”一开始渔人遇到桃花林“甚异之”，现在， “桃花源”中人“见渔人，乃大惊”，虽然在同 一世界中，但生活在后历史世界与历史世界的人，仍然有很大差别。无论如何， “桃花林”、 “林 尽水源”、 “山有口”、 “豁然开朗”诸多信息和循进过程已经给历史世界的人（渔人）诸多准 备。但“渔人”一旦主动出现在后历史世界，不管他是从合法的“小口”进入，还是从其他旁门 左道非法进入， “乃大惊”。惊异产生好奇，在今天一个外国人碰到另一个外国人，难道第一句 不就是问其原籍“问所从来”。 “便要还家”， “要”和“邀”音意类同，邀请到家。 “设酒杀鸡作 食”和“皆出酒食”，从一个空中观看到着陆后的初步印象，进而具体与“外人”接触。从一个宏 观的管理完善合理、经济活动丰富的社会到普通人家，随手拿出酒、鸡招待客人，这对于一个 从衰世或历史世界过来的人是富足的，富足且好客。
6、 “自云先世避秦时乱，率妻子邑人来此绝境，不复出焉，遂与外人间隔。” “绝境”传统解释 是指和社会现实隔绝，在这里“绝境”是否可以解释为“历史的终结”。 “不复出焉”是否在讨论 历史终结之后可能又重新开始，只是他们选择“不复出焉，遂与外人间隔”。一部分历史已经终 结，其他部分尚在沿续，但无意识地朝着终结发展， “外人”尚在，两部分历史在很长时间内将 同时存在。如果全部的人类历史已经终结，便无“外人”可言。
7、 “问今是何世，乃不知有汉，无论魏晋。此人一一为具言所闻，皆叹惋。余人各复延至其家， 皆出酒食。”尽管后历史世界也是从历史世界中发展而来， “自云先世避秦时乱......”，或是如 黑格尔在1806年的“耶拿战役”中看到历史的终结。对后历史世界的人“问今是何世”已经没有 意义，因为构成以往或现在仍然存在的历史世界中，无论是揭竿而起，或是改朝换代的少数英 雄、多数贫困的历史，对那些为所谓民族、国家而革命、而战斗、而生、而死的历史经验已感到 厌倦，只剩下酒食后的“叹惋”。
口2
世无盛衰
口1
秦之后 628年间 秦人
秦
盛 衰
汉
盛 426年 衰
魏
盛 衰
晋
盛 156年 衰
15年
桃花源的模式
46年
豁然开朗 小口
口1
口2
普遍 同质的国家
盛衰交替
持久的
异质国家
非持久的
普遍同质国家 的模式
历史世界
后历史世界 豁然开朗 小口
在讨论“普遍同质的国家”或是“后历史世界”中，我们不得不同时讨论尼采的“末人”。按尼采的 说法， “末人” “不再富裕或者贫穷—不再统治和被统治—大家都是平等—有自己的小快 “末人：一种类型的中国人。” 乐—他们珍爱健康”，而且在他未完成的遗稿中，有如下笔录：
秦 汉 口2
口1
魏 晋
末人
盛 衰
隋
盛 衰
宋 元 明 小口
盛 盛 衰 衰 盛 衰
南北
唐
豁然开朗
盛 衰
清
盛 衰
末人有时被认为是处在于盛 衰之 外的盛世，有时被认为 是处在盛衰之外的衰世。
盛 衰 盛 衰 盛 衰 盛 衰
“桃花源”中的“秦人”并未处在盛衰循环之中。所以“秦人”与“普通同质的国家”、 “后历史世 界”、 “末人”都是相似的，最重要的相似是他们都已经达到自身的终点。
8、 “停数日，辞去。此中人语云：不足为外人道也。”是什么原因促使渔人想回去，是盛情的款 待和关心？渔人处在“桃花源”之内和之外的界线上犹豫和矛盾之中，当历史该终结之时，仍 然想着历史，与现实的关系就颠倒了。此中人对渔人也是矛盾的， “不足为外人道也”的意思是 “你肯定会跟外人说”或是“你应该跟外人说”，因为口是存在的，消息必被外传。而且，后历史 世界必然要影响历史世界。渔人希望一脚踏进后历史世界，一脚留在历史世界，后来证明是行 不通的。全文出现了三次不同含义的“外人”： “悉如外人”—和渔人同族相对的外人，理想中 的人是外人； “遂与外人间隔”—桃源人先于别人，终结了自己的历史，使自己成为外人的外 人； “不足为外人道也”—把渔人当作自己人，因为后历史世界的人的使命就是包容所有历史 世界的人，渔人就被迫处在双重的外人之中。到此为止， “桃花源”的信息中断了。
9、 “既出，得其船，便扶向路，处处志之。”渔人想必是从同样一条路出去，因为他找到他丢下 的船， “桃花源”留有唯一的口，出口和入口是同样的口，就像“普遍同质的国家”或“历史的终 结”尚留有缺口一样。渔人为什么不留在“桃花源”，他身处在晋末衰世难道不指望有一个盛世 的到来？他不知道所有这些世代改换的历史只是无意识地要达到这一“不知有汉，无论魏晋” 的普遍同质的国家，他已先于他人到达，他是无意识的，无意识是那个“小口”。渔人决意离去 是否也无意中煽动了对“普遍同质的国家”的不满，尽管他面对着是一个普遍满意的场面，他 也不清楚“不满”是个使命，他只是清楚地意识到应该把这条路仔细记下来，因为返回也是一种 “豁然开朗”。
盛衰循环 普遍同质国家
末人 异质国家
无盛衰
小口 豁然开朗
小口 豁然开朗
10、 “及郡下，诣太守，说如此。太守即遣人随其往，寻向所志，遂迷不复得路。”陶潜写如何去 “桃花源”写得很详细，因为是无意识，如何回来却写得很简约。渔人自从发现了末人，便带有 末人的痕迹，他把大地变小，并带着他的好消息： “我们发现了满意。” “及郡下，诣太守，说如 此。” “太守”，所有统治权力和大小政治官僚的象征。 “说如此”，但我们仍然不清楚渔人说了 些什么，他发现了什么，是发现了现代的西方社会，还是发现仍然活到今天的“秦人”，是发现
了“普遍同质的国家”，还是发现终结历史的“末人”？总之这些意向都是混杂在一起，有些部 分是互相重叠，有些部分是相互矛盾的。但有一点是肯定的，渔人没有想到要充当非法的革命 者，尽管他已回到革命的语境之中，而是“及郡下，诣太守”，以求获得正统。渔人还是像奴隶一 样卑微，太守还是像主人一样傲慢，正是这种模式的保存，使通往这一可能世界或另一现实世 界的路自动关闭。
