PERSONAGENS ESSENCIAIS NA FORMAÇÃO SINOLÓGICA DE RICARDO JOPPERT

NICOLE VANDIER- NICOLAS


             
Esta grande dama francesa da Sinologia iniciou seus estudos orientais na década de trinta,obtendo na conhecida e ve.nerável Ecole des Langues

Orientales Vivantes(fundada por Colbert em 1669),em 1936,o diploma de chinês e,em 1939,o diploma de japonês.

Prosseguiu os estudos até 1940 sob a direção de Marcel Granet e de Paul Pelliot,seguindo igualmente cursos de Henri Maspero e de Marcel Mauss
no Collège de France e na Ecole de Hautes Etudes,tendo-se iniciado aos estudos de Sânscrito no Instituto de Civilizações Indianas.Começa a carreira
de professora de História das  Artes do Extremo-Oriente na Escola do Louvre(1938-40). Professora  no Institut des Hautes Etudes Chinoises até 1968.
Em  1955 entra para o ensinamento da Ecole dea Langues Orientales(mais tarde o Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales).Sua Tese de
Doutorado,sobre grande pintor Mi Fu(séc.XI),defendida em 1958,foi um marco na compreensão do Pensamento e da Estética chinesas.Dirigiu durante anos
o Departamento da China no Institut National.Depois dee sua aposentadoria,em 1976,continuou a lecionar,no Institut d'Archéologie,assegurando um curso
de História das Idéias na China
 


LEON VANDERMEERSCH


Professor emérito.Dirigiu a Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient.Grande especialista da paleografia chinesa.Segundo ele a China tem uma Língua Gráfica(Wen
Yan),"em que os ideogramas não se referem ,para o sentido,primordialmente às palavras da língua falada.mas são eles próprios,os geradores de sentido.
A pronúncia foi acrescentada a posterori para facilitar a manipulação mental -são signos orais que se acrescentam aos signos gráficos,os verdadeiros
geradores de sentido



XU BANGDA

Grande especialista e pintura e caligrafia do Museu do Palácio em Pequim .Trabalhou com Ricardo Joppert para sua tese sobre Huaisu,no Pavilhão Shufanzhai
na Cidade Proibida em Pequim.

YU YUJEN.

Grande calígrafo do século XX.Ricardo Joppert conheceu-o em l958 em Taipei.Criou um sistema simplificado dos caracteres(biaozhun caoshu-"escrita
cursiva modelar")tornada famosa e inspirou muito da renovação simplificada dos caracteres no Continente.



A Grande Imagem (Da Xiang) na Arte da cerâmica chinesa.
"Semelhança não-semelhante"(si bu xiao).

O SENTIDO ÚLTIMO DA CERÂMICA/PORCELANA
 
"Que  te atenhas à Grande Imagem
E o mundo virá a a ti"

Pintura e caligrafia sempre foram as Artes de elite na China.Assim,desde muito cedo os letrados sobre elas compuseram tratados e
ensaios em que procuraram interpretá-las de acordo com o Pensamento medular de sua magnífica Civilização.
O Pensamento da China é decididamente holístico:holos:o Todo.O cosmo é uno.No sèculo IX um grande letrado assim expressou-se
sobre a arte do traço(hua::um mesmo pincel pinta e escreve os ideogramas-pintura e caligrafia são gêmeas,na China.:

"A pintura(o traço)realiza as mutações do ensinamento(jiao hua)para secundar o relacionamento humano,escruta as transformações
 do Espírito Sutil (Shen)(1),sonda as sutilezas das profundezas,trabalha em paridade com os Seis Clássicos(liu ji)(2),seu movimento é o mesmo do das
quatro estações.Nasce do Espontâneo,não provém da elaboração do transmitido.
Os Santos e os Governantes(ou os Santos Governantes) dos tempos antigos receberam o Mandato (do Céu) e responderam aos Registros (lu-que o san-
cionavam).Foi então que surgiram os Escritos sobre a Tartaruga ,que copiaram a Eficácia(cósmica-De)(3)e a Configuração do Dragão,que rvelou o Tesou-
ro"(3)."


(1)Shen:o Espírito Sutil é a forma de energia que intervém nas combinações do yin e do yang e na organização dos seres vivos(...)

circula livremente por todo o corpo e não tem ocalização definida.Em fusão na Grande Harmonia(yinyun taihe),yin e yang formam uma só energia in-
divisa,mas seus aspectos encontram-s
e(virtualmente)nessa energia única(J.Gernet).
A contrapartida de Shen é Xin ,o espírito sensível,que é o espírito indidual(coração,mente),capaz unicamente de recepção(J.Gernet).Segundo
o Imperador Song Huizong(séc.XII),o espírito sensível deve reconhecer o valor do processo do Dao(a Realidade),
2) "Seis Clássicos"-liuji-"Livro da Poesia""Shijing","Livro da História"Shujing","Registro dos Ritos"Liji","Yueji""Livro da Música"(desaparecido)
"Livro das Mutações"Yi jing;" "Anais das Primaveras e Outonos"Chunqiu.São os Textos Canônicos,revis

