Teaching the Fa at
the Discussion on Creating Fine Art
(Li Hongzhi, July 21, 2003,
The students here are all involved in creating
fine art, and all have professional skills. I'll just talk about whatever comes
to mind, and I'll only talk from the Fa-truths. Fine art is very important to
mankind. Like other forms of human culture, it can play a guiding role with
respect to people's concepts in human society, influencing mankind's aesthetic
values. The concepts of "what is aesthetic" and "what is the
appropriate sense of beauty that people should have" are closely related
to mankind's moral foundation and standards. When people find unaesthetic
things aesthetic, then people's moral values are gone.
Mankind's morality goes through certain changes
in different time periods. Mankind's morality itself affects mankind's arts,
and the arts in turn affect mankind. You've all seen that a lot of things in
today's arts are concocted by the modern mentality, and today's mankind has
gone well beyond the moral boundaries and standards that mankind should have.
So the resulting so-called arts aren't human culture anymore, because they're
not produced with rationality or a clear mind, and they're not true, beautiful
things of mankind created with people's upright thoughts, good thoughts, or a
correct understanding of artistic beauty. With that, the arts are degenerating.
So as for today's arts, strictly speaking, they're no longer human things. I
often see some so-called pieces of modern art that. . in fact are all products of demon nature, even
though some of them are quite famous. Not only are they of demon nature, but
also many people in search of inspiration while painting are actually seeking
to emulate the behavior of ghosts. When it continues like that for a long time,
their state of mind is bound to become dark and bizarre. Professional artists
know that when someone is doing these things his state of mind is such that he
is indulging the wicked side of his human nature, and is even deliberately
pursuing wicked psychological responses. So, those so-called modern art things
are usually not too good, because they are not only harmful to the painters but
they also bring psychological harm to those who view the work, and they
seriously damage people's moral values as well.
But Dafa disciples can't break away from this
social environment of ordinary people while cultivating and living their lives.
You are immersed in the current of modern people's notions as well, and are
also influenced by this environment. Before they learned Dafa, a lot of Dafa
disciples were even studying or engaged in creating modern arts. Of course, I
think that whether you are involved in modern arts or the true, traditional,
and upright arts that mankind is supposed to have, the basic techniques you
learned before should be the same. So, Dafa disciples must clearly understand
what arts humans should have. That way, you can follow the pure and upright
artistic standards of human beings, and you'll be able to create good things.
Why are we having this meeting today? Let me
tell you, everything that Dafa disciples are doing during this present historic
time is of utmost importance. Just yesterday I was saying that whatever Dafa
disciples do, human society will emulate it in the not-too-distant future.
Right now, during the Fa-rectification period, everything in the world revolves
around Dafa--that's for sure--because the Three Realms were created for the
Fa-rectification. Why am I discussing these things with you today? It's because
Dafa disciples with artistic skills have abilities and energy. If the things
you do aren't upright, or aren't upright enough, you'll reinforce the
unrighteous elements, which will affect human society even more. In
cultivation, you're supposed to rectify yourselves by cultivating away
everything that's not good. You should be a good person wherever you are. So in
the field of the arts you should be a good person as well, and in your artwork
you should display what's beautiful, what's upright, what's pure, what's good,
and what's bright and positive.
As the morality of human society has slid down
to this point, mankind's thinking has gone through corresponding changes. And
since they've changed and evolved to this point, it's impossible for people to
revert on their own. No individual, no theory, and no method can enable people
to return to where they were--only Dafa can. You've followed me here to save
sentient beings. And the meaning of our saving sentient beings also includes
how we save human morality, how the people who are saved will be in the future,
how they'll live, and what kind of conditions they'll live in. In other words,
Dafa disciples are not only saving sentient beings, they're also blazing a true
path for the existence of human beings. These are all things that Dafa
disciples are doing in validating the Fa.
I've said that the Three Realms will exist
forever. And how will it exist? That's what I'll handle during the
Fa-rectification of the human world. But everything that Dafa disciples do
today is of utmost importance, and it's also establishing a foundation for the
future mankind and the future culture. Everything of contemporary mankind is
messed up. Hardly any of the upright and traditional things that human beings
should have exist anymore, and there's nothing that's pure and righteous
anymore. Fortunately, there are still some cultural legacies that were left
behind from people in ancient times that haven't been completely
ruined--particularly in the area of fine art, where the teaching of some foundational
techniques has been left behind, so that as mankind returns to the Human Realm,
those who study fine art can grasp some of the most basic things. Then how
should those most basic things be utilized so people can embark on a true human
path? And how can [you] create good things? I think that taking those basic
techniques as a foundation, and adding to them the true goodness,
righteousness, and pure beauty that Dafa disciples have come to comprehend in
their cultivation, [you] can display good things.
While I'm on this subject, I'd also like to
talk about how mankind has evolved and the developmental process of mankind's
arts as I see them.
Mankind's arts from both Eastern and Western
cultures have a process of formation, stasis, and degeneration. Eastern and
Western arts have taken two different paths. That's putting it in human terms,
when in fact they are each concrete manifestations of the artistic aspects of
the beings at the lowest level of two different, big cosmic systems, that is,
human beings. In other words, they are manifestations of the things in those
cosmic systems at the lowest level--this human place. Actually, there are many,
many different colossal firmaments in the cosmos. There are many of them, and
all of them are independent, huge cosmic bodies. Each colossal firmament has
its own different style that manifests in a different way through its own,
unique structure. In human words, this is to say that they have different
artistic characteristics. Every gigantic cosmic body has different truths that
have been enlightened to in an upright way from Zhen-Shan-Ren, the fundamental
Fa-truths. As a result, the different cosmic bodies' systems all have their own
systems' unique characteristics, which are concretely manifested in the
structure of their heaven and earth, what their environments are like, the
forms of their beings, the adornment of their beings, their architectural
styles, the forms in which their animals and plants appear, etc. They all have
their own, unique, upright ways of depicting beauty, friendship, grace,
gratitude, etc. Among all the creations of the cosmic systems, the forms of
expression of the low-level beings of basically two systems have been passed
down to this human place, and they are comprised of Eastern arts and Western
arts. But in the gigantic colossal body, these are not all there are. What I'm
saying is that only these two types have been passed down to this human place.
As for these two artistic systems of mankind,
both the East and the West have had an inheriting process in their respective
ethnic cultures for several thousand years, but the styles of these two types
of art are largely different. They are different in their techniques and
approaches, their ways of expressing things, the feelings they project, and the
visual effects they produce. From the very beginning of its inheriting process,
the Chinese arts were established from a semi-divine culture. In other words,
half of the emphasis was not on the human surface but on the spirit of the
subject, its allure, and the inner meanings.
That's why the manifestations of all aspects of the Chinese culture had that
characteristic, especially in fine art, where they don't really pay attention
to depicting the details on the surface, they focus on expressing the ideas, or
the spirit of it, and the inner meanings. Western arts were also passed down to
humans from Gods, but their emphasis is on human beings' surface culture. They
stress superb, precise, and refined techniques, and realistic, superlative
artistry. The emphasis is placed on demonstrating the techniques at the surface
human dimension. So in their works of fine art, the surface of objects is
expressed in a very refined and precise manner. So the artistic styles of the
West and of
The path of the arts always goes from its
initial period to its peak, and then declines again. All of mankind's cultures
follow this trend as well. Everything of mankind is amidst
formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction, which is part of the characteristics
of the past cosmos. So whenever mankind's morality is no longer good
enough--when nothing is good enough anymore it has to start over--it's
catastrophic for mankind, everything ends, and then everything starts over
again, proceeds to the peak, and then declines again. This cycle keeps
repeating.