11、 “南阳刘子骥，高尚士也，闻之，欣然规往。未果，寻病终。”在《晋书》“隐逸”类有《刘驎 子传》记载： “刘驎之，字子骥，南阳人，光禄大夫耽之族也……志存遯逸，尝采药至衡山，深 入忘返。见有一涧水，水南有二石囷，一囷闭，一囷开。水深广不得过，欲还失道。遇伐弓人问 径，后得还家。或说囷中皆仙灵方药及诸杂物。驎之更寻索，终不复知处也。……”上述两种经 历类同，尤其是作为向导的“伐弓人”和“渔人”都是无名的卑微者。但陶潜作了三个地方改动， 他用刘驎之的字，而不用他的名。刘驎之是为了寻“仙灵方药”，像魏晋时代大多数隐士。而《桃 花源记》中刘子骥是为了寻找“另一社会”。 《晋书》中说刘驎之“卒以寿终”，陶潜把他改为“未 果，寻病终”。 “寻”，不久，也有“寻找”的含义，他病终成了那段“寻找”的直接后果，增加了那 些急于想探找另一个“终极”或“满意”的解决方案的人的危险性。陶潜41岁才离官归隐，刘子 骥士大夫出身， “官”和“隐”有着内在关系，官是隐现，隐是官匿。
12、 “后遂无问津者。”不但是有意识去问的人没有了，而且是无意识的门已被关掉。因为问总 是在门里。陶潜作为“古今隐逸诗人之宗”，他开了这扇门又自己关上，留下（的）只是一个空洞 “隐逸”。从晋末到1648年明末，一千多年的历史“隐逸”就这样被固定下来，直至 “类型”— 《清史稿》才改为“遗逸”，并专门来指明末后未能顺应改朝换代的遗老遗少。在一个持续盛衰 循环的历史世界中， “隐逸”还是被或明或暗地“鼓励”，尽管我们有充分理由怀疑在“花园”或 “田园”或“桃花源”下的秘密。
黄永砅 08/08/08
Preface to the Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring (421-2008) Huang Yongping
I encountered the Preface to the Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring when the Third Guangzhou Triennial was still in planning. I saw the reference of the Preface in an article introducing the Triennial’s themes and structure. The name “Preface to the Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring” was inserted between two themes of the Triennial. It was placed together with the phrase “flourishing ruin”. As the Triennial approached, I could not find this reference in the revised article any more. This made me go back to the original text. What I mean is that the Preface to the Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring was created in a period of disunity and decline because only in such a period people would conceive such a world in the story. I would like to skip the Triennial’s central topics or themes through a reading of the preface. To depart from the text of the preface also means to leave the text, to move away from it. The preface contains 321 characters (without punctuation marks) with no divisions. But I divide the text into the following twelve segments to facilitate my reading.
1. “During the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty, there was a man of Wuling who caught fish for a living. Once he was making his way up a valley stream and had lost track of how far he had gone…”
The story happened in the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty (376-396ADE). The middle of the era can be approximately dated to 380. The poet Tao Yuanming wrote this preface in around 421, a time of decline and political conflicts. In 420 Liu Yu overthrew the emperor of the Jin Dynasty and Sima Dewen established himself as the emperor of the song in the Southern Dynasties. Three years later, young Liu Yifu became the new emperor, who was to be succeeded by Liu Yilong in two years. From the year 380 when the story began to the year 421 when Tao Yuanming