ados  (shan) por Confúcio para transmissão(shu)
da Grande Tradição,alicerce da Civilização chinesa.Teriam sido precedidos por outros textos,apenas hipotéticos esses,por term sido perdidos há muito
tempo(fen,dian,suo,qiu).Há assim uma progressão ordenada(Jullien) que finalmente determinou a sacralidade da Grande Tradição.
3) O Mandato(Celeste)((Tian)Ming)-o que cada um recebe como Missão e se incorpora em seu percurso de vida."O Mandato Celeste,eis o a que
se chama de natureza(humana)"(Zhong Yong-cap.1).
Uma tartaruga saída do rio Luo teria trazido em sua carapaça um diagrama que inspirou a Yu,o Grande,soberano civilizador dos primórdios
o esquema da repartição espacial da China segundo um Grande Plano (Hong Fan)(cósmico)de regulação e governo,consignado no Shujing("Livro da História").
Um Cavalo-Dragão (longma)  saído do rio Amarelo teria dado a Fuxi,soberano mítico da Idade de Ouro, um esquema que inspirou os hexagramas do "Livro
das Mutações".Essas aparições se teriam devido a uma Eficiência(cósmica)(De) que dinamiza Shen.

Portanto a Arte,na China,tem o propósito de veicular "o absoluto do processo cósmico"(Jullien),o Dao.Pelo teor holístico da Civilização as
diversas manifestações particularizadas humanas(pintura,caligrafia,medicina,política,cerâmica-porcelana...)vêem- afins e complementares.Tudo,na
China,inclusive as ciências como a astronomia mostra "ressonância"(yun) na Arte,de acordo com os princípios de apreensão do mundo,da Realidade
no âmago.O holismo é antes de tudocósmico.A "Sinceridade",a "Autenticidade"(cheng) é conformar-se ao holismo.

A mensagem dos Textos Canônicos (jing) é representar o percurso(dao) último e invariável(heng jiu),a vasta lição que se não corta(bu ken
zhi hong jiao)(Liu Xie-séc.V).A Arte teria como domínio penetrar(dong) o Mistério(ao) da Ef iciência cósmica infalível e sua presença na natureza
íntima dos seres(xing ling).É Imagem (Xiang)de Céu-Terra(tiandi zhi xiang)
Uma noção tem permeado o Pensamento chinês-e isso desde muito cedo:a de "dínamo propulsor" (Ji) de toda criação.Que faz na pintura,
por exemplo,que a perspectiva(aérea) seja "muito mais energética do que a perspectiva-descritiva(linear-ocidental),por fazer apelo a um princípio
de 'mobilização dinâmica'"((Jullien).A perspectiva aérea considera vários pontos de visão a um só tempo e não apenas aquele em que se encontra o
artista .Assim,na Arte chinesa,considera-se que"a não ser que se parta do início do movimento de emergência, fora da confusão-indiferenciação do
invisível,poderá haver criação ou formação"(Jullien).É preciso que o artista capte  Razão(virtual) pré-existente de sua criação,antes de vir a tornar-se
manifesta ou particularizada e transmita,de algum modo,o dinamismo propulsor(invisível)antes de qualquer forma concreta,para que haja verdadeira
Arte e não apenas simulacro artesanal.
Por isso Shen Gua,gênio do século X,ao referir-se primordialmente à pintura,mas abarcando involuntariamente talvez outros dominios  d
da Criação,escreveu:
"Razão oculta,Criação das profundezas"(ao li,ming zao).
Sem querer estender-me a analogias heterodoxas,o que a Física ocidental pretende,ao tentar captar o que chama de "partícula de Deus"
(higgs) faria pensar na noção de "dinamismo propulsor"(ji),reconhecido pelos chineses como origem de toda criação. Mas os chineses declaram
 estar "ji" além de qualquer  possibilidade de demonstração prática,o que a Física procura para "higgs"."ji" seria aquele ponto do conhecimento
humano que nem o Sábio Luminar(sheng),em seu "estágio supremo"(qi zhi),poderia alcançar(Zhong Yong XII),ou "aquilo,relativo ao mecanismo de
yin-yang,que é incomensurável"(yin yang  bu ce,zhi wei shen).Trata-se de shen,a dimensão do Espírito sutil(Yijing,xici,I,V).O que se pode atingir
é início do movimento(duan dong),nada aquém.Pelo movimento,em seu élan inicial autêntico captado pelo artista,poder-se-ia,em contraponto,
captar a essência de tal dinamismo propulsor.
O letrado-esteta só tem uma busca:a do Absoluto,que equivale à auto-realização."Atingir  o sentimento
de unidade com a natuteza e o unverso"("Timeless Fascination".C.Delacour).
"Não-cognoscível na essência,o Incondicionado pode entretanto ser captado na primeira manifestação:o movimento,'qualidade simples
que é a da vida'(Edg.de Bruynes)",escreveu Nicole Vandier-Nicolas.O movimento seria o contraponto fisicamente captável do dinamismo propulsor
e enquadrar-se-ia assim no esquema da "curva compensada do moivmento vital"(o todo do processo-virtual e atual pois),de que fala também Mme.
Nicolas:feliz irregularidade que quebra a simetria estática.
O grés Jun da dinastia e de tradição  Song:uma densa   superfície azul opalescente recortada por fino craquelé(jing wen)
-yin-yang em fusão,na harmonia virtual de yun-yin-a simetria pré-explosão do manifesto. Uma gotícula de óxido de cobre resultante em mancha violeta:
a quebra na simetria com consequente criação no virtual simbólico do verniz azul-BANG...
No foro íntimo de um grande artista,o dinamismo natural(ling) que realiza ou atualiza shen(o Espírito sutil)e responde sempre-e imediatamente-
(jing) ao dinamismo propulsor ji(dunamis em grego=poder)entra  em cena.Duas forças à maneira de imãs.O resultado é o ato criatório.Citapurvacarita:
o primeiro funcionamento
 da Consciência.A Libertação mesmo dos Buddha,no contexto    do "Ensinamento de Vimalakîrtinidersa".O  Universo recria-se no Infinito do ato.

