The Essence of Chinese Painting (VIII)
The author regularly analyzes various aspects of Chinese painting, including its philosophy, concepts, and techniques, and shares his insights through short articles on art. The author has lived in China for five years and studied traditionel Chinese painting, calligraphy, and seal carving at the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts. His dissertation focuses on Chinese free-hand style painting. You can find examples of his artwork under PORTFOLIO and more articles undr ART THEORY.
Six Persimmons by Mu Chi (Mu Qi Fa Chang 牧谿 法常):
Six Persimmons by Mu Qi Fa Chang [1] is a 13th-century Chinese painting. It features six persimmons floating on an undefined, but skillfully mottled background. The painting is considered a masterpiece of Chinese art and is widely recognized as one of the most important images of all time by some Japanese art historians.
Despite its significance, it is surprising that so little is known about the content and meaning of the work. Usually, only the surface is scratched, and it is difficult to understand why six persimmons were chosen instead of seven or eight. Often, we only hear opinions such as “that the picture is above everything that can be expressed with words,” which does not help us any further.
In this post, I will share some of my thoughts on this essential painting.
Muqi – The painter:
Mu Chi or Muqi or Muxi (牧谿), also known as Fachang (法常), was a Chinese Chan Buddhist monk [2] and painter who lived in the 13th century, around the end of the Southern Song dynasty. He is one of the greatest Chan painters in history.
The painters of Chan Buddhism did not enjoy much fame in China themselves. What is more, the painters of this genre were often denied artistic abilities in general and their paintings, which often depicted everyday things, met with widespread incomprehension. The surviving paintings of that time are now all in Japan and are national treasures.
Regarding Muqi’s paintings, it is important to note that every detail in his works is of utmost importance and did not “happen by chance”.
Six Persimmons – The content:
What is the subject of the painting? Persimmon figs. This is a remarkable choice, as no Chinese painter had ever thought of portraying something as mundane as persimmon figs before. I believe that Mu Qi chose this subject because these fruits had not yet been depicted in Chinese painting, and therefore nothing symbolic or ethical was associated with them, unlike bamboo, plum blossoms, irises, and so on. By choosing these fruits, Mu Qi avoids clinging (Upādāna) in the viewer.
If we take a closer look at the six persimmons, we can observe that the leftmost and rightmost ones resemble an Enso [3].
From this, one can interpret the painting as a representation of the “wheel of life”. We enter the world with nothing as if coming from the light. In our early years, we are innocent and inexperienced (persimmon #2 from left), but full of vitality. During adolescence, we start at the very bottom (#3), looking up to our superiors. It’s worth noting that the perspective of #3 is from above, emphasizing our inferiority. We reach the zenith of our life and work (#4) and become superiors ourselves. From then on, it’s a downhill journey until we leave this life with nothing and merge with the great Dao.
The painting style:
From a painter’s perspective, the objects in the painting appear quite differently. While some of the persimmon figs on the left reflect their quality quite well, this is not the case in the right section. In fact, viewed in isolation, #5 doesn’t look much like a persimmon fig. In my interpretation, persimmon #5 stands for age and decay. “The paint is off,” so to speak.
Another observation that supports this interpretation is that the stalks of fruits 1-3 all point to the zenith of being. At #5, you can see decay, and Kaki #6 points out of the picture, out of this existence.
A comparison with a photo of six persimmons is fascinating. It becomes particularly clear what xie yi [4] can do. Mu Chi’s portrayal captured something that the photo cannot – the spirit and spiritual power of the fruits. They are “more real than the real kakis,” so to speak.”
Why 6 persimmons?
One of the questions that often arises in connection with this painting is: Why six? Well, I don’t see six persimmon figs. I see one plus five. The number five makes sense in Chinese culture. The whole picture suddenly makes sense.
For a better understanding of this thought, let’s look at this album sheet by Zhu Da [5] below. Essentially, it’s about a group of trees. And, of course, the same applies here – Zhu Da did not arrange the trees arbitrarily. In the center stands the host tree, and around it are the guest trees. This principle of zhu-ke [6] is essential in China, not just in Chinese painting but also in society. If we look at the arrangement of the persimmons, we might see it differently now.
How do the six objects communicate with each other in Mu Qi’s painting? Like on the album leaf by Zhu Da, the host (shown slightly larger) leans benevolently toward the guests, and they look up at him in awe.
If we do not stick to persimmon figs when we look at this great painting (they are only substituting anyway), we see a master with his five novices (zhu-ke principle). The master in this painting tries to clarify the ultimate truth through the principle of Enso.
Footnotes
(1) Six Persimmons (Chinese: 六柿圖 liùshì tú) is a 13th-century Chinese painting by the monk Muqi Fachang. It is a painting from the Song dynasty. Muqi was one of the two great exponents of the spontaneous mode of Chinese painting (the other being Liang Kai). It features six persimmons floating on an undefined, but skillfully mottled background and is in blue-black ink on paper.
The painting became famous for the tremendous skill of brushstrokes.
(2) Chan (Chinese 禪 Chán), from Sanskrit dhyāna (meaning “meditation” or “meditative state”), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming dominant during the Tang and Song dynasties.
Chan is the originating tradition of Zen Buddhism.
(3) In Zen, ensō (円相, “circular form”) is a circle that is hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create.
The ensō symbolizes absolute enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe, and mu (the void). It is characterized by a minimalism born from Japanese aesthetics.
(4) Freehand brushwork is a genre of Chinese traditional painting that includes poems, calligraphy, painting, and seals. In Chinese called xie yi (Chinese: 写意 xiěyì), which literally means “writing ideas”. It evolved during a long period of artistic activities and was promoted by the literati. Through the inheritance and development in the past dynasties, freehand brushwork has gradually become the most influential and popular genre.
The freehand brushwork emphasizes the semblance in the spiritual aspect. This kind of artwork does not chase physical similarity and the cooperation of reality.
(5) Bada Shanren (八大山人, literally “Mountain Man of the Eight Greats”, ca.1626-1705), born as Zhu Da (朱耷), was a Chinese painter and calligrapher. He was of noble lineage, a descendant of the Ming dynasty Prince of Ning (寧王).
(6) 主 (zhǔ: master, host) 客 (kè: visitor, guest)
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