wrote this preface there is about 41years. At the age of 41, Tao Yuanming quitted his official post to retire to the countryside. “Wuling is located in Changde city in Hunan Province. Peach Blossom Spring prefecture is about 50 kilometers from Changde. The man of Wuling’s was a fisherman, a quite ordinary man with an ordinary job. The sentence that “he was making his way up a valley stream” means the trip was not planned or special. The fisherman “lost track
of how far he had gone” suggests that he was focusing on fishing. Being “lost track” alludes to the state of letting go part of our consciousness. Since the fisherman was concentrating on fishing he forgot about other things.
2. “…when he suddenly came upon a forest of peach trees in bloom. For several hundred paces on either bank of the stream there were no other trees to be seen, but fragrant grasses, fresh and beautiful, and falling petals whirling all around. The fisherman, astonished at such a sight, pushed ahead, hoping to see what lay beyond the forest.”
In the passage above, the word “suddenly” as well the phrase “lost track of” in section 1, express how one feels when some noticeable things appears all of a sudden. But the encounter in the story happened purely by chance. The word “peach” appears for the first time in the entire preface. This “forest of peach trees” might have something to do with Peach Blossom Spring prefecture. The description “For several hundred paces on either bank of the stream there were no other trees to be seen, but fragrant grasses, fresh and beautiful, and falling petals whirling all around” suggests that since the fisherman lived in a period of chaos and decline, places he had visited might be wilderness without humans or animals. There were no places for him to fish regularly and open sources of fish must be shrinking as well. So he had to move around without specific destinations in mind. The lush peach trees in bloom foreshadowed contrasts between a prosperous, peaceful world and a declining world outside. In the entire preface, the character “peach” appears only in two places including the one in the title. But it has left such a strong impression on the Chinese mind. Words and phrases such as peach, peach blossoms, the Peach Blossom Spring immediately evoke the idea of another realm. It is noteworthy that the 1964 Lessons from Taoyuan (Peach Orchard) also used the word peach. But like the fisherman, we were astonished by its disastrous results. The text “…hoping to see what lay beyond the forest” indicates that the fisherman had a new goal.
