Class XI - (Hornbill) Chapter - 4 -"Landscape of the Soul" By Nathalie Trouveroy

Class 11 English (Hornbill Book) Chapter 4 Landscape of the Soul

By Nathalie Trouveroy

Introduction to the Lesson

Written by Nathalie Trouveroy, the chapter is about how different the Chinese Art form is, from the European art form. The writer uses two stories to make a contrast. European art is about reproducing an actual view whereas Chinese art is about not creating a real landscape. European art is an artist’s way to let viewers show exactly what he wants them to see in the landscape. Chinese art is the artist’s spiritual and inner voice where you can travel from any point and it lets the viewer creates a path for their imagination.

About the author 

 Summary

 In this chapter, the writer contrasts two forms of art – Chinese art and European art by using two different stories. In China during the eighth century, the Tang emperor Xuanzong commissioned a painter Wu Daozi to decorate a wall in the palace. Upon seeing the wall painting, the Emperor started noticing the outer appearance of the painting but the painter drew his attention to a cave at the foot of the mountain. The painter told the Emperor that he would take him inside. The painter entered the cave and the entrance closed behind him. As soon as the painter clapped his hand, the painting on the wall was gone and so was the painter.

In another story, a painter wouldn’t draw an eye of a dragon as he feared that the dragon would fly out of the painting. In another story to represent a European art form, a master Blacksmith falls in love with a painter’s daughter. The father didn’t approve of him because of his profession. The blacksmith sneaked into his painting studio and painted a fly on the painter’s latest panel. The fly seemed so real that the painter tried to hit it first before realizing it was in the painting. The painter accepted him as a trainee in his studio. The blacksmith married the painter’s daughter and later became one of the famous painters of his time.

These stories revealed as to how art form is believed to be followed in two different regions in the world. In Europe, an artist wants the viewer to see a real viewpoint by borrowing his eyes. The art must be perfect and must be illusion likeness. Whereas, in China, the artist doesn’t paint a real one but uses his inner and spiritual voice to create an abstract piece. The viewer can enter the painting from any point and can travel according to his own imagination. The artist wants the viewer to enter his mind and create a path of its own.

This concept is called ‘Shanshui’ which means ‘mountain water’. When they are used together, they make the word ‘landscape’. 

Text and word meaning

A WONDERFUL old tale is told about the painter Wu Daozi, who lived in the eighth century. His last painting was a landscape commissioned by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong, to decorate a palace wall. The master had hidden his work behind a screen, so only the Emperor would see it. For a long while, the Emperor admired the wonderful scene, discovering forests, high mountains, waterfalls, clouds floating in an immense sky, men on hilly paths, birds in flight. “Look, Sire”, said the painter, “in this cave, at the foot of the mountain, dwells a spirit.” The painter clapped his hands, and the entrance to the cave opened. “The inside is splendid, beyond anything words can convey. Please let me show Your Majesty the way.” The painter entered the cave; but the entrance closed behind him, and before the astonished Emperor could move or utter a word, the painting had vanished from the wall. Not a trace of Wu Daozi’s brush was left — and the artist was never seen again in this world. 

Dwells – live; stay

Splendid – very impressive; superb

Astonished – greatly surprised or impressed 

Such stories played an important part in China’s classical education. The books of Confucius and Zhuangzi are full of them; they helped the master to guide his disciple in the right direction. Beyond the anecdote, they are deeply revealing of the spirit in which art was considered. Contrast this story — or another famous one about a painter who wouldn’t draw the eye of a dragon he had painted, for fear it would fly out of the painting — with an old story from my native Flanders that I find most representative of Western painting. 

Disciple – a follower or a pupil of a leader, teacher

Anecdote – a short interesting story of a real person

Flanders – a medieval country in Western Europe 

In fifteenth century Antwerp, a master blacksmith called Quinten Metsys fell in love with a painter’s daughter. The father would not accept a son-in-law in such a profession. So Quinten sneaked into the painter’s studio and painted a fly on his latest panel, with such delicate realism that the master tried to swat it away before he realised what had happened. Quinten was immediately admitted as an apprentice into his studio. He married his beloved and went on to become one of the most famous painters of his age. These two stories illustrate what each form of art is trying to achieve: a perfect, illusionistic likeness in Europe, the essence of inner life and spirit in Asia. 

Antwerp – a city of northern Belgium

Delicate Realism – the quality of art that makes it seem real

Swat – hit or crush something

Apprentice – trainee; learner

Illusionistic Likeness – an illusion created which resembles something 

In the Chinese story, the Emperor commissions a painting and appreciates its outer appearance. But the artist reveals to him the true meaning of his work. The Emperor may rule over the territory he has conquered, but only the artist knows the way within. “Let me show the Way”, the ‘Dao’, a word that means both the path or the method, and the mysterious works of the Universe. The painting is gone, but the artist has reached his goal — beyond any material appearance. 

A classical Chinese landscape is not meant to reproduce an actual view, as would a Western figurative painting. Whereas the European painter wants you to borrow his eyes and look at a particular landscape exactly as he saw it, from a specific angle, the Chinese painter does not choose a single viewpoint. His landscape is not a ‘real’ one, and you can enter it from any point, then travel in it; the artist creates a path for your eyes to travel up and down, then back again, in a leisurely movement. This is even more true in the case of the horizontal scroll, in which the action of slowly opening one section of the painting, then rolling it up to move on to the other, adds a dimension of time which is unknown in any other form of painting. It also requires the active participation of the viewer, who decides at what pace he will travel through the painting — a participation which is physical as well as mental. The Chinese painter does not want you to borrow his eyes; he wants you to enter his mind.The landscape is an inner one, a spiritual and conceptual space.