Since ancient Chinese fine art didn't have
systematic or specialized studies, they basically couldn't handle visual
perspective well in terms of capturing the human body and objects. After the
end of the Qing Dynasty, many who did Chinese fine art learned the basic
techniques of Western fine art, and their works became accurate in depicting
the external surface forms. They produced some works like that. But in recent
times, especially the last twenty-some years,
And that was only the early stage of the modern
arts. When the overall morality of society becomes increasingly degenerate,
human notions don't just stay the same, they slide down as well. Those
Impressionist and Abstractionist things back then completely disregarded
correct visual perspective, the transition from light to darkness, and the
accuracy of structure. More and more, they pursued so-called "personal
feelings" and mistook that kind of irrational indulgence as liberation of
their individual human nature. What they were really doing was restraining
their true natures, and indulging postnatal thinking that does not contain the
true self. They threw on intense colors, and were completely indulging a type
of feeling from their notions that didn't contain any sober, rational thoughts.
Notions, however, are formed postnatally in a person. They aren't the person's
true thoughts, and they are irregular, unstructured, and unsystematic. That's
why the things they concocted were like that, and looked completely
disproportionate or out of balance visually. When it got to the later stage, as
human moral concepts slid down more and more, their state of mind became even
more base, and that kind of base consciousness didn't consist of just human
notions anymore. When a person's own thoughts and true self give up control of
his surface, foreign beings will seize the opportunity and get in. When it gets
to that point, a foreign intelligence is already controlling the human brain.
That's why artistic expressions that were even darker and more depressed--even
the light was gloomy--emerged, and they entirely reflected the state of mind of
dejected and decadent human nature. When it slid further down, they also became
driven by the desire for fame and self-interest in society and pursued complete
abandonment of themselves, and at that time even the postnatal notions were
discarded. In that case, the shell in which the person's self was completely
absent became one hundred percent controlled by a foreign intelligence. And in
most cases the foreign intelligence was a being in the nether world, with the majority
being ghosts and spirits. That was a cosmic change when mankind's morality
became bad. When a painter is controlled by a yin-natured creature, what he
paints will seem to portray the nether world and things of the nether world.
With a lot of paintings, you can tell at a glance that they portray the worlds
of ghosts, they are murky, dark, and blurry, and those so-called human figures
they paint are all like ghostly spirits; the earth there is of the nether
world, and the sky is of the nether world. Why do people like that feeling?
Isn't it because people don't have upright thoughts anymore? Aren't they
pursuing darkness? Isn't it because mankind's morality has seriously
degenerated? And that's only when people go toward a dimension that's even lower
than humans'. Since mankind's values are still sliding down, at present, the
arts are now becoming real and concrete displays of mankind's demon nature. The
arts are becoming a blasphemy of the sacred arts, they have completely become a
tool for the venting of demon nature, and what they portray are demons, ghosts,
and monsters. Artists themselves admit that those works are all garbage, but in
the so-called artistic trend they're considered the most valuable. How could
garbage be what's best? People's notions have turned upside down, so they think
that garbage is the best.
That's the history of mankind's fine art--just
now I talked about its general progression. Now I'll continue the discussion
using Western arts as a starting point. Do you know why during World War II the
French were made to surrender? Didn't the French have the ability to fight?
Hadn't heroes like Napoleon and Louis XIV emerged from that nation in the old
days? Didn't that nation have a glorious history? Mankind's wars are in fact
controlled by Gods, and they take place for certain reasons. It's not like
things will happen according to what human beings want.
In the Western arts, during the past several
civilizations, people became mature through systematic learning and returned to
the previous civilization's path. But after a previous civilization is
destroyed, there is a period during which the basic skills are immature. You
can see that from the works of Western fine art by looking at, say, the works
prior to the Renaissance, the works during the Renaissance, the works after the
Renaissance, and the things of modern times--that process. Before the
Renaissance, generally speaking, the works' artistic skills were quite
immature. Their composition, structure, proportions, colors, etc., as you can
see, you'll find them quite immature. Whether it be paintings, drawings, or
sculptures, they were all immature. But then people have dug up certain things
of the previous civilization from the unearthed artifacts in the West. Some
were sculptures of Gods, and there were also some other sculptures from the
previous ancient Greek civilization. All of them were mature and perfect works.
Because the foundation of these ancient civilizations was there, the Western
arts quickly matured again. Because those things from the past were there for
them to learn from and compare their works to, they matured very quickly. After
the Renaissance, the emergence of Leonardo da Vinci and other artists was intended
by Gods to have them lead human beings to reach artistic maturity and show
people how to do their artwork. That's why their works at that time had a great
impact on mankind. But the modern arts of recent times were arranged by some
other kinds of gods--namely, the bunch that are of the old forces and that are
trying to direct the Fa-rectification today. Why did a Van Gogh come along? Why
did a Picasso come along? These people, too, were arranged by them to come, but
they came to play a negative role, and the purpose was to have everything in
mankind's culture become degenerate at the same time that mankind's morality
was sliding downward. So those two people came to disrupt mankind's art. The
purpose was to corrupt mankind's art--they came entirely to ruin mankind's
culture. Mankind's art has gotten to the demonic state it's in today because of
the foundation they laid back then for the so-called "Modernism."
Back when traditional Western art was being
attacked by so-called Impressionism, that was when photography appeared. In
their debates, the most typical argument made by those so-called Impressionists
was, "No matter how accurately you paint, can it be as accurate as a
photograph?" So they criticized painting objects to appear how they are, painting
them realistically, and painting them in a traditional, orthodox way. Actually,
traditional art is for man a high-quality pursuit of perfection, and it's
endless. The realm of traditional art is very broad, because a complete work of
art is not only realistic, but it in fact also contains the artists' own
personal life experiences and character. The things that the artist has come
into contact with in life, and the knowledge and skills in various subjects
that he has gained in life--all of it is reflected in his works. That's why
each person will express the same thing differently in his or her artwork,
whether it's in terms of the use of color, the rendering of the subject's
expressions, or the degree of mastery of the techniques. Each person's life
experiences are different and the artists' character traits are different, so
this leads to differences in their works. In addition, what they can depict is
a multifarious world, beings at even higher levels, and even wonderful displays
of Gods and Gods' worlds. So it's a limitless, bright and broad road. Usually
the artists who are good at painting or sculpting focus most of their thoughts
on their art, so most of them are not so adept at words. Yet those who don't
know how to paint or sculpt are good at talking. By aggressively promoting
their agenda with twisted logic, those people indeed overturned traditional art
with the photography argument. So it has gradually gotten to the point it's at
today. Of course, for someone to overturn traditional art back then, that
couldn't have been done by someone who didn't understand fine art at all or who
was incompetent in fine art. That's why those few representatives of Modernism
were arranged back then to first master the basic skills in their childhood so
they could mislead the people of the world even more.
Because of the upright-versus-evil debates
between the academy and the Impressionists and Abstractionists back then,
because the declining morality and concepts were critical of mankind's truly
sacred arts, and because the traditional artists had to eke out a little tiny
bit of space for their survival, now people call traditional art
"Realism." In the past there was no such name. The reason Gods passed
the arts on to human beings was to enable humans to express the goodness and
beauty that mankind upholds, and that has a positive effect on mankind's
morality. Because of the degeneration of mankind's morality, the traditional
and upright human arts were pushed out of the halls of formal academies by the
trend of moving towards demon nature. So for the sake of survival, traditional
art became Realism, and that's how "Realism" came about.
Right now, everything of mankind is going in
the reverse direction like this--have you noticed? Those who don't know how to
project a proper singing voice, who don't know music theories, and those who
don't have basic dancing skills have become popular singers and dancers, yet
the real artists can't make a living. Even those barbers who know what they're
doing have been pushed out and do their business on the street, while those who
don't know what they're doing are found in extravagant salons. Everything of
mankind is sliding down in the reverse direction and is all degenerating like
this. What those so-called Modernists were after were some "personal
feelings." Later on they lost control of themselves, and now they're
giving their bodies to be controlled by ghosts--how could they produce anything
good? They hang up a so-called modernistic piece and show it to people:
"Ah, look! What a good painting!" If he didn't say so, nobody would
know why it was good like he said. Yet the good things that he describes are
demonic in nature, and contain such naiveté about art that it's
laughable. If your thinking doesn't follow him into that kind of demon nature,
you won't be able to see what the so-called good things that he talks about
are. In reality those things are all garbage that's harmful to people.
