The Creations and Research in the Regional Landscape Spirit of Heilongjiang Prov

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[a] Art School, Harbin Normal University, Heilongjian, China.

*Corresponding author.

Supported by Project No. 1154G33.

Received 21 May 2012; accepted 10 June 2012

Abstract

Heilongjiang Province is located in the northeastern border part of People's Republic of China. Compared with those coastal provinces, the inner land provinces are less developed economically or culturally. However, the discovery of Hongshan civilization, the brilliant civilization of Bohai Kingdom which was affiliated to the Tang Dynasty (618AD～907AD), the nomadic and agro-culture of the ethnic groups of Jurchens minority(the ancestry of Manchu minority), Manchu minority and Mongolian minority, and the Russian culture deposit, all of these above shows that Heilongjiang is not barren in cultural deposit at all. Instead, it still, to some extent, holds its “used-to-be” splendor. The seasonal changes there are distinct, which nurtured a piece of richly-endowed land that in return nourishes its unique natural characteristics and excellent people. All of these present a subject for the research in Chinese landscape painting.

Key words: Heilongjiang; Landscape spirit; Regional

DU Xuehui (2012). The creations and research in the regional landscape spirit of heilongjiang province. Cross-Cultural Communication, 8(3), -0. Available from URL: /index.php/ccc/article/view/j.ccc.1923670020120803.3025

DOI: /10.3968/j.ccc.1923670020120803.3025.

Heilongjiang is the remotest northeastern province of China. Human activities have been proved to exist 30,000 to 40,000 years ago from now. The earliest state established here is called Yufu State in the later years of the Warring States Period (475BC～221BC). The Tang Dynasty(618AD～907AD) set up three regional administrations here successively, namely, Shiwei Administration, Heishui Administration and Bohai Administration. After Qidan tribe had conquered Bohai Kingdom, the Dongdan State was established here. The Jin State set its capital city at Huiningfu (now named as Baicheng of Acheng City of Heilongjiang province). After Yanjing City (now as Beijing, also Peking) was set as the capital by Yuan Dynasty (1271AD～1368AD), this region was set as part of Liaoyang Province. Ming Dynasty (1368AD～1644AD) founded Nuergan Regional Administration here which governed 384 Weis (a military rank which consisted of 5,600 soldiers or so) and 24 Suos (also a military unit which is ranked lower than Wei). The Qing Dynasty (1644AD～1912AD, the last feudalist empery in Chinese history) also founded a regional administration here which was named as Niguta, and was later renamed as Jilin General. Many ethnic minorities used to and still inhabit here, including Manchu, Korean, Hui, Mongolian, Dawoer, Xibo, Elunchun, Hezhe, Ewenke and Keerkezi. As earlier as in the North-South Splitting Period (420AD～589AD, a splitting period of time in ancient Chinese history), the Xianbei minority had migrated from Da Hinggan Ling Mountain Ranges and founded Beiwei State in central area of ancient China, which left us with a variety of precious cultural and artistic heritages, such as Yungang Grottos and Longmen Grottos. Actually, after the Jin State uprooted the Beisong Dynasty, the communication gap was broken and the economic and cultural exchanges between Heilongjiang and central area were promoted afterwards.

Heilongjiang is time-honored. According to the Wuji Minority in Wei Historical Record, the Wuji State is located to the north of ancient Korean Kingdom. It used to be called as Sushen State. The inhabitants among their tribes are varied in talents. They all, especially those tribes in eastern area, have well-built body. Their language is uniquely different from that of other parts. The earth underneath there is wet. They live in peak-shaped caves the “door” of which is sky-confronted and installed with stairs as a passage. They do not have cattle there, but they do have horses and chariots. The cultivated land is farmed once in a while, and the chariots are pushed forward by human labor. As to farming, they grow millet, bromm corn millet and sunflowers. The vapor is salty and dense, and salt crystalloid could form on the trees. There are salt ponds as well. The tribe members mainly raise pigs, instead of sheep. They eat rice and brew grain-fermented spirit and usually get drunk once they get drink. Women dress themselves with cloth-made dress, and men are coated with fur. They are adapted at hunting with stones as arrowheads and with a bow at the length of 1 meter and an arrow of 1 chi and 2 cun.

Artists have been researching and pondering many years in whether artistic inditement is regionally characteristic or not. As the emerging of western artistic modernism, especially as the wide spreading of “globalization” notion, some people began to launch the propaganda holding the viewpoint that globalization should be the mainstream and goal that all artistic inditements are supposed to be set for and regional characteristics bear no importance at all and thus, the schools of regional painting are unnecessary to exist. Some even think that the advocation of regional artistic features and schools represents a kind of narrow and conservative regionality, which I can’t say I agree with, however. To some degree, the artistic regionaliy is an issue of national identity. As for art, it bore with the character of regionality as it came into being. The movements advocating fresh artistic thoughts have been launched in both eastern and western history, but never has a kind of “universal artistic thought with uniformity” been launched or achieved. Nowadays with the rapid promotion of globalization, science and technology, and information exchanges, the intercultural communication in art and its influence have also become noticeable. Under this kind of circumstance, developed countries carry out their values export on society and culture, which causes an illusion that their culture seems to represent the universal trend. This is so untrue and unacceptable to the rest of the nations in the world. The artistic forms are always diverse as they are. It was these regionally characteristic inditements by different nations that make our world a place of colorful artistic blossom. The culture that hegemonic countries carry out is at most a sort of cultural fashion, and it will never ever become a universally accepted model. Under this circumstance, the cultural regionality is of great significance. Of course, this is not an intention for self cultural conservatism and isolation. On the contrary, it appeals us to start from our realistic life and make inditement featured with regionality, based on the familiarization with both ourselves and others and the drawing on others’ strongpoints.