3. “When the forest ended there was a spring that fed the stream, and beyond that a hill. The hill had a small opening in it, from which there seemed to come a gleam of light. Abandoning his boat, the fisherman went through the opening. At first it was very narrow, with barely room for a person to pass, but after he had gone twenty or thirty paces, it suddenly opened out and he could see clearly.”
The fisherman’s new goal did not seem very rewarding. The forest of peach trees ended and he reached the source of the stream where no fish could be found. The character Shan (hill/ mountain) in the passage may have another layer of meaning. Bodies of water are essentially connected, whether they are streams, rivers, lakes, or seas. Shan can refer to high mountains or continents. Water can separate two hills, mountains or continents. The hill did not reject the visiting fisherman, neither did it embrace him. There was “a small opening in it, from which there seemed to come a gleam of light”. So the passage way might be linear or curved. It was not long because the fisherman walked only twenty or thirty paces. Section 2 mentions that the forest of peach trees stretched “several hundred paces on either bank of the stream”. It might not be very large since it could be measured by pace. We know that there are many different ways to measure things in our life. For example, the size of things we measure by pace on an airplane might radically differ from the size of things we measure in the same way on the ground. It recalls an ancient land-shrinking technique with which “a piece of land stretching thousands of miles can be shrunk and unfolded in front of our eyes. When released, it comes back to its original size.” The following reference comes from the book the Biographies of Immortals. According to the Biography of the Pot Master in the book, the pot master often hang an empty pot in his room. After the sunset, he would jump into the pot and nobody could see him.” The account in the Preface to the Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring “…the fisherman went through the opening. At first it was very narrow, with barely room for a person to pass, but after he had gone twenty or thirty paces, it suddenly opened out and he could see clearly” is reminiscent of the pot master. In the story of the pot master, a person named Fei Changfang went into the pot following the pot master. Fei “did not feel that he was in the pot. There were celestial palaces and other buildings…” For those who came from a declining world (like the fisherman) or those who experienced the world’s endless cycle of rise and fall, a place that “… suddenly opened out” revealed not an imaginary world where immortals lived, but a kind of “modernity”, a real world.
twenty or thirty paces
or twenty or thirty hours entrance 1 entrance 2 suddenly open out
small opening
4. “A plan stretched before him, broad and flat, with houses and heds dotting it, and rich fields, pretty ponds, and mulberry and bamboo around them. Paths ran north and south, east and west across the fields, and chickens and dogs could be heard from farm to farm. The men and women who passed back and forth in the midst, sowing and tilling the fields, were all dressed just like any other people, and from yellow-haired elders to youngsters with their hair unbound, everyone seemed carefree and happy.” flight time
entrance 1 small opening entrance 2 suddenly open out
If we move away from the context of the Peach Blossom Spring, we will see that all descriptions of paradise are based on our real world. The concept of “other people/foreigner” is important. Today we have a very clear idea about what it means. If you ask any first-time visitor (non-EuroAmerican) to Europe or America about his/her first impression about the place at the time when the airplane is landing, won’t his/her honest answer be just like this: “A plan stretched before him, broad and flat, with houses and heds dot-ting it, and rich fields, pretty ponds, and mulberry and bamboo around them. Paths ran north and south, east and west across the fields, and chicken and dogs could be heard from farm to farm”? When he/she steps onto the land, doesn’t he/she see: “The men and women who passed back and forth in the midst, sowing and tilling the fields, were all dressed just like any other people, and from yellow-haired elders to youngsters with their hair unbound, everyone seemed carefree and happy”? According to a note from Gu Wen Guan Zhi(1696) , “yellow hair” is use in the Preface to the Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring because elders’ white hair turned yellow, and the character tiao means youngsters’ unbound hair. It also notes that this was purely an ancient custom. But when the dark hair of the Chinese people turned white, how could their white hair turn yellow or golden? Yellow hair obvious means blond hair. The text “…chickens and dogs could be heard from farm to farm” might come from the book Laozi. In Chapter 80 it is stated, “(people) enjoy their food, appreciate their cloths, and find pleasure in their custom. Neighboring kingdoms are facing each other. Chickens and dogs can be
heard. People won’t disturb each other throughout their life.” The scene in Laozi has been viewed either as a pure world in ancient times, or a backward place. But is it not true that neighboring countries are facing each other in Europe today? The scene in which “Chickens and dogs could be heard” indicates a peaceful time rather than a time of war when chickens are flying and dogs are jumping. “People won’t disturb each other throughout their life” and countries can maintain their friendly relationship for eighty or ninety years, or even longer depending on the life expectancy of the people. This is a depiction of a reality in modern society, corresponding to the Russian-French philosopher Alexander Kojeve’s the universal and homogeneous state or the Japanese-American Francis Fukuyama’s post-historical world.