Of course, there are a lot of people who are
just going along with the trend and concurring. Most of the general public
don't understand the Modernists' stuff. If you say that it's all garbage, then
the people that do those things will say that the more it's like garbage the
better. You've all heard about how a so-called artist in
Next I'll talk a bit about what mankind's arts
should depict. Is the purpose of mankind's arts to depict human beings
themselves, or to depict landscapes, or to depict Gods? Or ghosts? You should
know that mankind's true arts first appeared in the temples of Gods. Another
purpose of Gods' passing on this aspect of culture to human beings was to let
humans see the magnificence of Gods, and believe in goodness and evil receiving
their due--evildoers will receive retribution, good people will receive
blessings, and cultivators will go up to Heaven. The appearance of Western arts
all began in churches. Statues in the East in the early times were almost all
of Gods, and the most ancient and the earliest paintings passed down in
You know, when people paint Gods, they have to
use people as models. That's not a problem, since humans were created by Gods
in their own image. So it's not a problem to use human beings for practicing
one's basic skills. It's not that people can't paint other people--it's fine to
do so--because human beings are after all what's central to this world. It's
even less of a problem to paint landscapes. But, the focus of mankind's fine
art should be Gods. Why do I say that? Think about it everyone, humans have
karma--you all know this as you're Dafa disciples--and everything that human beings
draw or paint includes elements of the artist himself. In an artist's work,
everything about that individual and about the person being portrayed is
attached to that painting. When an ordinary person paints just one stroke, I
know what kind of person he is, what kind of illnesses he has, how much karma
he has, his state of mind, his family situation, etc. And all the thoughts the
subject of the painting has and all of the factors associated with his body are
fully displayed as well, including how much karma he has. Whenever someone
hangs a painting of that person in his home, the karma of that person in the
painting emits from the painting. So when someone hangs something like that in
his home, is he benefiting or being harmed? Karma emits and spreads, it's
connected with the person, and it will continuously emit in the home of the
person who has hung up the painting there. People can't see the
interrelationships among objects, but actually they will feel ill at ease [from
something like that].
But if human beings paint Gods--think about it
everyone, Gods are glorious, magnificent, and emit merciful, benevolent energy
that benefits people--the people who render the paintings or create the
sculptures benefit in the process of completing the artwork, and at the same
time the artist develops good thoughts while he creates artwork of Gods, and
therefore Gods may help him strengthen his righteous thoughts, and remove the
karma on the artist's body and his thought karma. After others look at that
kind of artwork they'll benefit, they'll become broad-minded, they'll have good
thoughts in their minds, and it will make their character nobler. And when Gods
see humans having upright thoughts, they'll remove dangers and calamities for
humans. So which way is more beneficial for mankind? I like to look at those
traditional and upright works, those ceiling paintings and murals of Gods, and
those sculptures of Gods. After I see them, I always feel that mankind still
has hope of returning, because those works are depicting the Gods'
magnificence, and the Gods in the sculptures are truly doing good things for
people from the other side. So based on these comparisons, don't you think that
mankind's art should primarily depict Gods?
Of course, modern society's arts aren't limited
to paintings, drawings, and sculptures--there are also crafts, advertisements,
fashion, theatre, television and movie production, product design, etc. There
are a plethora of professions related to the arts; in other words, they are all
related to fine art. But no matter what profession it is, if the artist himself
establishes an upright foundation, then no matter what works he creates,
they'll all be infused with upright elements, and they'll all be wonderful,
good, and will benefit people. That's for sure. Generally speaking, this is
what I've seen with mankind's arts.
The Eastern and Western arts I just talked
about include sculpture. Speaking of sculpture, I'll talk a little bit about
the actual origin of the sculptures of the East and their progression through
history, and I'll just talk about the situation in this civilization. Before
Buddhism was spread to
So just now I outlined in broad and very simple
terms the development and origins of mankind's art. The arts of the past
usually depicted Gods, and Gods passed those things on to human beings to tell
mankind: Gods are protecting mankind, and when human beings do good things, it
will result in good things for them.
Usually, an artist's work will have a theme and
purpose of what he wants to express or depict. That is, when you're planning a
painting or formulating the layout for a painting, what you want to express or
depict, or, the meaning that you want to express, is incorporated in all of
that. In other words, each work has its own story. But there's another problem
when today's people look at Western traditional art, especially the fine art
from the Renaissance Period: they only look at the method of the painting and
the approach--and even that is something that only those people who know the
basic techniques understand. Very few people know what the paintings are
expressing. So when I've looked at paintings or sculptures, the students with
me would ask me, "What is this painting about?" and I would tell
them. Of course, you're all involved with the arts and know a lot, but why
don't we explore this subject together. Let's get a few paintings here and I'll
talk about what's expressed in them and why they expressed it that way. (Applause)
Have a seat, everybody. Just now when I was
talking about what these paintings were expressing, you understood what I was
saying. I want to have Dafa disciples understand what to do, so why don't you
also share your thoughts, OK?
Question: (Translated) We want to portray the
persecution. Can we depict scenes of Dafa disciples being tortured?
Teacher: Yes, you can. You can depict scenes of Dafa
disciples being persecuted, Dafa disciples studying the Fa and doing the
exercises, or scenes of Gods and heavens after Dafa was widely spread--all
these can be depicted.
Question: Can we create some art that shows the
process of Dafa disciples clarifying the facts or spreading the Fa, or things
such as marches, parades, and so on?
Teacher: Yes, you can depict all of those things.
What's key is that your planning and creation of the work should be high level.
Question: Master, Chinese arts aim at conveying
certain ideas or feelings. For example, most famous Chinese painters aimed at
conveying their ideas or feelings, and they painted landscapes. Can we paint
that way too?
Teacher: There's no problem with conveying certain
ideas or feelings. Chinese-style paintings and landscape paintings are fine to
do, too. Because they're the work of Dafa disciples, they can be put on
display. But you're Dafa disciples, and at present everyone is validating the
Fa and creating a future for sentient beings, so you should do your best to
make clarifying the facts and exposing the evil the first priority, particularly
during this time. That's Dafa disciples' responsibility. It's better to have
more works that expose the evil, present Dafa, and present Gods, and to make
these works the core. Other works of Dafa disciples can be put on display too.
Question: Isn't trying to convey feelings or
ideas something deviant?
Teacher: When I talk about conveying feelings or ideas,
I'm talking about expressing the inner meanings in your painting or drawing. If
people can express their feelings based on a moral foundation that is orthodox
and of righteous thoughts, then there's no problem. The key is whether you use
righteous thoughts to create your work or pursue those so-called modern
concepts, and whether you use traditional and proper methods or Modernist
notions to depict things. The problem doesn't lie in the feelings or ideas
themselves.
Question: Master, I'd like to ask: the pieces
that you just talked about all portray images of Western Gods. So as Dafa
disciples, how do we blend Chinese and Western elements together, and how do we
use paintings like this one as a reference, but still preserve our own Eastern
characteristics?
Teacher: It's not a problem to paint both Gods with
Eastern images and Gods with Western images in the same work. During the
Fa-rectification many different Gods are playing positive roles. A lot of
Chinese paintings are good, and can be acknowledged as such. Improve on the
approaches and skills more. These are not problems. But it seems it would be
hard to include both Chinese-style painting and Western-style oil painting in
the same piece. No one has set a precedent by blending Eastern and Western
approaches yet. Don't turn it into something neither fish nor fowl.
Question: What I want to say is, from a higher
level many Gods of the East and West are below the level of Buddha, so if we
create a large piece and include all of them in it, will that be all right?
Teacher: You want to create a large work of art that
will have Gods with both Eastern and Western images in it--there's no problem
with that. So, say you paint some Daos, and depending on what's needed you paint
some Gods with Western images, and they're all in the same painting, then
that's no problem. But if in the same piece, oil painting techniques are used
on one side and Chinese painting techniques are used on another side, then I'd
say that won't do.
Question: I have another question. In our
artwork we should mainly depict what's bright and good. But some pieces, due to
the richness of their inner meaning, have negative characters in them. With
that, you can have contrast in the scene. I'd like to confirm about handling
negative characters--apparently they should be put in dark corners--but can we
portray them like that?