“In spring, mists and clouds are pervasive, and people are all cheered up; in summer, trees are exuberant and shady, and people are unperturbed; in fall, leaves fall down, and people feel pity for that; in winter, the hills are bold, pale and shaded by dull atmosphere, and people feel chilly and lonely.”

Guo Xi compares directly human spirit to seasonal landscape, this indicates that the ancient Chinese painters drew the essential spirit of landscape with perceptive emotion rather than realistic painting. In the inditement, painters stick to the principle that mountains you draw are not the external mountains you see, which also applies to waters. Here, the concrete image of mountains is abstracted as symbol or note to convey human’s feelings and emotions. The abstracted and symbolized formula serves as media just like the conventional aesthetic concept that the elephant have no concrete shape, and the thunder have no volume. The artist Shi Tao in Qing Dynasty pointed out that “Jian” (evil thoughts or ideas) exists in human beings’ mind and “Cang” (a truly pure heart) could be nurtured by men’s perceptive power. However, ordinary people can’t get that. “Jian” refers to a Buddhist notion, and mind refers to humans’ spirit. Humans’ mind is affected by various false worldly ideas or thoughts, which causes the appearance of five sorts of “Jian”, namely conflict, satkaya-drsti (care about oneself excessively), prejudice and other false thought except for the several mentioned above. When your mind is occupied by these false thoughts, your original ideas are already lost, and what’s worse, you can’t paint well haunted by these evil mindset. The concept “Cang” is from Buddhism as well. Buddhism holds the idea that all the thoughts are buried in one heart. Shi Tao threw out a question: if your heart is filled with evil ideas, how could you find a pure heart? Shi Tao also thought that painters need to perceptive power to develop their own unique technique, which is not understood by ordinary people. That’s why he said “ordinary people can’t get that”.

Looking at the marvelous autumn clouds, people’s feelings run riot in a pleasant way; confronting the spring breeze, one’s mind goes far and wide. All of these poem shows that the landscape painting is not portrayed mechanically and dully, but integrated with painters’ feelings and emotions, which is why it is that vital and lively.

In the preface of landscape, Hu Zong-bing said that Kunlun Mountains are so huge, and compared to them men’s eyes’ are so tiny that they can’t hold a whole view of the mountains in a single glance from a near position. Only as you see the mountains from a far position, can you secure a panoramic view over it. When it comes to the painting, he said that the limited size of China paper could hold the huge Kunlun Mountains which is thousands of ren (an ancient length measurement unit) at height and stretches hundreds of li (500 meters) horizontally as long as the painters draw them from a far sight. This provides an acceptable technique in realistic painting of natural beauty.

The artistic creation exists in spirit. Concrete objects could be seized and presented easily, while the invisible spirit could be understood only by perceptive power.

The excellent historic artists’ viewpoints could be regarded as the guidance for our re-acquaintance with landscape. It could help us know the Heilongjiang’s nature better from a spiritual perspective till to a higher level of landscape culture.

Heilongjiang’s seasonal changes are distinct and has dense water systems and great and mysterious border rivers, such as Heilongjiang River and Wusuli River which stretches 2300 km and is primitive and time-honored and mysterious. Now six tourist itinerary have been developed, such as headstream exploration of Heilongjiang River, the Three Gorges at border river at Luobei, the confluent river mouth of three rivers (namely Heilongjiang River, Songhua River and Wusuli River) at Tongjiang County. Among all of them, the most well-known one is the middle part of the border river from Jiayin of Yichun City to Luobei of Hegang City along the banks of which there are precipitous mountains and beautiful landscape which are entitled as the Three Gorges of Heilongjiang. Cruise along the border rivers not just bring you with natural beauty alongside the banks and primitive eco-environment, but also give you a glance of exotic customs. You could enjoy yourself in the sightseeing of the branches of Songhua River, Mudan River, Woken River, Xingkai Lake, Jingpo Lake, Five Lotus Ponds and numerous water systems. The marsh lands covers a area of 8.67 million hectares in total, among which natural marshes bear a proportion of 5.56 million hectares which is the 1/7 of the total marshes of China, making Heilongjiang one of the most marsh densely-distributed province nationwide. These marshes are the habitats for red-crowned cranes and oriental white cranes to inhabit and stay when migrating. Up to now, 78 marsh preservation areas of a total coverage of 4.23 million hectares have been built up, 19 of which are nationally-ranked and the rest are provincially-ranked. There are 7 internationally-ranked marshes, namely Zhalong, Three Rivers, Honghe River, Xingkai Lake, Treasure Island, Qixing River, Nanweng River. 15 national wetland parks including Baiyupao Park were developed. All of these altogether with Daxing’an Mountains, Xiaoxing’an Mountains and their affiliated ranges form a magnificent artistic scroll. There are forest seas of Yichun, the picturesque Da xing’an Mountains, the fields weaved with crisscross footpaths, the crops on the hillsides, the black soil, the ripe golden-like crops, the towering larches and Korean pines, the borderless wetlands, and the towertop-shaped grain bins. The Tangwang River in monsoon presents a view full of mists. In Tangwang River National Park, there are exuberantly green hills, the fantastic view of rock formation seas, the towering Korean pines and aged trees, the tremendous forest seas, the lightly fragrant smell of pine oil which makes you pleased and joyful. And of course, one thing you mustn’t miss is the towering, picturesque, poetic and romantic silver birches. The Maolan Waterfall is richly endowed by the nature and uniquely charming and irresitable. All the nature wonders constitute a set of basic notes of the mountains and river painting.