.
A EXPERIÊNCIA COMO NOÇÃO COLETIVA-A TRADIÇÃO

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Francesca Bray(in"Essence et utilité:la classification des plantes cultivées en Chine "-Extrême-Orient Extrême Occident 10,1988)
sugeriu que o termo jingyan-"experiência"- seria como "tecer (a trama)de testemunhos na urdidura de um tecido"(Jing=tecer;yan=testemunho).A experiência,
para a China,"não significa só o adquirido que se encontre e apen as num texto,tendo em vista concretizá-lo;é preciso na verdade considerar a experiência
como um dado coletivo:do próprio indivíduo,de seu aprendizado,de seus mestres e colegas,e dos grandes Mestres da Tradição que segue..."
Sôetsu Yanagi,um dos inspiradores do movimento japonês Mingei,que valoriza o artesanato autêntico,não-comercial,escreveu:(...)
muitos artesãos renderam-se incondicionalmente à tradição.Se tivessem dado guarida à mínima dúvida de seu poder,seu trabalho
teria sofrido um bloqueio,
porque esses artesãos nada mais eram que criaturas simples,raramente passíveis de estarem sujeitos a uma reflexão(por si  sós).Entretanto,o poder da
tradição torna-os capazes de empreender uma grande obra (...)pois um exemplar de cerâmica Song não é o produto de qualquer gênio individual,mas do poder
não-individualizado  da tradição(...) sua beleza nãp provém de uma única fonte pessoal:por isso não cabe perguntar seu autor..."(in "The Unknown Craftsman"

O Japão espiritualizad do Zen e do Chanoyu (Cerimônia do Chá),por exemplo,valoriza a simplicidade da cerâmica coreana do período Yi(1292-1910)
porque nela capta um não-dualismo que viria da natureza intrínseca das coisas-a "realidade das coisas",como escreveu Sôetsu Yanagi.Natureza anterior à
divisão gerada pela divisão artificial dos conceitos duais:o feio e belo,os conflitos dos eventos.Estado das artes descrito pelo Zen como "sem eventos'
-bujian-"sem dificuldades"-bunan.A "Transparência da Manhã" (zhaoche)do Taoismo chinês. Mas na China há mais.O que se descreve pela expressão "dan ya"
-"Elegância Pura"-na Estética do letrado chinês é peculiar.Usam- na os letrados(wen ren) em relação à sua arte,que,altamente sofisticada no plano intelectual,
fundamenta-se todavia na simplicidade conscientizada da realidade do espontâneo.Não-dual certamente,mas de extremo requinte.Difícil compreender no Ocidente.
Trata-se de requinte que se não deixa bloquear para veicular o que a Vida tem de absolutamente natural:ziran-"o que é assim de si
Em pintura:Dong Yuan,Ni Zan,Mi Fu,Dong Qichang,Wang Shimin,Xu Wei,Shitao.Huang Gongwang,Wang Meng,Wu Zhen.Todos inspirados pela Idéia de
Wang Wei.Em cerâmica:o Ruyao,o Junyao,Longquan e o Guanyao da dinastia Song do Sul.Espontaneidade,Natureza intrínseca das coisas e dos seres,mas a nível
cósmico.O "Livro das Mutações"absorvido em seu fundamento.E virtualidade e atualidade simbolicamente vistas e compreendidas,transpostas sob mensagem
estética. Aoli mingzao:"Razão oculta;Criação advinda das profundezas"(Shen Gua-séc.10)
Os objetos que valorizamos como sendo de arte quase mística ou esotérica sempre foram na verdade usados na vida diária.Na época Song objetos
feitos em matérias intrinsicamente valiosos,como o ouro,a prata ou a laca passaram a ser modelados em argila,justamente para serem usados no normal da
vida,em restaurantes ou casas de chá,por exemplo.Mesmo as peças feita para o Palácio,como o Ruyao,tinham também utilização rotineira:tinteiros,vasos de
planta... Os chineses buscavam a vida diária,a utilização:Wang Fuzhi(séc.XVII):"(...)sem a sub-stância,não há utilização;sem o uso,nenhuma sub-stância-wu ti bu yong
,wu yong fei ti)(...)"E ainda:"(...)é no objeto que se encontra o Curso(Dao=o Absoluto)(...)"Circuito fechado;holos=o todo.
Escreveu Sôetsu Yanagi,citando personagem budista:"(...) a mente de todo dia é o Curso(...)"Mente prístina,ao abrigo de ondas tumultuosas,dos ventos
violentos das circunstâncias de exceção.