Teacher: Yes, you can. In fact, take a look at this
painting. The wicked police are beating the Dafa disciple. The use of color on
the evil police and the Dafa disciple is different, yet it's very harmonious
and balanced overall, so there's no problem there. That's a question of your
techniques, and it's about how you plan it out well.
Question: Master, I'd like to ask, is Chinese
calligraphy a form of art? Also, what about the cursive styles of calligraphy,
are they upright?
Teacher: Nowadays it's called calligraphy, but in the
past it was just writing. As it's come down to recent times, people don't use
brush pens to write anymore, so they treat it as a form of art. As a matter of
fact, it does contain the inner meaning of art. Since it's now considered a
form of art, in art exhibitions you can treat it as a type of fine art.
Speaking of the cursive styles of calligraphy,
strictly speaking, they are a reflection of mental states in which people are
indulging their negative side. When Gods helped people create Chinese
characters, there were no such things as cursive styles. Actually I've never
practiced calligraphy, and I'm not that good at it. But I've often been asked
by people to handwrite something for them, so I use the official script style.
It's not that I have a preference for the official script style; it's because
when you write in the official script style you can't possibly do it cursively.
If it's written in cursive, it's no longer the official script style. So it's
hard for people to write in that style cursively when they are indulging their
notions or thought karma. From this perspective, I like writing in the official
script style.
Question: With respect to calligraphy
characters, because Master writes with the official script style, I've noticed
that when some Dafa disciples choose calligraphy styles, they usually go for
the official script style. I'd like to ask, can we use all calligraphy styles?
Teacher: Yes, you can. You can use all kinds of
calligraphy styles. But I think the cursive styles indulge humans' negative
side too much, and have too many human surface elements in them. When a person
truly has upright thoughts and acts in a good manner, he can't write that way.
That type of writing is mainly done when people indulge their human notions. In
serious cases, the person's mental state is one that's kind of crazed and his
upright side is weak.
Question: I have another question, and it's
about the three primary colors. Teacher talked about the three primary colors
having correspondences in other dimensions. People also talk about
complementary colors. So, how should we understand the three primary colors?
Here among people, we say light produces colors because without light we can't
see colors. But then, since other dimensions are filled with light, how is
there differentiation among the colors there?
Teacher: Yes, people can blend the three primary colors
from their paints to create other colors, and the three primary colors in
mankind's spectrum can refract into other colors in the spectrum. But those
colors are just produced by material elements of the human physical dimension,
which is different from other dimensions, and the kinds of matter are different
as well. Some people say that objects' appearances are the result of
light, and that includes how in a painting light and shade appear and how
colors emerge. That's not true. Objects maintain the same shape regardless of whether
or not there's light--all light does is give people the visual impression of
brightness or darkness. When affected by changes in the intensity of the light,
colors might be perceived falsely , but that doesn't really change the color or shape of the object.
Speaking in terms of cultivation, light can block people's eyes and create
false impressions for people. In a lot of other dimensions there's no sun, and
in a lot of dimensions everything is bathed in its own soft light. Without the
sun, or if there's no sun in a dimension, the appearance and state of the
object are still stable. In some dimensions, all objects dimly emit light
that's gentle to the eyes, and the beings at the same level can see it
themselves. In that type of dimension, there's no direct source of light like
the sun, but the shapes of objects you see are still what they are.
When viewed with human eyes, other dimensions
glow, and the colors and shapes of the objects there remain unchanged. (Of
course, Gods and everything of Gods can change. The forms in which objects
exist aren't in a so-called stable state, like people think). Usually they're
like colorful neon lights, and the shapes and colors of the lights aren't
affected by light. If a being is a life at that level, he won't have the same
feelings that humans do upon seeing that dimension. It's just as I've told you
about molecules having energy as well, and the reason humans can't sense it is
because everything of humans, including the eyes, is composed of molecular
particles. Similarly, a being that is composed of larger particles that are
lower than molecules sees that human bodies and everything in the human
dimension glow and have energy. This is a different concept from the dimension
I talked about earlier, where everything glows without having a sun. That's a
dimension where the objects themselves emit a glow.
Because this human dimension is a place
specially created for the Fa-rectification, outside the boundaries of the Three
Realms everything is completely different. In the many other, broader
dimensions that exist at the same level as the Three Realms, the structures of
all objects have changed, and they're all different from those in the human
dimension. The way objects appear and the relationship between brightness and
darkness that people in this world see are all different. So the relationship
between brightness and darkness that manifests here at this human place is a
manifestation in the environment that's specially created for human beings.
Gods in the heavens and many cosmic bodies don't have a sun that shines on them
directly or emits light. But there are also many cosmic bodies where they have
more than one sun that gives off light. Some places have suns and some places
don't. Beings of different levels can sense different intensities of light, and
they all conform to light's forms of existence at different levels. A student
wrote in an article that the three primary colors are related to Zhen-Shan-Ren.
That's his own feeling and view that come from his cultivation, and not the
fundamental, true nature of Zhen-Shan-Ren.
When people see scenes of the heavens they're
shocked and think, "What colors can I use to depict this?" Human
beings can see as well as touch and use matter at the surface that is composed
of molecules. But when it comes to things that are composed of particles more
microscopic than molecules, ordinary people can only sense their energy. The
colors of matter in dimensions composed of particles more microscopic than
molecules can't be found here at this human place. Actually, molecules carry
energy too. Not only do they carry energy, they can also have the impact of
energy. The people in this world can't sense the energy because their bodily
composition, eyes, skin, blood, flesh and everything else are all things in the
layer of molecular particles. That's why humans can't sense the energy that
exists at the same level as them, and the reason they can sense the energy of a
more microscopic level is that particles that make up objects at this human level
are larger in size than the microscopic particles. In other words, the elements
that make up colors are not particles of only one level, and that's why
high-level dimensions appear brighter and shinier than dimensions that are made
up of particles of one level below. But that brightness is the kind that
transcends realms, so in the human world you can't find those kinds of colors.
Even if you used radiant colors, you still wouldn't be able to depict them.
But, although you don't have the kinds of colors to depict the sacredness of
those realms, you can use the pigments that humans now have to show the
composition of a painting and [the subjects'] solemn appearances. Humans'
pigments are capable of expressing the shapes and the structures. If you could
completely display Gods in the human world using everything of Gods, that would
mean Gods had arrived in the human world.
Question: Master, could you talk about the
clothing that Buddhas, Daos, and Gods wear, or how they usually dress and adorn
themselves?
Teacher: The Buddhas' attire that we usually see is a
yellow kasaya. When you paint Bodhisattvas, just paint them in ancient Chinese
women's dress. You can mimic how the women of the Song Dynasty dressed and
adorned themselves, as that's the most common way. As for Gods with a Caucasian
image, no matter which world they're in, they usually wrap themselves in a
large white kasaya. Buddhas wrap themselves in a large yellow kasaya, and Gods
in the image of blacks wrap themselves in a large red kasaya. Of course, there
are manifestations of many more varieties and at even higher levels. There are
some who don't wear anything, there are others who wear all kinds of clothes
and adornments that are quite primitive... there are all kinds of Gods. In your
works, it's usually good enough if you just portray what people can recognize.
Daos of course don ancient Chinese dress--those are the common Daos. The
clothes worn by the Great Daos at very high levels are actually also very
diverse.
In the past there was this phenomenon with
cultivators: No matter when, or during which dynasty you succeeded in
cultivation, what you wore when you reached Consummation would become your
clothes afterwards. That was usually the case. Of course, for Buddhas it was
different--when someone attained Buddhahood he would definitely assume the
image of a Buddha, and would wear a Buddha's clothing. As for those who
cultivated into other types of Gods, normally whatever he wore when he
succeeded in cultivation would be the clothes he would wear afterwards. Which
of you have been to
Question: Master, in ancient paintings and
drawings, some Buddhas are wearing clothes, and some have their shoulders
exposed.