5. “The people, seeing the fisherman, were greatly startled and asked where he had come from. When he had answered all their questions, they invited him to return with them to their home, where they set out wine and killed a chicken to prepare a meal. As soon as the others in the village heard of his arrival, they all came to greet him.”
When the fisherman first saw the forest of peach trees, he was astonished. Nom people in the Peach Blossom Spring were greatly startled. Although they were in the same world, people who lived in the historical and post-historical worlds were still quite different. The person from the historical world had been given a few hints about the post-historical world such as “the forest of peach trees”, “Where the forest ended here was a spring that fed the stream”, “The hill has a small opening in it”, “…it suddenly opened out and he could see clearly”. The appearance of the fisherman startled the residents in the post-historical world. It did not matter whether he entered legally through the small opening or illegally in other ways. Today when a foreigner meets another foreigner, wouldn’t their first question be just like the one that the people in the Peach Blossom Spring asked the fisherman: “Where do you come from”? The Chinese character yao in the sentence “they invited him to return with them to their home, where they set out wine and killed a chicken to prepare a meal” means to want or to invite. The scene here revealed the direct contact of the first- time visitor with foreign individuals after he/she arrived in the foreign country. What he/ she saw shifted from well-governed and prosperous society to an ordinary family scene. The banquet with wine and chicken indicates that it was a land of abundance and people were friendly and generous.
6. “They told him that some generations in the past their people had fled from the troubled
times of the Qin dynasty and had come with their wives and children and fellow villagers to this secluded place. They had never ventured out into the world again, and hence in time had come to be completely cut off from other people.” “Jue jing (secluded place)” has usually been interpreted as a place isolated from social realities. Shall we interpret it as “the end of history”? Did the sentence “They had never ventured out into the world again” suggest the possibility of starting anew after the end of history? But the residents of the Peach Spring Blossom never ventured out into the world again, “and hence in time had come to be completely cut off from other people”. Some part of his-tory had ended, other parts continued, moving toward their end unconsciously. “Other people” still existed, and two parts of history would co-exist in the long term. If the entire history of the mankind had ended, there would not be “other people” any more.
7. “They asked him what dynasty was ruling at present - they had not even heard of the Han dynasty, to say nothing of the Wei and Jin dynasties that succeeded it. The fisher-man replied to each of their questions to the best of his knowledge, and everyone sighed with wonder. The other villagers invited the fisherman to visit their homes as well, each setting out wine and food for him.”