Um vocabulário muito específico aplica~se à estética da cerâmica grés dos Song:

-qing:verde-azul
-zi ou zirun:riqueza ao olhar e ao tato
-dian qing:verde-azul indigo
-jingzhi:delicado em essência
-danshun:pureza na solidão
-pingdan tianzhen:smples,sem artififícios,como a verdade celeste
-hése:cor férrea mate(craquelé e bordas)
-guangze:densidade de luz
-wenrun:densa riqueza de olhar e de tato
-rouhe:suavidade e harmonia
-ziran:espontâneo,natural-"o que é assim por si próprio",tal qual
-ya:a Elegância(sofisticada mas natural )
-yòuya:Excelência na Elegância
-tuizhi:de aparência muito untuosa
-zhi ru zhi zhu:tecido com teias de aranha(o emaranhado do craquelé)
-fengrun:riqueza de olhar e de tato
-danya:Elegância simples,sem artifícios
-guanghua:luminosidade acetinada
-

Como escrevi,pintura e caligrafia sempre foram artes letradas,de elite pensante,e desde muito cedo esta elite deixou-nos tratados a elas dedicados.
Tal não se deu com a cerâmica e a porcelana.Certamente apreciadas pelos letrados,o lado trabalho manual que involviam impedia-os de se dedicarem
pessoalmente à manufatura.O ceramista,desde os primeiros tempos,era anônimo e vinha do povo.Somente nos séculos XIX-XX,e sobretudo no Japão,principiaram
os artistas ceramistas da Ásia a serem conhecidos,ao mesmo tempo em que se desenvolviam teorias estéticas específicas de seu ramo.
Uma verdadeira corrente pensante da cerâmica e porcelana estebeleceu-se no século XVIII,quando Tang Ying(zi Jungong;nomesm literários:Shuzi e
Guaji laoren-"Ancião da Morada do Caramujo"),fino literato,foi nomeado diretor da importante fábrica de porcelana de Jingdezhen.Em 1644 a China caiu sob
domínio de um povo-os mandchus-originário de uma confederação de bárbaros do Nordeste e sua conquista não foi pacífica.Anos de luta seguiram-se.
Jingdezhen foi parcialmente destruída,só se reerguendo em 1682.Três governantes bárbaros esclarecidos(Kangxi,Yongzheng,Qianlong) interessaram-se
em recompor o antigo prestígio da fábrica.Três grandes diretores reconduziram Jingdezhen,mas Tang Ying revelou-se o mais capaz,deixando-nos inclusive
trabalhos literários que marcaram o pnsamento estético sobre os cerâmios.
Obras passaram a tratar do assunto.Duas foram traduzidas para  idiomas ocidentais.Jingdezhen Taolu,traduzida em francês por Stanilas Julien:
"Histoire et Fabrication de la Porcelaine Chinoise"(Paris,1856) e Tao Shuo,em inglês,por S.W.Bushell:"Description of Chinese Pottery and Porcelain"(Oxford,1910).
Em chinês e não traduzidas houve outras:Yaoqi Shuo("Conversas sobre Cerâmica"),por Cheng Zhi;Jingzhen ciqi shaohua falue(sobre técnicas de fabricação),por
Cai Mutao;Yinliuzhai shuo ci,por Xu Zhiheng;Ci Shijie("O Mundo da Porcelana",por Chen Xiaowei;Yangxian Minghu xi(sobre as chaleiras de Yixing),por Zhou Gaoqi
Yangxian mingtao lu,igualmente sobre a cerâmica avermelhada de Yixing,cobiçada pela classe letrada,por Wu Qian.
Analisarei um texto de Tang Yin,para quem "(...)a fabricação da porcelana entra na ordem do universo(...)",como escreveu Paul Pelliot(T'oung Pao,v.XXII
1923).E "(...)a criação e a evolução do mundo(são) comparadas com a obra do ceramista e com a do fundidor de metais(...) a expressão mesmo de yan(sic)zhi(na
verdade dever-se-ia ler shenzhi-R.J.)("amassar o barro") é também empregada por Laozi(cap.11)(...)o fole(tuoye)pode representar a Civilização,pois a evolução
do mundo é comparada com a obra de um ceramista ou de um fundidor de metais(...)Laozi compara na verdade com um fole (em trabalho)o espaço entre o céu
e a terra;é por força desse fole do universo que o fole do forno faz que cerâmica participe (da obra cósmica)(...)"
A cerâmica é característica da fase neolítica da evolução humana;a manufatura do bronze,da Idade que se seguiu.Os vasos rituais zun,lei,yi e ding
herdaram da cerâmica neolítica formas,suavidades,arredondamentos... Num fluxo contínuo.
Eis o texto de Tang Yin:
"Para o trabalho ,é necessário modelar o barro,que provém das florestas e das fontes.A forma não ultrapasssa a dos vasos zun
e lei;igualmente repete a dos vasos yi e ding.
A fumaça dos fornos aviva as cores e mesmonuma simples terracota participa da potência do Fole.Do pincel as cores fazem
advir as flores;assim a porcelana pode mostrar as Imagens simbólicas(xiang) da Civilização(wenming).