Teacher: Sometimes people paint or draw Buddhas based
on their own notions. For instance, it's hot in
Question: Please allow me to ask, why is it so
hard to learn basic skills when we learn to draw or paint? Plus it's very hard
to find [a good place to learn them]. How can those of us who study painting or
drawing in
Teacher: It's mainly because the education in Western
countries is too influenced by the ideas of the so-called Modernist school, and
they don't emphasize training the students in the fundamentals at all. In
addition, a lot of teachers and professors are part of the Modernist school and
they themselves don't even understand or have the most basic, common knowledge
about painting and drawing. As far as mastering the fundamentals, that can only
be done with diligent training. In the beginning, the person has to do
still-life drawings and learn to handle structures and visual perspective. When
he's able to draw still objects well, he needs to practice drawing sketches,
and then he'll learn to use colors correctly. Step by step he masters the
fundamentals of drawing and painting. Basic skills are what a painter or
sculptor must master.
Question: Why is that in
Teacher: Chinese painting seeks to convey feelings or
ideas, and seeks to capture a certain realm of thought and express inner
meanings. That's why most of them have painted landscapes. After all, Chinese
people have a semi-God-like culture. In their minds they don't want to portray
people too much, and that's also because of the reason I talked about earlier.
So most paintings are of landscapes, but there are some that have portrayed
people as well. But normally they don't use models, and the works spring
completely from their own imagination. The good thing is, this way things are
unpolluted. Of course, it's not that they don't paint real people at all. They
have painted some heroic figures in history and figures that people pay tribute
to. When it comes to recent times, [the subjects of paintings] have become more
diversified. Actually, the earliest Chinese paintings that have been discovered
are paintings of Gods, and from ancient times up to today there have always
been paintings portraying Buddhas, Daos, and Gods in temples and monasteries.
Question: In Chinese paintings, the lines are
dominant and the colors are soft and mild, whereas Western paintings are very
particular about colors. Is it true that the colors in our Chinese paintings
should be like those of Western paintings?
Teacher: No. Eastern paintings should have the
characteristics of Eastern paintings. Just paint them in the way they're
supposed to be. Once you change it it's no longer an Eastern painting. Eastern
paintings do emphasize the lines. But in Western paintings they can't
draw lines, and if you draw lines it won't be right, as their composition is
done with light and shade.
Question: Master, [in our paintings and
drawings] we convey ideas or portray something realistically. Is it true that
when we paint or draw, your Law Body goes on the piece? (People laugh)
Teacher: No, my Law Body won't do that. (People
laugh) He just needs to think and you'll know how to paint. But if you
figure, "Now I see. Then I'll have Master paint it," (people laugh)
you can't do that.
Question: At that time the painter might enter
a supernatural state, and then his painting might be beyond the ordinary.
Teacher: No, it won't necessarily be beyond the
ordinary. No matter what the circumstance, [the painter] should be rational and
act normally. Just like with your Dafa cultivation, everything is normal. If
it's something a Dafa disciple should paint, then you should just do it well.
There's no such thing as getting into some state, and you shouldn't have
thoughts like that.
Question: Master, I'd like to paint different
human figures. You've mentioned that the Gods of blacks wrap themselves in red
kasayas, but we don't know what their hair looks like.
Teacher: Usually, if you want to paint Gods with the
image of Westerners, you can reference and follow the works of fine art from
the Renaissance period. The images of Gods in the works of fine art from the
Western Renaissance period are accurate. Generally speaking, most of the adult
male Gods have mustaches or beards, but of course there are also some who
don't. Buddhas usually don't have them, but a small number of them do. Gods with
the image of blacks have the same hair as blacks--short, curly hair--because
Gods created human beings in their own image.
Question: (Translated) I did a painting for my school,
and it's basically a self-portrait. When I painted it I put a lot of care into
it, and tried my best not to let any notions play a role. I've found that
people's reactions have been pretty good, and its composition miraculously
became better as well. So my question is, is it that as long as we put a lot of
care into painting something, it will turn out well? I'd like to ask if Master
can give some guidance on this.
Teacher: Strictly speaking, when you paint you have to
put a lot of care into it. When you put a lot of care into it everyone will say
that you painted well, but, compared to the era that emphasized the
fundamentals, there is still a gap. So I think that if Dafa disciples hone and
improve their basic skills, they will paint better and will leave an upright
path for people in the future. Of course, it's correct to put a lot of care
into painting.
Question: Can I paint a portrait of Teacher?
Teacher: Well, so many people have made sculptures and
painted portraits for me, but in the end none of them look like me. It's fine
for you to paint me, that's not a problem. You can just use a photograph to
paint from.
Question: Master, I know that a lot of students
really want to paint Master, and especially images in other dimensions. Some of
the paintings do look like Master, and I feel like they truly have the power of
your Law Body. But what should we do with these painted portraits, since they
are after all Master's pictures, and what about those drafts?
Teacher: If those drafts need to be burned, then burn
them. It's no problem. During the Fa-rectification period, Dafa disciples should
make a priority of validating the Fa.
Question: Then what about the ones that are
painted well? We wonder if we could offer incense before them?
Teacher: Just keep them as paintings.
Question: Master, after listening to your talk
today, my mind and ideas have become a lot broader. But I was wondering if we
could have these things recorded in writing, because a lot of people aren't
here, and they are also quite accomplished in art.
Teacher: I'll take a look and see after the Fa-truths
that I taught this time are organized.
Question: I felt that my mind was drawing a
blank when it came to how to go down the path of creating [arts], but now I'm
clear and I'm very happy.
Teacher: That's exactly the Fa I wanted to teach to
you today.
Question: I have one more question. Take me,
for example. Everything I've studied is Western painting, but I really like
Chinese brush painting. When I'm painting, is it OK to focus on what's
depicted, and not be limited by the traditional methodologies?
Teacher: If you're saying that you want to take the best
of both worlds in terms of techniques, some people seem to have tried that
before. You can give it a try, but it needs to appear harmonious, be balanced
and feel natural to those who look at it. But, after trying it you might feel
that you still can't find a way to really put the artistic culture from Eastern
and Western paintings together.
Question: Greetings, Master. In our paintings,
can we mix winged angels, for example, from East and West together?
Teacher: In the Fa-rectification, among the Gods that
are playing a completely positive role, there are Gods in the image of both
Eastern and Western people, as well as Gods of various images. It depends
entirely on the meaning you want to express in your painting, that is, what the
composition needs. For example, among Gods in the image of Westerners, some
have wings and some don't. It depends on how the composition of your painting
depicts things. Let me tell you, those Gods in low-level dimensions knew that I
would come to disseminate the Fa, so the old forces arranged for them to
influence how I would disseminate it and the conditions of society. Of course,
I wouldn't do it according to what they wanted. The image I would assume to do
Fa-rectification while disseminating the Fa was a major issue for all the Gods.
Back then Buddhas and Daos disputed at low levels over the image I would
choose, and Daoism was created as a result. The Daos wanted me to choose the
image of a Dao, and to have me teach the Dao Fa with Dao [truths]. But they
knew themselves that the Dao is passed down in a single-disciple approach. Then
in a single-disciple approach, how could you save all beings and disseminate
Dafa? That wouldn't work, so they thought of a way and started a religion on
the earth, which led to the emergence of the Daoist religion. Later on in the
Daoist religion, many Daos split into Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as well, and
Daos' paradises really came to exist in the heavens. It's because they wanted
me to choose the image of a Dao. On the Buddhas' side, they too were creating
conditions for me to choose a Buddha's image. They said that I should use the
image of a Buddha, being merciful, since I wanted to save sentient beings. But
I incarnated in China Proper. If I had incarnated in the West then the Gods
with a Caucasian image would have created the conditions for it as well. So
that's how the disputes between Daos and Buddhas came about in history. Once I
finalized everything that I wanted, these disputes over images ended. I didn't
follow the old forces' arrangements.
