natural 自然 – a key topic in Daoism
Bada Shanren and naturalness: [1] We generally think that the term nature, natural is clearly defined and means the same thing to us all. May I start with a little story: A dear friend of mine has a lovely little daughter. The girl loves strawberry yogurt more than anything and has clearly defined her favorites on the supermarket shelf. My friend bought fresh strawberries at a farmer’s market and made strawberry yogurt for her daughter. She tasted skeptical and then refused to eat anymore. They wouldn’t taste good. “But why is that?” “They don’t taste natural”. Her favorite yogurt was advertised as: “XY yogurt. The one with the natural taste”.
It’s an excellent example to start with the opposite of what Daoism calls nature, naturalness. The opposite is cuo-zuo, done [2]. The artificial silk blouse with the natural feel is “cuo-zuo” and has nothing to do with nature. Just as little as that Eau de Toilette with the “natural freshness of lime” – which contains as much natural lime as a brick.
“Naturalness” in the Daoist sense
First a definition [3]: “Ziran is a fundamental concept in Taoism that can be understood as “naturalness” or “spontaneity.” It refers to the inherent nature and self-so of all things, emphasizing the importance of following the natural flow of the universe rather than resisting or attempting to control it. Ziran encompasses the idea of effortless action, where one aligns oneself with the rhythm of nature, allowing events to unfold naturally without unnecessary interference or exertion. It involves embracing the organic and spontaneous unfolding of life, recognizing that true harmony arises when one lives in accordance with the innate tendencies of the Tao (the underlying principle of the universe). Ultimately, Ziran encourages individuals to let go of attachments, expectations, and the desire for control, and instead surrender to the natural order of things.”
Of course, this is once again a big topic that books can be filled with. I would therefore like to single out a pars pro totum in which the term ziran can be clearly identified. And who better to do that than Bada Shanren, the Daoist painter par excellence.
Many of us, including me at an earlier point in time, think: “Hey, that’s easy, I can do that too.” After all, it’s just a few brush strokes. But if we then pick up the brush and try to copy one of his paintings, we suddenly realize the challenge. Yes, it’s only a few brush strokes, but each one is a masterpiece, and our meager attempts give us a glimpse of just how far Ba Da has come. We certainly felt addressed at first glance by the naturalness, and the unaffected use of brush and ink. If we delve further into this, we will see that the strokes serve multiple functions (see also the article on Zha Shibiao). They also describe, for example, the quality of a fish belly or a tail fin.
brush strokes and composition
Furthermore the strokes not only describe the external form of the fish, but they are also calligraphically of the highest standard, also indicate space, and describe not only the nature of the fish but also the environment. They are fish IN the water – without Ba Da having to add any waves, water plants, or air bubbles.
But that’s not all. Let’s turn our attention again to the construction of the picture (see also the article composition in Chinese painting).
Let’s look at how power and energy are created through composition, how the QI can flow freely, and even an Ensō is recognizable. And again: the center of the picture is NOTHING, emptiness, the void. Furthermore, at least 80% of the paper is empty. And with that, we have not yet discussed all aspects of the picture, which seems so simple and inspires us with its natural painting style.
my attempts at this subject
I also chose these picture examples, fish by Ba Da, because I’ve been playing around with this topic a lot lately, and the western :: eastern contrast may be attractive.
Neither being Chinese nor a contemporary of Ba Da, there would be little point in trying to copy painters like him in any way. (I posted a long time ago that I can copy Chinese pictures relatively well: Copying Old Masters). But what I want to do is to approach the classic term ziran in a modern, contemporary form and to reflect on it in a painterly way. As I venture further and further into abstract painting, the abstract aspect becomes more challenging. And it seems appealing to me to take up and compare these thoughts of ziran 400 years after Ba Da.
The examples shown below are details from pictures or studies, some larger, most small. Some squint at an external resemblance, but mostly it’s just about reflecting “FISHNESS” [4] in its natural form.
levels of abstraction
The fish shown below, mostly small, come relatively close to realistic fish in shape and color – at least one can tell where the fish’s mouth and where the tail is. In my ongoing Magic Sea project, they would be something like extras. They enliven the picture, suggest the sea, and build a bridge to realism in an otherwise relatively abstract picture.
In step further, the fish gradually lose their shape and are often not recognized as such. Among other things, they serve to emphasize the environment in the water.
The two details in the collage below try to describe the YIN, the dark, the mysterious, the mud, and the slime.
Expanding on the theme of abstraction, the “fishes” almost completely lose their form. They serve to facilitate the flow of QI. Still, in the whole painting, those strokes are associated with fish.
One step further
Now one can think that in my gimmicks I have moved quite far away from Daoist principles, as we discovered with Ba Da. Not necessarily!
Once again I would like to quote our old Daoist friend Zhuangzi, who, while never writing expressly on painting, his reflections can always be detected in traditional Chinese painting: “There is a beginning; there is no beginning. There is no non-beginning. There is being; there is nonbeing. There is no nonbeing. If there is suddenly a distinction between being and non-being, then I don’t know what is really being and what is really non-being. I’ve just made a finding, but I don’t know if it’s really been made or not.” (Zhuangzi Chapter II)
This statement by Zhuangzi can be applied to the following picture I recently did [5]. Among any number of viewers, some would say, “Yes, that IS a fish. Head, body shape, caudal fin… it’s all there”. Another segment of the viewer would say, “That IS NOT a fish. A cloud at best. What would a fish be doing in the sky….”
“Fishness”
Not only Daoism but also Buddhism repeatedly point out that our problems, discontent, and unhappiness come from clinging, Upādāna, (including clinging to forms), and above all from our polarizing, dualistic thinking. [6] IS to be seen as the opposite of IS NOT would again be dualistic thinking. When Zhuangzi speaks of a beginning and at the same time says there is no beginning, he also points to the meta-level behind it: “There is no non-beginning“.
Like any other phenomenon or object in the universe. it doesn’t matter to this “fish” whether it is seen as such or not. He’s just there. Only we, in our separating, evaluating, and excluding, see it as IS or IS NOT. So it IS fish and is NOT fish at the same time. After Daoism, it’s the level beyond, beyond external form, that makes the fish. It is, so to speak, being a fish in itself, the “FISHNESS”. Which is a natural (自然) state independent of shape and other recognizable attributes. These make the object visible and, in the best case, the thought behind it, the principle.
footnotes:
[1] Zhu Da (朱耷), commonly known by his pen name Bada Shanren (八大山人) or just Ba Da, was a late-Ming and early-Qing dynasty Chinese painter, calligrapher, and poet. He was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi, in 1626, at the cusp of a dynastic transition.
[2] like 捏造 niē zào, to make up, to fabricate, affected, often made to please the commoners
[3] Not being completely satisfied with my own definition, I tried ChatGPT: well, it’s better than mine 🙂
[4] The term “fishness” does not exist in our language. “The self-so of fish would be another attempt to describe what remains after we have subtracted all visible and external forms.
[5] The “Fish” was painted in a single breath. From the moment it first touched the surface to when it was finished, the brush tip didn’t leave the paper and no changes were made – although that was very inviting. This is also a detail of work for the Magic Sea project.
[6] Taoism is the concept of non-duality. Dao is one unified whole that originates all the elements of the Universe. Through the lens of Dao antinomy of good-and-evil disappears, since good and evil are relative: they define each other and make no sense without each other.
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