Esse magnífico texto foi um dos que consagraram a arte cerâmica como co-participante da Estética chinesa,ao lado da poesia,da caligrafia e da
pintura.Se a entrada em cena se revelou tardia,tal deveu-se a serem a cerâmica e a porcelana produtos de ação manual que envolvia o barro e com esses
lidava o oleiro anônimo,homem do povo,não pertencente à elite letrada,pelo menos até o patrocínio imperial de Jingdezhen.Mas é de crer que as idéias
que Tang Yin tardiamente veiculou literariamente sempre tenham estado sub-jacentes na mente chinesa:teria sido apenas seu afloramento que se mostrou

tão tardio.
No apogeu Song a classe letrada dos wenren consagrou as "Três Perfeições"(san jue):uma pintura não estaria completa sem associar-se à poesia
e à caligrafia.O responsável por isso foi o Imperador Huizong,no século XII.As três formas de arte uniam-se harmoniosamente no espaço,para manifestar
o desejo imperial de mostrar seu Governo como era da Grande Paz (Taiping).Pela caligrafia,talvez especialmente,o  artista eternizava-se. O humilde pincel
de bambu,ao ser manipulado,deixa rastros-"selo,impressão ,marca do coração(xinyin)"chamou-os Guo Ruoxu.Tomemos um exemplo a esmo:em seu texto
"O Sopro(vital)da flores inebria o homem"(hua qi xunren) o grande Huang Tingjian(1045-1105) deixou-nos um escrito
onde ele,Huang,permanece:ao percorrer
as linhas,cada movimento pode ser seguido até hoje,revelando o íntimo desse letrado de espírito sutil;ele atende ao convite de visitar-nos.Mas na
pintura "Hibisco e Faisão Dourado"(furong jinji),a ave,pousada num ramo inclina a cabeça para o poema do Imperador Huizong(e por ele também caligrafiado),
como a indicá-lo...O esquema das "Três Perfeições" foi portanto além,
na expressão  da Arte.
Todavia,Ruyao,Junyao,o Céladon de Longquan e,talvez especialmente , o Guanyao da dinastia S ong do  Sul são Arte sem paralelo. Neles manifesta-se
algo extremamente importante para o estudo da China:a lei de integralidade está presente no inconsciente coletivo dos chineses,procede de modo direto de
uma experiência ancestral transmitida,sem quebra,às gerações e transparece comprovadamente,no que diz respeito aos céladons,na produção do oleiro anô-
nimo responsável pela manufatura do tipo Guan e seus correlatos,desde o século XII até o presente (fornada não-comercial de l965).

Integralidade diz-se JUN,palavra que é sinônima de igual,total,de(ao)mesmo nível,imparcial,igualizar,equilibrar,universal,ENCAIXE TOTAL.Em termos
concretos,define o torno do oleiro.O Yijing já diz que "poder ser integral é obra do Sábio.O Sábio identifica-se ao Junzi,o Homem Sincero(em francês:"honnête
homme) por excelência.E diz-nos o Liezi,obra taoísta(cap.5):"(...) a integralidade é a Lei máxima(que manifesta o Absoluto(Li:a "razão intrínseca das coisas"-
esplendor de forma ,que é resplendor da substância mesma)sobre a terra(...)(jun,tianxia zhi zhi li ye).  E o Liezi conclui que essa Lei é inerente à consciência
humana("existe lá por si mesma"-zi you zhi qi ran).Como o ciclo das estações(o ciclo celeste-tian ji);bastará "sondar o sutil"-tui wei-(o recôndito-da mente)
para chegar ao manifesto(da  zhu);"procurar o início"(xun duan)"para ver o fim"(jian xu)(Hou Han shu-"História da dinastia Han Posterior"- biografia de Cai Yong
xia cap.90.
Voltarei a certas premissas sobre o conceito de Integralidade,pois tenho tratado do assunto extensamente em outros escritos,em especial em "O Sa
mâdhi do Verde- Azul"(Rio,Avenir Ed.1984).Enfatisarei:"(...)toda fragmentação é apenas o resultado do bloqueio da espontaneidade que se aloja nas regiões
abissais da mente e a aparente dicotomia na essência das coisas deve-se ao predomínio da razão sobre a intuição;(...)quando o pensamento se não confunde
(xin wu za lu)(Liezi),estabelece-se um "fluxo contínuo"(jun) entre sujeito e objeto que "permite a um pescador aprisionar um peixe sem desconfiança ou resis-
tência da presa;através da mente o único movimento é a Integralidade,que se manifesta na mão:não há pescador,nem vara de pescar,nem peixe...(...)"
"Diante de um torno(jun),imagem necessária do ajuste total(jun),o oleiro chinês anônimo,que durante gerações,só viveu no contexto de uma filosofia
da experiência vivida ao nível do real,deixa naturalmente que a mente impulsione o movimento dos dedos;mente pura,aberta à própria luz,que se projeta integral-
mente na criação,sem vícios,sem hesitações.E o que se projeta é a lei da Integralidade (jun)..
No Guan(especifiamente,mas também em toda sua família-lato sensu),as craqueluras(wen),consequência da conjunção de opostos-argila,verniz-manifes-
tam o mundo do Ser(do advento:you).Miríades de formas,entrelaçamentos,são as teias de aranha que tecem a vida.E no entanto têm a mesma Raiz,que as faz se
ajustarem umas às outras,em peças diferentes,produzidas em épocas diversas.Superpondo-se
qualque r um desses céladons a outro,haverá coerência entre as
linhas do craquelê:uma peça completará o desenho da outra,invariavlmente concretizando as linhas em forma de pinças de caranguejo(xie zhao) carracterísticas
do tipo.Fato espantoso,que ocorre constante em mais de oitocentos anos,mesmo que um céladon se apresente em tamanho natural e outro se apresente na escala
reduzida de uma fotografia,por exemplo.Ajuste total,encaixe total sem diferença de milímetro.Integral.Jun..