The Gods in the heavens, no matter what kind of
Gods they are, whenever something happens in the heavens they discuss it
together. Jesus' coming to earth to save people was also discussed and
coordinated by all the Gods cooperatively, because major events that take place
on the earth affect the heavens. When a Buddha wants to spread Fa, it can't be
done if other Gods don't acknowledge it. Those things about the dispute between
Buddhas and Daos that I just talked about are of the past, because after the
matter of spreading the Fa was decided on, there was nothing to fight over
anymore, so all was well.
Question: Watercolor is a little bit similar to
Chinese painting, and a little bit similar to oil painting. Some works make use
of watercolors as well as Chinese painting techniques...
Teacher: The fundamentals of watercolor are Western, so
watercolor is a Western method of painting. As for the paint itself, it doesn't
restrict you from doing a watercolor or a Chinese painting. It's not a problem
if you use watercolors to paint Chinese paintings, and it's not a problem
either if you take the approach of using watercolors to paint oil paintings.
Watercolors themselves don't involve the issue of Eastern or Western ways of
painting; in other words, what kind of paint you use or what kind of painting
you do is a different matter from the way you paint. The differences between
Eastern and Western paintings aren't just limited to the intensity of the
colors being used, either. The inner meanings of each are complemented and
supported by the two types of culture.
Many people have tried combining Eastern and
Western painting styles, but they've actually all failed. Chinese painting and
Western painting don't just differ in the techniques of their painting
approaches and usage of paint on the surface; there are immense ethnic cultures
behind the paintings. All the different skills and techniques in each culture
are the culmination of that people's culture as a whole. In fact, throwing Eastern
and Western art together isn't doable, unless Eastern and Western cultures are
completely mixed together and become something that is rootless and warped.
Question: We want to paint about Heaven and
Earth being established, in other words, the old forces in the cosmos are
destroyed, and good things... that is, when the cosmic body becomes good and
bad things are cast down. In that kind of scene, is it best to include images
of Gods? Or should we just make some changes in color? [I think it's probably] best
to include some of what Master talked about earlier.
Teacher: You can't paint abstractly. The subjects that
are being depicted have to be there. In other words, you need to get back on
the upright path.
Question: Regarding those supernatural animals
in the heavens, like the lions that Master just mentioned, and some others like
dragons and phoenixes--take dragons, for example. There are dragon deities, and
the red evil dragon that Master mentioned in past scriptures, as in "the
Red Dragon is slain." Are there differences in those dragons?
Teacher: The outward appearances of dragons are the
same. And there are good and bad dragons. There are evil dragons, good dragons,
and dragon deities. The dragons commonly seen in the heavenly paradises and
Buddhas' paradises are golden dragons, which glow in golden light. There's one
point I want to clarify: the dragons described in Eastern culture and the
dragons in Western culture are not the same creature, not the same species. The
dragons in Eastern culture have different colors, some are in colors like those
of the black-and-white fish, and there are also red ones, yellow ones, white
ones, and black ones. They're different, because there are distinctions in
levels among dragons as well. There are distinctions among the heavenly
dragons, earthly dragons, and dragons that reside in water. As for the dragons
that are referred to in Western culture, they are a type of vicious beast in
hell. A lot of times, when Chinese people mention dragons, many Westerners think
of dragons as being bad--that's how they feel. It's actually a difference in
Eastern and Western cultures. The dragons that Westerners talk about have a
head that somewhat resembles that of a dragon, and have a skinny neck, a
massive body like dinosaurs, and featherless wings. That kind of creature is a
low-level creature in the system of Gods with a Western image. The dragons from
hell in the system of Western-looking Gods spit an infernal flame. Actually, I
think people in the past mismatched things in the translation, and called that
beast a dragon. It's different from the dragon of the East. (Asking Western
students) Tell me, isn't Westerners' concept of a dragon like what I just
talked about? (Answer: "Yes.")
Actually they are not the same creatures. In
the heavenly kingdoms of the West, usually they don't have the type of dragon
referred to in the East, as it's not a creature of that system. And in the
system of Gods that are in the image of Caucasian people, which corresponds to
the society of Caucasian people on the earth, all the way to even lower
dimensions, there's no such thing as dragons in that system, nor is there any
manifestation of that kind of animal. But they have many creatures that aren't
in the system of Gods that have the image of Eastern people, either. For
example, in the West there used to be a type of beast on the earth whose lower
body was of a horse and whose upper body was human. There's no such thing in
the system of the Eastern world. So it's not just a matter of differences in
cultures. It's that certain things don't exist in that other world's system.
Question: Master, I'd like to ask a question.
I'm an oil painter, and it's very time-consuming to complete a good painting.
[I ask] because I know there are a lot of projects to do.
Teacher: Diligent Dafa disciples are all very busy.
During the Fa-rectification period, they need to clarify the facts and save
sentient beings. And in terms of what I've said to you today, those of us here
who have these special skills also need to create works of art. Creating these
works does take a lot of time, and I'm very much aware of that. But, don't
worry, try your best to make good use of the time you have to paint or draw.
Just don't drag it out for too long. Paint as much as you can, and we'll put
together an exhibition when the works are pretty much ready.
Question: Master, what I'd like to ask about
is, well, how to balance the two. We only have so much time, and when we do one
thing we won't be able to do something else.
Teacher: Right, then plan things reasonably. What I'm
asking you to do is not only for the sake of others and for leaving behind
these things for the people of the future--it's also helpful to your own
cultivation. Because you're all living in this society's environment, you all
need to step out from this period of time. In other words, this is how people's
notions are now, people are all in the big dye vat, and those of you who have
these special skills are bound to have been influenced in this regard more than
others. Then during your process of creating artworks and returning to the
upright path, aren't you cleansing yourselves? And aren't you re-elevating
yourselves artistically? Yes, you are fundamentally changing yourselves, and
changing yourselves in terms of your concepts. Aren't you cultivating yourself?
Question: Yesterday I saw Master turning the
Falun at the conference, and I was greatly moved. If I paint that scene based
on my ideas, and Master was wearing a suit then, would it be too direct or too
detailed?
Teacher: It's fine to paint that, and it's fine to paint
me in a suit.
Question: Master, I'd like to ask two
questions. One is, our Falun Dafa includes many Gods, so with that many Gods,
and of course after students complete cultivation they'll become different
Buddhas, Daos, and Gods, then right now we want to depict a large number of
fellow practitioners who have cultivated well--some of them might have already
cultivated extremely well--we can depict them; then as for the Gods that
upright religions believe in and that Master has mentioned, and in Buddhism
there are a lot of upright Gods as well, can we depict them?
Teacher: In many cases, you can. Let's put it this way,
the Gods mentioned in Buddhism, and all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas mentioned
in Buddhism that people know about, they're fine to depict. Lao Zi, Daos,
Yahweh, Jesus, Saint Mary... there's no problem with doing any of them. But
it's meaningless for Dafa disciples who are in the process of validating the Fa
to depict Gods that have nothing to do with Dafa. As for what you should depict
and how you should depict it, there's no need for me to say too much about
that.
Question: I have another question, and it's
regarding some classical works that are left behind from the Renaissance
Period, such as the Last Supper, etc. I think that these types of works are
huge projects, and I would like us to also leave behind some really good works,
but not taking the same forms as theirs, because ours will depict Falun Dafa.
But the essence will be the same. First and foremost, the concept has to be
good, and then the techniques need to be sound, and we need to have the time,
as well as many other prerequisites. So I feel that to do that kind of project
well, we need to spend a lot of effort overall.
Teacher: Your idea is grand. Don't be anxious, and take
your time. You can create things based on the abilities you currently have.
You're getting this started, and if you have the ability, go ahead and do it;
if you can't do it, people after you will definitely do it. Mankind will
definitely create something glorious for Dafa, because Dafa has brought so many
blessings to mankind! (Applause)
Question: Master, I think the images of Buddhas
in Chinese paintings are highly adorned, and they are painted so, so beautifully,
but what's painted nowadays is very simple, and I don't think it looks good.