The post - historical world grew out of the historical world. Ancestors of the Peach Blossom Spring residents fled from the chaos in the Qin dynasty. Hegel considered the Battle of Jena to be the end of the history. The question of “what dynasty was ruling at present” was irrelevant to people in the post - historical world because they were tired of political changes as well as the idea of fighting for their nation at the cost of their life. What they would do is to express their sorrows and regrets at the dinner table. entrance 2
entrance 1
Qin Dynasty
out of the rise-decline cycle
rise 426 years Han Dynasty decline
after the Qin Dynasty the year of 628 Qin people
Wei Dynasty Jin Dynasty
suddenly open out
entrance 2
rise decline 15 years
rise 46 years decline rise 156 years decline
small opening
entrance 1
universal and homogeneous states
the cycle of rise and decline
permanent
heterogeneous states
post-historical world
the model of the Peach Blossom Spring
non-permanent
small opening
suddenly open out
historical world
the model of universal and homogeneous states
We cannot discuss the universal and homogeneous state and the post - historical world without mentioning Nietzsche’s notion of the last man, who is neither rich nor poor, neither ruler nor been ruled by others. In the world of the last men, everybody is equal and content, everybody takes care of himself/herself. Nietzsche wrote in his unfinished draft, “The last man: a kind of Chinese people.”
rise decline rise
entrance 2
Qin Dynasty
decline
Han Dynasty
rise
Wei Dynasty
entrance 1
Jin Dynasty South-North Dynasty
decline rise decline rise decline
Sui Dynasty
the last man
Tang Dynasty
rise decline rise
small opening suddenly open out
Song Dynasty
decline
Yuan Dynasty
rise
Ming Dynasty decline Qing Dynasty
The last man sometimes are considered in a f lourishing world out of the risedecline cycle, sometimes are considered in a decl ining world out of the risedecline cycle.
rise decline rise decline rise decline
Out of the rise - decline cycle, the residents in the Peach Blossom Spring resemble people in the universal and homogeneous states and in the post - historical word. The most important similarity is that have reached their final destination.
8. “Thus he remained for several days before taking his leave. One of the villagers said to him, ‘I trust you won’t tell the people on the outside about this.’” Why did the fisherman want to go back? Wasn’t he received warmly in the Peach Blossom Spring? Should he stay or go? It was a difficult decision for him. When the time for history to end came, he was still thinking about history. Thus, the relationship between history and reality became reversed. People in the Peach Blossom Spring also had a conflicted attitude toward the fisherman. “I trust you won’t tell the people on the outside about this” can also mean “you will definitely tell them” or “you should tell them”. We all talk, and words spread quickly. Moreover, the post - historical word is bound to affect the historical world. The fisherman wished that he could stay in both worlds at the same time. But it proved impossible. There are three places where the word wai-ren (literally
meaning outside - people) appears. “The men and women...were all dressed just like any other people” refers to the imagined and idealized people who lived in another place outside the fisherman’s world. “They had never ventured out into the world again, and hence in time had come to be completely cut off from other people” suggests that since people in the Peach Spring Blossom had ended their history well in advance they stayed outside of the outside people. “I trust you won’t tell the people on the outside about this” shows that people in the Peach Blossom Spring viewed the fisherman as a member of their community because the mission of the post-historical people is to embrace people from the historical world. In this sense, the fisherman became an outsider in both worlds. From this point the text in the preface provides no further information about the Peach Blossom Spring.
9. “After the fisherman had made his way out of the place, he found his boat and followed the route he had taken earlier, taking care to note the places that he passed.” The fisherman must follow the same route that he had taken when he came in because he found his boat. There was only one opening serving as both the entrance and the exit. Similarly the universal and homogeneous state and the post-historical world leave an opening. Why didn’t the fisherman choose to stay? Didn’t he want to live in a prosperous world at the time of chaos and decline? Didn’t he know that changes in history would lead unconsciously to a universal and homogeneous state exactly like the Peach Blossom Spring where “people had not even heard of the Han dynasty, to say nothing of the Wei and Qin dynasty that succeeded it.” The fisherman arrived unconsciously in this universal and homogeneous world in advance through the small opening, symbolic of unconsciousness. Did his decision to leave make people unhappy about the universal and homogeneous world although everybody there was very happy? The fisherman also did not know that dissatisfaction is a mission. He only knew that he should carefully mark the route because he could also have the experience that “it suddenly opened out and he could see clearly” on his way back.
universal and homogeneous states out of the risedecline cycle
the cycle of rise and decline the last man
heterogeneous states
small opening small opening suddenly open out suddenly open out
10. “When he reached the prefectural town, he went to call on the governor and reported what had happened. The governor immediately dispatched men to go with him to look for the place, but though he tried to locate the spots that he had taken note of earlier, in the end he became confused and could not find the way again.”