Escreveu Zong Bing,sobre a pintura,já no século quinto:"(...)o Espírito sutil,originalmente,não tem fim nem princípio(shen ben wu duan).
Pousando (apenas)nas formas,comove os semelhantes(xi xing gan lei).Para tal "é necessário evidenciar-trazer à luz- a fonte das coisas(xu ming wu zhi yuan).

  (Arte) é dar élan ao Espírito Sutil(chang shen). Relembremos:o Espírito sutil (shen)"é a forma de energia que intervém nas combinações do yin e do
yang e na organização dos seres vivos(...)ela circula por toda parte nos corpos e não tem  morada própria(...) em fusão na Grande Harmonia Primordial(yin
yun taihe),yin e yang formam uma só energia,mas seus aspectos acham-se (virtualmente) nessa energia única"(J.Gernet:"La que está des Choses")
O mecanismo universal repete-se na mente.Assim,a noção do equilíbrio(jun)existiria imanente ao indivíduo e poderia ser veiculada,se a mente
permanecer perfeitamente livre para manifestar a plena capacidade.O artesão ceramista sempre viveu-conviveu- numa Civilização que se alicerceo na Realidade
intrínseca da Vida.Essa Realidade,em vez de imaginá-la,a China imageou-a.O delírio,na China,não existiu até a época republicana,quando se passou a buscar
o modelo ocidntal de vida.O absurdo do século 21 chinês é um fruto estranho no universo chinês tradicional.
O profundo organicismo chinês levou à representação do Eixo do Mundo pelo monte Kunlun,concebido como tendo a figura de um cone de pé,sobre
o qual se coloca um cone às avessas:um é,portanto,o perfeito reflexo do outro.Na fisiologia Kunlun é o nome da cabeça.Em sua região mais secreta,o Kunlun,
no homem,compreende a câmara igual a uma gruta(dong fang),ao lado do nirvâna(niwan),pequena seção do cérebro que mede uma polegada quadrada-fang cun-
e é a sede do pensamento meditativo.A gruta liga-se à idéia de misterioso,profundo.O quadrado de dez pés(fang zhang) é câmara solitária de um asceta em
meditação e corresponde a fang cun,a polegada quadrada da gruta do cérebro onde se elabora a realidade mental.Dong fang e niwan representam-imageiam-
assim os recônditos do pensamento onde se recria o mundo `maneira da produção cósmica(cf. Rolf Stein,"Le Monde en Petit").
"Examinar exaustivamente a Razão das coisas,penetrar até o fim sua própria naturza e chegar ao Mandato(que cabe individualmente)"(qiong li,jin xing,
zhi yu ming)-eis o que reza o "Livro das Mutações"(Yijing-Shuo gua,I).O pensamento  norteou o letrado chinês de todo tempo.Mas refletia a Civilização em terras
da China.De tal maneira que o povo inculto-o  artesão anônimo-estava dela imbuído naturalmente,como uma pessoa que sempre viveu à beira d'água,com ela em
visceral contacto nem sabe mais que está imerso,quando se acha nadando...É a Unidade que se realiza inconscientemente e a mão do oleiro segue um ritmo
espontâneo que cria em compasso com a lei da integralidade.Só assim explica-se a coerência das linhas do craquelé antes analisado.Nenhum apuro engendrado
pelo intelecto poderia levar a um equilíbrio tão completo.  
     


No século XII,o grande Imperador Song Huizong escreveu que finalmente não sabia se a Arte era o Dao-o Curso Abs0luto-ou se o Dao era a Arte.
Pelas interpretações a que a arte cerâmica poderia prestar-se o seu sentido último seria na verdade cósmico.




                                           "STARDUST"( Thoughts adrift)(fou si)
"THE CERAMIC ART OF CHINA AND THE UNIQUE ACT OF FORMATION-TRANSFORMATION(ZAO HUA)"

"C'est par le pouvoir de répéter que le symbole comble indéfinement son inadéquation fondamentale.
Mais cette répétition n'est tautologique:elle est perfectionnante par approximations accumulées.
Elle est comparable en cela à une spirale,ou mieux un solénoÏde,qui à chaque répétition cerne
davantage sa visée,son centre".Le symbole est (...)épiphanie,c'est-à-dire apparition(...)de l'indicible.
Le symbole est donc une représentation qui fait apparaître un sens secret,il est l'épiphanie d'un
mystère"(Gilbert Durand)

"Le symbole (...) n'est jamais expliqué une fois pour toutes,mais toujours à déchifrer de nouveau
de même qu'une partition musicale n'est jamais déchifrée une fois pour toutes,mais appelle une
exécution toujours nouvelle"(H.Corbin)


Painting and calligraphy are in China arts of the élite and aesthetic theories have therefore been developed around them by artists who also belonged
to the intellectual class.But classical Chinese Civilization is holistic and unitary.In our days the evolution of the Mind,freed from dogma,one should be allowed to inves-
tigate reasons which work in the unconscious mind of the artisans also,who although deprived of elitist culture,have nevertheless naturally absorbed Civilization in
this holistic unitary context. By this I want to mean,here, the ceramic artisans of the past.This field of research has been explored in China by Tang Yin in the 18th century
and in our times,in Japan,by Sôetsu Yanagi and Shôji Hamada,joined by Bernard Leach in Britain."Insight into Beauty",it has been aptly called.The many-splendored radiance
of the diamond.