Teacher: People's perspectives are different. That's how
things manifest here at this place of humans. In
different time periods, Buddhas display to people the dress of the different
time periods. When I first started teaching the Fa and a lot of Bodhisattvas
came to see me, you would never guess what they were wearing. You know, during
the Cultural Revolution Chinese girls liked wearing those grass-green military
uniforms the best. (Everyone laughs) They came wearing grass-green
military uniforms. What I mean is, Buddhas display things based on the notions
of the world's people in different time periods. Actually the original image of
a Buddha is one with a yellow kasaya and curly blue hair. Of course, how
sculptures were created and pictures were painted in ancient times differ to a
certain extent from the way they're done now. Back then, the Buddha images that
were painted were dazzlingly decorated and a feast for the eyes. That, too, was
displayed based on the concepts of the people at that time. Of course, when
someone can see a Buddha's real image, he'll also see the Buddha's paradise and
the Buddha body's splendor--it's an incredibly magnificent display. Gods
intentionally vary their manifestations to people.
Question: Our paintings now are very simple.
Teacher: The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas that were painted
in the Tang Dynasty had a lot of adornments. When you paint, if you want to
follow the portraits done in the Tang Dynasty, that's fine, too.
Question: I spent half a year at the Louvre.
While the docent was introducing the painting "Mona Lisa," I heard
him talking about the Gods of the past. He said that Mona Lisa represented an
image of the Gods of the past, and that Gods didn't wear any adornments. But I
just heard Master talk about this, and I'm confused.
Teacher: What is depicted in that painting is a human
being, not a God, and it's not as great as people say. Besides, the shadows in
it aren't good.
Question: The docent said that it reflected the
aristocrats of the past, and that the aristocrats of the past didn't wear any
adornments.
Teacher: All that was said by human beings, and the
docent's words are unreliable. A lot of Gods in the heavens wear earrings. The
Goddesses of the heavens wear adornments such as earrings, and those are
Fa-implements, as well. As for Gods in the image of Westerners, it seems that
the Goddesses wear very few adornments. Apparently the Bodhisattvas wear
relatively more adornments. Usually Gods wear necklaces, and Bodhisattvas also
have long strings of large rosary beads, really long ones.
Question: Master, what does it mean when
heavenly maidens scatter flowers? To this day I still don't know.
Teacher: They only scatter flowers when there's someone
on earth who saves people teaching the Dao or doing great and significant
things. A lot of students have seen that whenever Master teaches the Fa they
scatter flowers. (Applause) They are encouraging sentient beings, so
they scatter flowers for you.
Question: (Translated) I don't often see Gods in other
dimensions, and I can't see them very clearly, either. How do I know if what
I'm drawing or painting is accurate? This is a big problem. What do I need to
draw when I'm depicting Gods?
Teacher: Usually, if you know their approximate type of
clothing and their rough image, then that's a starting point. A lot of Dafa
disciples around you have seen various scenes, so you can listen to their
descriptions. When you draw or paint, you'll naturally know the composition of
your drawing and what it portrays.
Question: I'd like to ask a question regarding
children's paintings. Kids are pure and innocent, yet they don't know any
techniques. When they paint, is that method of expression very different from
what we want, which is superb in terms of technique?
Teacher: Yes, a painter is a painter, a child is a
child, and a child doesn't equal a painter. When a child likes to paint, it's
the beginning of progressing toward becoming a painter, but it doesn't mean that
he is a painter. If someone can't paint well he'll never be considered someone
who can paint. There's always going to be a difference between being able to
paint and not being able to paint. So kids need to study and do well in what
they study. Even the kinds of pictures that adults paint for children these
days only appeared after the Modernists came along. Picture books were drawn
for kids in the past, too, and those picture books in the past were done with
traditional techniques.
Question: Then if young children want to depict
things of Dafa, if they depict them directly, would that be a problem? Or is it
that only people with institutional training and adequate techniques can depict
these things?
Teacher: Children can practice drawing, and practice drawings
can't be considered successful works, but what they do as homework in art class
at school can be shown and judged at school. Students at the Minghui Schools
should of course study the Fa, and art classes should definitely involve
drawing things about Dafa and practitioners, but that's just studying and doing
homework. But I hope that all of the schools' art classes foster the students'
basic skills in a formal and standard manner. In fact, isn't drawing Gods
without skill smearing the image of Gods? Even though the intention is good,
from another perspective, Gods can't be just drawn or painted any which way,
right? If you don't know how to draw or paint, how can you depict Gods' solemn,
wonderful, and righteous qualities? Of course drawing or painting practitioners
is an exception.
At Minghui Schools, if students want to
practice drawing, that's no problem, and the schools can display, compare and
critique for themselves the ones that are done well. But I think that works at
a truly high level require being skillful, and especially for exhibitions we
need to demonstrate an upright, traditional, and professional standard.
Question: When painting scenes that show Dafa
disciples and Master doing Fa-rectification, Buddhas, Daos, and Gods in other
dimensions are painted. Since none of the Gods of the old cosmos participate in
the Fa-rectification, can it be understood that this is a manifestation of Dafa
disciples' bodies in different dimensions participating in Fa-rectification in
different dimensions?
Teacher: It's not that none of the Gods participate.
Most of the Gods in the cosmos don't participate, but besides the old forces,
there is a portion that can completely follow Master's requirements and play a
positive role, and there are celestial soldiers and celestial generals who are
also safeguarding the Fa. It's not that no Gods are participating--some
righteous Gods are participating. You can go ahead and paint them. Dafa
disciples can call upon divine power and gong when they have righteous
thoughts, but it's hard for them to call upon their divine side that has
completed cultivation.
Question: When Dafa disciples participate in
the Fa-rectification in other dimensions, are they also in the images of
Buddhas, Daos, or Gods? Are they in the same images as other Buddhas, Daos, and
Gods?
Teacher: Yes, their images are like that. Dafa disciples
only validate the Fa among everyday people. On the other side they basically
don't move. But when they send forth righteous thoughts they can call upon
their abilities on that other side. Validating the Fa is for the most part
being done by their main body here, and when their righteous thoughts are
strong they can call upon their energy, Fa implements, and divine power--that's
usually how it is.
Question: Then can they only sit there?
Teacher: It's because they are not allowed to move on
their own when the main body is not present. And that's because when their main
body has completed cultivation they move along with it. If they move without
the main body, isn't that equivalent to that part being independent? And
wouldn't that become another being, then? And it might take your place or turn
around and control you. Could that be allowed? Then everything that was
cultivated would no longer be you, and that can't be allowed. So it's required
that after the main body completes everything they are combined into one. Let
me put it this way, if your arm starts moving by itself and can't be
controlled, then is it still yours? (Everyone laughs)
Question: If they don't move on that other
side, how do they do things?
Teacher: The ones who are truly doing things are you,
who are validating the Fa in the human world. You are the ones sending
righteous thoughts here, and you are clarifying the facts and saving the
world's people. When your righteous thoughts are strong, you can call upon your
energy. At different levels there are energy, Fa-implements, and gong of
different levels, and the stronger your righteous thoughts, the stronger your
ability to call upon them. Some students' primordial sprit can depart the
shell, leave the body, and they are also playing a role in the
Fa-rectification. Those whose primordial spirit can leave the shell are the
ones who are able to control the divine part of their body that has completed
cultivation.
Question: There are many Buddhas, Daos, and
Gods in Buddhist paintings. Can we use them as a reference?
Teacher: Yes, you can.
Question: Since cursive-style calligraphy is
warped, does it mean that we have to use the regular style or the official
script style when we put words, poems, or inscriptions in our paintings?
Teacher: Cursive-style calligraphy is written in a
state in which a person is indulging his negative side and his notions are
dominating. I think it's good to write neatly and clearly. Since characters are
passed down to humans from Gods, doing that is being respectful to Gods. I can
only tell you the Fa-truths. You might say, "I just like the cursive
style, and what I've practiced is the cursive style." At present, I'm not
concerned with what ordinary people are doing, but Dafa disciples must be
upright.
Question: Master, could you please talk about
what you think of the Dunhuang murals?