Figurative painting – metaphoric representation of an art

Leisurely – unhurried or relaxed

Conceptual Space – relation with an abstract representation

This concept is expressed as shanshui, literally ‘mountainwater’ which used together represent the word ‘landscape’. More than two elements of an image, these represent two complementary poles, reflecting the Daoist view of the universe. The mountain is Yang — reaching vertically towards Heaven, stable, warm, and dry in the sun, while the water is Yin — horizontal and resting on the earth, fluid, moist and cool. The interaction of Yin, the receptive, feminine aspect of universal energy, and its counterpart Yang, active and masculine, is of course a fundamental notion of Daoism. What is often overlooked is an essential third element, the Middle Void where their interaction takes place. This can be compared with the yogic practice of pranayama; breathe in, retain, breathe out — the suspension of breath is the Void where meditation occurs. The Middle Void is essential — nothing can happen without it; hence the importance of the white, unpainted space in Chinese landscape. 

Daoism – a Chinese philosophy based on the writings of Lao-Tzu

Void – empty; vacant

This is also where Man finds a fundamental role. In that space between Heaven and Earth, he becomes the conduit of communication between both poles of the Universe. His presence is essential, even if it’s only suggested; far from being lost or oppressed by the lofty peaks, he is, in Francois Cheng’s wonderful expression, “the eye of the landscape”. 

Conduit – channel; tube

Oppressed – burdened; worried

Lofty – tall or high

 

Text Book -Questions and Answers

Understanding the Text

1. (i) Contrast the Chinese view of art with the European view with examples.

Ans: The Chinese form of art is based on imagination and shows inner and spiritual approach of the artist. Whereas, the European art form is real and reproduces an actual view of the object from the landscape.

(ii) Explain the concept of shanshui.

Ans: Shanshui is a Chinese concept of art which means ‘mountain water’. It is used together to represent the word ‘landscape’. The two complementary poles (yin and yang) of an image reflect the Daoist view.

 

2. (i) What do you understand by the terms ‘outsider art’ and ‘art brut’ or ‘raw art’?

Ans: ‘Outsider Art’ is the art made by untrained artists, for example children or mentally ill person. ‘Art Brut’ or ‘Raw Art’ is a type of art made by people who are not professionals but they create an art piece with their own depth and understanding and not from the stereotypical form of classical or fashionable art.

(ii) Who was the “untutored genius who created a paradise” and what is the nature of his contribution to art?

Ans: “Untutored genius who created a paradise” was Nek Chand. He was an eighty year old creator – director who made the world famous Rock Garden in Chandigarh. He used everything from a tin to sink or anything which he felt as an art form. One of his famous creations are ‘Women by the Waterfall’.

Talking about the Text

1. Discuss “The Emperor may rule over the territory he has conquered, but only the artist knows the way within.”

Ans: The statement means that the Emperor rules over the territory which he has conquered and have the power but the artist knows the path and mysterious work of the universe. The artist can go beyond the materialistic appearance of objects. No matter how powerful the Emperor was, the artist’s true art form can be seen the way he wants to show them.

 

2. Discuss “The landscape is an inner one, a spiritual and conceptual space.”

Ans: The statement ‘The landscape is an inner one, a spiritual and conceptual space’ means that a Chinese artist wants the viewer to enter his mind rather than borrowing his eyes to view his art piece.

This requires both physical and mental participation. Viewer can enter the painting from any point and travel from one point to another point. As it is not a real one, it is an inner, spiritual and abstract space of the artist. 

Thinking about Language

1. Find out the correlates of Yin and Yang in other cultures.

Ans: In Indian culture, Yin which is receptive and female part and Yang which is Masculine and male part are known as ‘Maya’ and ‘Brahma’. Nature is the Yin and God is the creator of the universe.

Likewise Yin-Yang, the two combination of Maya and Brahma creates a world.

 

2. What is the language spoken in Flanders?

Ans: French language is spoken in Flanders which is situated in Belgium.

 

Landscape of the Soul Lesson Grammar Exercises

The following common words are used in more than one sense.

panel

studio

brush

essence

Material

 

Examine the following sets of sentences to find out what the words, ‘panel’ and ‘essence’ mean in different contexts.

1. (i) The masks from Bawa village in Mali look like long panels of decorated wood.

(ii) Judge H. Hobart Grooms told the jury panel he had heard the reports.

(iii) The panel is laying the groundwork for an international treaty.

(iv) The glass panels of the window were broken.

(v) Through the many round tables, workshops and panel discussions, a consensus was reached.

(vi) The sink in the hinged panel above the bunk drains into the head.

 

2. (i) Their repetitive structure must have taught the people around the great composer the essence of music.

(ii) Part of the answer is in the proposition; but the essence is in the meaning.

(iii) The implications of these schools of thought are of practical essence for the teacher.

(iv) They had added vanilla essence to the pudding.

Ans:

1. (i) Board of decorated wood

(ii) Group of people selected to give unanimous verdict on a legal case

(iii) Group of experts

(iv) Window panes

(v) Group discussion

(vi) a flat board fixed with a hinged

 

2. (i) the intrinsic quality of something which determines its character

(ii) The main part

(iii) Practical importance

(iv) An extract obtained from vanilla plant and used for flavouring agent