But the Chinese thinkers themselves,in their infinite clairvoyance,in the very remote past,had left the door open for us,in the present,to follow the  Way
(Dao) in new directions or ways(dao) . Mengzi(IV-III century b.c.e.)(in VII,I,chVII,4) declared:"all things are already complete in us!"wan wu jie bei yu wo yi).Ceramic forms
would thus be fashioned from unconscious archetypal forms,as the uncultured potter would have no intellectual support for his inspiration and could only rely on what
he carried deep in his mind.This "immediate and intuitive faculty" has been only recently recognized,speacially by Leach,Yanagi,Hamada-the sponsors of the
Mingei, but is anchored in texts of classical Chinese authors who have analysed in depth the process of creation.In the 12th century Dong You wrote:
"(...)if one looks at living things between heaven and earth ,they are solely the mutations caused by the revolutions of the Unique Vital Breadth(guan tiandi sheng wu,
te yi Qi yun hua er);the functioning is wonderfully  appropriate to things(gong yong miao yi yu wu you yi) and no one could be concious of the process,so that all

could (only) be achieved spontaneously(mo zhi wei zhi zhe,gu neng cheng yu ziran)(...)"Dong You clarifies his idea about Spontaneity(ziran="that which is so by
itself"):"whoever is capable of idenfication with Truth will obtain it(neng bu yi zhen zhe,si de zhi yi)(...)"And will be able to achieve perfect artistry(neng jin qi ji)(...)"
Organicistic holistic concepts have always characterized Civilization in China and have particularly been exponential in Aesthetics.But in the fractioned Mediter-
ranean cultures of the West-a patchwork of ideas-such a level of consciousness has been uncommon-very rare indeed.But in the 20th.century liberal Thought has
become possible.Jung has been one of the precursors.He wrote of the "eternal presence of the unique act of creation" which has led to the admission of the concept
of the archtype.And the principle of synchronicity "indicates in last analysis a transcendant connexion of all the elements of the universe. Unus mundus.(cfJung:
"Synchronicité et Paracelsica"(trans.).Ed.Albin Michel;Etter,Hansueli F.:"L'Evolution en tant que continu synchronistique",in "La Synchronicité,l'âme et la science".Paris,
Albin Michel,1995).Chinese Aesthetics celebrates thus the "universal song of life"(Nicole Vandier-Nicolas).

A notion has been essential for the Chinese mind: that of the Infinite Vital Breadth-QI. All-pervading,existing without Time,its Action(xing) is co-related
with the inherent Reason of Things(LI),which,together with Qi,masters(zhu chí) and structures the doses of partition(fenjì) for everything which comes to life in
the cosmos,according to Wang Fuzhi,a philosopher of the 17th century.The process is co-ordinated by a Subtle Spirit(SHEN) through its moving Power(LING) and
is received by the Sensible Spirit (XIN),which resides in the depths of the human mind (LING FU).The circle is thus completed,performing the Jade-like Union(HE BI)
 microcosm-macrocosm.Holism.