Teacher: There used to be a large monastery there in
ancient times, but the building was ruined by war and years of neglect. The
Dunhuang murals were done over a period of time around the Tang Dynasty. Some
of them depict scenes in the heavens. Since they were painted when Buddhism was
flourishing, and a lot of people believed in Buddhas and believed in religions,
a lot of people would see scenes of Buddhas or of Gods and people would depict
them. But, being affected by the immature painting skills of the East, their
works weren't as mature or accurate as Western art in terms of visual
perspective and bodily structures. Nevertheless, the fact that those people had
such skills one to two thousand years ago allowed Buddhism and the arts in
Question: Master, I'd like to ask you about the
other ancient civilizations, for instance,
Teacher: Those civilizations did exist. Those people
believed in different Gods, and many of them were upright Gods.
Question: Master, regarding the supernatural
animals of the East and the Gods of the East, what Fa-implements do they
generally have?
Teacher: Wow, it's like you're asking how many
particles there are in the cosmos. There are so, so many of them. Every God has
Fa-implements, and more than just one. The Fa-implements of those who ascend
through cultivation are formed during the person's cultivation process. For
example, the bowls, rosaries, and wooden bells that Buddhist monks often use,
the horsetail whisks and swords of the Daoists, etc.--all these things can
become Fa-implements as the person cultivates. When a monk moves through his
rosary beads one-by-one while he chants Buddha's name every day, the energy in
his hands increases as his level rises, and as he continues to move through
them, the energy in them becomes quite full and even the nature of the beads
changes. When he succeeds in cultivation later on, each bead becomes a
Fa-implement, and the whole strand of beads together forms another
Fa-implement. With those who reach a high level, each bead is like a world and
it has everything in it. All kinds of things can become Fa-implements. While
Dafa disciples validate the Fa, if you write articles to validate Dafa, then
even that pen you use every day has earned merit and virtue, and perhaps even
your pen will become a Fa-implement in the future. Once something used by a
cultivator has earned merit and virtue, it can become a Fa-implement, and that
includes the brushes, pens, and pencils you use to paint or draw when you
validate the Fa.
Question: Master, I have a question on
sculptures. The Greek and Roman sculptures appear to be very precise. But when
I look back at the Buddha statues from the Tang Dynasty in
Teacher: That's true. The statues of Buddhas and Gods
have Law Bodies of the Buddhas and Gods in them, so of course they're different
from ordinary statues, and that's why they can move people. That's exactly what
I was talking about just now. The Chinese people pay particular attention to
conveying feelings and ideas, whereas Westerners focus on accurately expressing
what's on the surface. These are two different approaches, and both can excite
people. Those Eastern paintings and drawings can move people because they are
depicting Gods--they wouldn't if they were of everyday people. The Gods in
Western paintings can arouse a sense of admiration as well. But if the Western
paintings portray ordinary people, then people won't be excited. If the skills
and techniques of Chinese paintings, drawings, and sculptures were as mature
and accurate as those of the West, wouldn't they be more moving and more vivid?
You can't consider an immature and imperfect work of art all right because of
the effect a God is having. A perfect work of art with the presence of a God is
what's most sacred.
Question: So we should learn from their
techniques?
Teacher: What I'm talking about isn't just about
technique. What I'm saying is that you should paint or draw in the traditional
and upright way, and try your best to perfect your artistry. In this way,
you're improving yourself and also being respectful to Gods.
Question: (Translated) What I'd like to ask is, I use
computers to do design, and often take close-up shots. For instance, I might
take close-up shots of Dafa disciples or everyday people. I was wondering if I
could use close-up shots of a person's face, etc., in my design. I'm not sure
if that's appropriate, or what the standard is.
Teacher: Yes, you can. And in addition to close-up
shots, you can use the whole person as a model. But you must have a correct
aesthetic standard, instead of going with what you like based on human notions.
Question: Teacher, the skills of the students
in
Teacher: At present, let's not count on the students
in Mainland
Question: What I'd like to ask is, how are
movies, television programs, and drawings and paintings related to the
traditional drawings and paintings?
Teacher: Nothing is free from the impact of the trend
of its time--that's why the characters' appearances in many cartoons are
actually quite ugly, in my view. Some that are meant to express goodness are
not good, and their images are actually quite wicked. What I'm telling you
today is to return to the path of human beings through righteous thoughts,
Goodness, and the traditional and upright approaches. While blazing the path
for the world's people of the future, Dafa disciples need to first find their
upright thoughts with respect to the arts again.
Question: Master, I'd like to ask you how
painting is related to music composition.
Teacher: In both cases, you need to create the work
with upright thoughts. Earlier, I talked to those who are involved in composing
music. I just finished talking with them, so I won't talk about it here. I
talked to them for several hours as well.
Question: Teacher, you talked about compassion,
but I don't want to depict a very large scene.
Teacher: Then depicting a small topic is also good.
Both are fine. If you want to depict a very small matter, and you don't want to
portray a large scene, and you want a small-sized picture, that'll work, too.
Question: Master, what do the Eight Groups of
Heavenly Law-Guardians look like?
Teacher: The Eight Groups of Heavenly Law-Guardians
were mentioned by Shakyamuni. He was actually referring to eight types of
sentient beings--eight groups of beings, lives. What I've arranged is for
celestial soldiers and celestial generals to be your law guardians, and there
are also dragons--these two groups. Of course, a very small number of Dafa
disciples also have exceptional situations with their law guardians. The law
guardians of those other groups can't be described accurately, because the
sentient beings in those several other groups are all going through the
Fa-rectification. Whether they will be kept and whether they can come through
remain to been seen after the Fa-rectification.
Teacher: You've raised your hand quite a few times
already.
Question: I just want to say, I feel that Dafa
provides a lot of themes for our works. After these several years, Dafa has
shaken heaven and earth.
Teacher: Yes, that's true.
Question: So I've been very excited, and feel
that there are so many themes in Dafa that are really moving and worth
exalting. As Dafa disciples and artists, we have this responsibility, and we
need to fulfill what we should do. But of course, when we actually paint or
draw, we face quite a few challenges. Today, after Master explained things in
person, we feel that we now have direction for a lot of things. I'd like to
raise a specific point, which is, I hope that the organizers of our fine art
exhibition will do some overall coordination in terms of the major themes. This
is because in our minds there are a lot of themes we need to paint or draw on,
and they're quite important.
Teacher: The coordination you mentioned is important.
When some of you have opened up your thinking, go ahead and sketch out the
ideas, then those of you who have the ability to paint or draw can just go
ahead and work on them instead of having to conceive your own work. Doing it
that way would also be good.
Question: Some Dafa disciples have very good
designs and really good ideas, but don't have good skills. So just like how we
do things at the radio stations and television stations that have been set up
by Dafa disciples, we can share our information, materials, designs, and
techniques. We especially need to ensure the quality of our major themes,
because at the very first exhibition by Dafa disciples, we should demonstrate a
level that truly represents us Dafa disciples. So I think that large and small
works are both good. But it's a bit hard to exhibit something that's too large.
For instance, say I have great ideas and I think that my techniques can achieve
a certain level, but I feel that I can't see a lot of things or don't know how
to draw or paint them, then we can complement each other.
Teacher: Yes, that's how you should do it. You can
have two people be responsible for coming up with the concepts and designs, and
then whoever is able to paint or draw them can go ahead and work on them. That
way, you'll reduce the time it takes to conceive your artwork. You just need to
have a basic, rough and general outline, and because all of you have the skills
and ability, you'll be able to go ahead with it. I think that idea is very
constructive.
I think this is all I'll say. What's left are
more specific things, and you can handle those things well and figure out how
to create a Dafa disciples' path, because everything you do today is of utmost
importance. If you do well, mankind will emulate it; if you don't do well,
mankind will emulate that as well. So Dafa disciples have to do well. Those
artworks of yours that aren't good or aren't upright can't be presented to the
public, because it will impact mankind. So you should not only do it in a
traditional and upright way, depict what's good, depict compassion, exalt Dafa,
and give glory to Gods, but also, at the same time you need to demonstrate a
high level of excellence in terms of skill, and demonstrate a traditional and
upright standard. (Applause)
Editor's note: The translation is
subject to further improvement so as to be closer to the original text. Last
updated: October 19, 2003.