The poet Tao Yuanming gave a very detailed account of the fisherman’s journey to the Peach Blossom Spring because it was rather an experience by chance. But he treated the fisherman’s return rather briefly. After the fisherman discovered the “last man”, he himself assumed some qualities of the last man. He shrank the big world and brought back his good news that “we had discovered a happy state.” The governor represented ruling powers and bureaucrats. According to the text, the fisherman reported what had happened. But we never know what exactly he reported or what exactly he discovered. Did he find modern Western society or the living Qin people? Did he find the universal and homogeneous state or the last man in the post-historical world? In general, these concepts intertwine. Some overlap. Some contradict each other. But we are certain about one thing: the fisherman did not want to be a revolutionary who challenged the law and the established system. Although he came back to the world of revolution, he still went to the prefectual town and called on the governor. He still acted like an obedient slave and the governor, an overbearing master. It is exactly because of this mode of relationship that the door to a possible world or another reality closed.
11. “Liu Ziji of Nanyang, a gentleman-recluse of lofty ideals, heard the story and began delightedly making plans to go there. But he could not carry them out, Soon he fell sick and died.” The section on recluses in the Book of the Jin Dynasty contains a passage entitled the Biography of Liu Linzi: “Liu Linzi, alias Ziji, native of Nanyang. He came from a prestigious family of officials and scholars…he was interested in unworldly affairs. He once gathered herbal medicines in the Heng Mountain and forest how far he had gone. He saw a rapid. On its south side were two stone granaries. One was open and the other was shut. But he could not pass the rapid because it was too deep and wide. When he wanted to go back he got lost. After he consulted a woodcutter-archer, he was able to go back home. It was said that the granaries were filled with magical medicines and other things. So Liu Linzi became even more eager to look for them. But he couldn’t find it in the end…” The experience of Liu Linzi and that of the fisherman in the Peach Blossom Spring are rather similar, especially in that Liu Linzi’s guide the
woodcutter-archer and the fisherman were both ordinary people. But Tao Yuanming changed the story in the Biography of Liu Linzi in three places. He used Liu’s alias Ziji instead of his given name Linzi. Like many other recluses in the Wei and Jin dynasties Liu Linzi was a seeker of magical medicinal herbs. But in the story of the Peach Blossom Spring Liu Ziji was looking for another world. According to the Biography of Liu Linzi, he had a natural death. But Tao Yuanming changed it to “…but he could not carry them out, soon he fell sick and died.” The Chinese character for soon also means to seek. His illness therefore was caused directly by his search, which alerts people of the risk in their attempt to find an ultimate or satisfactory solution. It was only when Tao Yuanming turned forty that he quit-ted his official position and retired to the countryside. Liu Ziji was once a scholar-official. The relationship between being an official and being a recluse is that an official was a recluse participating in the public life, and a recluse was a hidden official.
12. “Since then there have been no more ‘seekers of the ford’.”
There were no more people who consciously look for the Peach Blossom Spring. Even the door for unintended visits closed because all questions originated inside the door. Tao Yuanming was known as the father of all scholar-recluse poets in China. He opened the door and then closed it. What he left behind is an empty stereotype of the “scholar-recluse”, which was used for more than a thousand years (from the end of the Jin dynasty to 1648). It is only in the Qing dynasty that the term “scholar-recluse” was replaced by “left-behind” in the Historical Draft of the Qing Dynasty. Left-behinds refer to those Ming loyalists who could not adapt to the altered environment in the Qing dynasty. In the historical world where prosperity and decline alternate, the idea of being a scholar-recluse has been more or less encouraged, although we still have many reasons to question things hidden in the garden, in the countryside, or in the Peach Blossom Spring.
Translated by Wang Yiyou, provided by the Guangdong Museum of Art