An Expression of Cultural Essence via Chinese Ink Painting 水墨丹青蘸墨揮灑毫氣

An Expression of Cultural Essence via Chinese Ink Painting

Shiu Pong College’s (SPC) last workshop on the essence series of traditional Chinese culture in the academic year of 2016 ~ 2017, was held on March 7, 2017, with a theme on Chinese ink painting that has a long history in ancient China. Ink painting requires very high skills in brush movements, releasing the beauty of ink on paper with different brush strokes.

SPC intended to offer the best possible learning experience for its students in the Ink painting workshop, by bringing in an experienced teacher in the area, Mr. XIE Jin Lin, from the Center of Arts at United International College (UIC) which is a higher educational institution formed by the Beijing Normal University and the Hong Kong Baptist University, in Zuhai. In order to enable SPCers to experience the spirit of ink- painting, and to appreciate the rhythm in formulating ink-strokes, SPC has perfected the preparation with venue paraphernalia in the art of ink painting.

On entering the workshop, one is inspired by the tidy lineup of the indispensable tool sets, including tables with ink, brushes, and stacks of painting papers. SPCers participating in the workshop were deeply impressed by Teacher XIE’s inspiring talk on the basics of Chinese ink-brush painting, its characteristics, varieties, and evolutions through different dynasties in ancient China.

Teacher XIE said, “To learn Chinese ink painting, it is not enough to understand its theories. You must experience it through your own hands before you can truly understand the joy in ink painting.” Teacher XIE’s simple reminder is full of meaning: Just like “Reading 10,000 books is not comparable to travelling 10,000 miles.” Many things in life are mostly remembered because of personal experiences. Teacher XIE demonstrated his skills in ink painting after the short talk, creating a picture of unfolding landscapes with layers of different colors – dark and light, as well as strokes of various thickness in ink.

Student participants were amazed by the artistic expressions of Teacher XIE’s brush strokes. Then came a time when Teacher XIE invited SPCers to try on their own. Many SPCers, upon this first-time encounter of Chinese ink painting, hesitated to put down their first strokes. Teacher XIE encouraged our students to feel at rest, by using their hearts to draw, releasing their inner pictures with guts, and paying less attention to details in the process. In less than an hour, under the facilitation of Teacher XIE, many ink paintings through students’ ink brushes appeared. These student paintings will soon be exhibited inside Shiu Pong College.

SPC intends to inspire SPCers with the essence of Chinese culture in this academic year, introducing four experiential learning workshops in the series, including Chinese etiquette, Chinese Gu-qin, Chinese costumes, and Chinese ink painting. Through learning the knowledge, the skills, and the attitude of traditional Chinese culture, it is hoped that SPCers are able to experience and appreciate the beauty and goodness of our Chinese cultural heritage.

水墨丹青蘸墨揮灑毫氣

紹邦書院2016～2017年度中國文化精華系列的最後一次工作坊–水墨畫，於2017年3月7日完滿結束。水墨畫，是中國傳統繪畫，歷史悠久。以筆法為主導，充分發揮墨法的功能。紹邦書院精益求精，不但邀請了來自北京師範大學-香港浸會大學聯合國際學院藝術中心的謝錦麟老師來為同學們分享，在工具上也花了不少心思，力求讓同學們蘸墨揮灑毫氣，感受潑墨山水的氣韻。

走進活動舉辦地點，所有工具擺放的整整齊齊，一件不少。謝錦麟老師先為同學們講解水墨畫的不同朝代演變，分類，特徵等等，然後說：“認識水墨畫，靠我講理論是不夠深入的。一定要經過你們的雙手體驗，才能真正了解水墨畫。” 簡單的一句話，卻蘊含著大道理。就像『讀萬卷書，不如行萬里路』，人生很多事情都是重在體驗，經歷。謝錦麟老師講解完畢，便一展身手。一幅顏色深淺，粗細有別的山水畫，在老師的筆下慢慢呈現出來。同學們全神貫注，既驚訝又佩服老師的畫工。重頭戲來了，老師示範結束，當然讓同學們一展身手。很多同學第一次接觸水墨畫，猶豫很久都不敢下筆。老師則鼓勵同學，第一次畫水墨畫不需要太著重細節，隨著你的心畫，大膽下筆，畫自然而成。短短的一小時內，在老師的指導下，一幅幅成品誕生了。最後同學們的水墨畫將在紹邦書院內展出。

紹邦書院經過一年四次工作坊，禮儀、古琴、華服與水墨畫，通過體驗的形式，讓紹邦書院的同學們深入認識傳統中國文化的精髓。透過聆聽比較和動手學習讓同學們在知識、技能與態度三方面，親身體驗中華文化的美與善。