Certain branches of modern Western science admit that the "Indivisible Whole"-"Unus Mundus"-has in fact had its Advent in the Great Primaeval Explosion-
the Fossil Gleam("Lueur Fossile")lingering eversince seems to be its reminiscence:"particles once united and then separated behave themselves as if one 'knew' what
is the state of the other,even in great distance,what excludes the idea of interaction"(von Franz,Marie louise:"Quelques Réflexions sur la Synchronicité",in"La Synchro-
nicité...")
In China aesthetes have finally consolidated,during the Song dynasty(960-1279),the notion of "vital idea"-SHENG YI-"the vitality found in living things"(Susan Bus
h).
But we must remember that in general for Asia as a whole everything in the universe is alive in a way(as the concept of "kami",in Japan,shows so well).During the Ming
dynasty(1368-1644) the famous calligrapher Zhu Yunming(1460-1526) wrote:"(...)in painting it  is not  hard to sketch forms(xie xing),but it is difficult to seize the
idea(de yi)(...)(but) having seized the idea,one can capture(wan) the Reason(li) of the myriad of things on a piece of silk,(for) in the space between Heaven and Earth,
everything has some kind of life-the mystery(miao) of the formation-transformation(zao-hua)(of the cosmos)-ever changing-like(bo ru),ever dispersing-like(ru dang)-
cannot be described in forms(...)"
For a great Chinese artist,therefore,formal likeness has never been enough to transmit the idea of life and the cosmic Reason (LI) behind it .This has of course led to
the spirit of abstraction and the dilution of forms in representation.This mental voyage through "cloudlike and unpent"(H.Read)forms,the highly-cultured artist of
the élite took for granted.But the beauty also lay in the fact that ,in the context of a unitary and continuous Civilization like China's, ideas are absorbed by all and function
uncounsciously through spontaneity and naturalness:common people,like the potter,created wholly in harmony with the educated élite!
QI-the Infinite Vital Breadth-regulated by the Inherent Reason of things and beings:LI-goes from rarefication extreme to full manifestation.The Great Co-ordinator of
this whole process is the Subtle Spirit(SHEN):all pervading,all prevailing,it "perches"(xi) (Zong Bing)momentarily on forms through a power of realization (LING) and
commoves(GAN) the Sensible  Spirit(XIN) in man-his "heart"or "core"-through osmosis of like kinds(tong lei).
A precise and special terminology applies to Chinese aesthetical Thought.An image evokes the depths of the mind,where the capacity of apprehending
the inner light of True Beauty is activated:QIU HE-"the mountains and valleys",defined by the great Song calligrapher Huang Tingjian(1047-1105) as the "recess
where the supreme idea is formed"(zhuang yi zhi zhi shen yuan ye).
Qi-the Infinite Vital Breadth-always refers to Life,be it virtual or actual.There is no total anihilitation for the Chinese,what we in the West call death being
no more than a changing of states.The ideograph for Qi is composed of two elements:"breadth","steam","air","vapour" in its upper side and either "grain" or uncooked
rice" or "fire" underneath.The first form may have been used wnhen ritual food was cooked and served for the ancestors during the Shang-Yin dynasty(3rd millenium
b.c.e)(the practice remains until to-day);the second may be seen to apply to cosmic phenomena.
Su Shi(1036-1101)(zi Zizhan,hao Dongpo) was a great Song wenren (man of letters).Besides being a calligrapher-painter and a poet,he was a very important
 statesman who believed above all in humanism in the total sense of the word:man possesses in himself rectitude and should alone find the Way(Dao),with no external
imposition of a conduct:he abhorred any authoritarianism.He was a profound thinker:at the heart of his belief was the organist,holist feeling-wen yi guan Dao:
 "ideography and art embrace the Dao":this synthesis resumes his view on Aesthetics.Primacy is given to the universe of WEN-Ideography- from which everything
arises in Chinese Civilization;everything is consequence of the idea.Coherent with the Chinese fundamental Thought as a whole Su Shi believed that,behind the scene of all
beings and things,there exists a Constant Reason or Principle (Chang Li),which conducts(zhu chi) and and portions out(fenji) the Infinite Vital Breadth(Qi) in specified
manifestations, which thereby receive a form (xing).In 1083 Su Shi took a boat travel with friends in order to visit the Red Cliff,where a decisive battle had taken place
in 208,which had eventually led to the division of China.The result was a long calligraphic scroll in rhyming prose-the "Former Ode on the Red Cliff"(qian chi bi fu)-
which reveals the core of Su's thought:"(...)if you look at things as changing,then Heaven and Earth  cannot last for the blink of an eye;if you look at things as unchanging,
then I along with everything am never-ending(...)(gai jiang zi qi bian zhe er guan zhi,ze tian di ceng bu neng yi yi shun;zi qi bu bian zhe er guan zhi,ze wu yu wo jie
wu jin ye)".
For Su Shi therefore,the manifested world is made of fugitive images within a cosmic scene process co-ordinated by transformations and mutations,but
"he who knows the ways which take  these transformations and mutations will (also) know how the Subtle Spirit acts in them (zhi bian hua zhi dao zhe,qi zhi Shen zhi suo
wei hu)"(Yijing,Xici,I,9). So for Su Shi there is a sense behind the "myriad of things"(wanwu) in the world-a Reason(LI)- and this epitomizes the Chinese belief as a whole.      
What matters in Chinese art,in a last analysis,is the transmission of the movement of life perceived everywhere:in the 6th century Xie He established"Six Principles"
 concerning painting:utmost was:"attunement with the Infinite Vital Breadth creates the Movement of Life"-Qi yun Sheng Dong".Having captured this message ,an artist
 can express it through any means:a poem,a painting...the illiterate potter,through ceramics.

Buddhism made an early appearance in China already in the 1st century(c.e.).But it took many centuries for this Indian doctrine to adapt itself to Chinese
psychology and really function and expand.Contact with Daoism resulted in the Dhyâna(Chin.Chan,Jap.Zen) School of Buddhism.Legend has it to have been created in
China by Bodhidharma in the 6th. century.No matter the Daoist influence,Buddhism could never abandon its nihilist background :the ultimate sense of things is their
absence of sense.In his moment of Enlightment(Bodhi) Siddharta Gautama,the founder of Buddhism,de-constructed manifested life:for Buddhism sees the world as an
result of   serie of existences only created by a  cause-effect(hetuphala)mecanism which connects(nidana) instantaneous fulgurations called dharma(s)and arise
quasi-dead;they persist only by this connexion fed by desire(kama) and thirst(trsna)for the mundane.Having conquered these,he no longer was chained to transmigration
(samsâra) and is considered to have reached nirvâna(nir-VA:"to cease to breathe"=extinction).Act (karman) would,for him,no longer be a burden,for not bearing fruit.
He became hence  Shakya-muni:the"Silent One of the Shakya Clan",for he understood that his experience was intrinsic and discreet.
Due to the very nature of the doctrine,Buddhist-inspired Chan painting understandbly presented a "(...)translucent image,which tends to fade away in the
glittering of the drops of water(...)"(Nicole Vandier-Nicolas).Fugitive,fleeing moments,destined to disparition,like the scroll "Sparrows on Bamboo in the Rain",in the
Nezu Collection,attributed to 13th-century Mu Qi,in which scattered dots of pale ink around the bamboo leaves suggest the illusionof rain(Little,S.,article in
"Orientations",May,2014).A subdued creation of de-construction.For Buddhism the world-a mere mosaic of inconsistent aggregates-is mirage(marîci) and magic
(mâyâ=illusion).Compassion(karuna) remains for the beings,submited to the enslavement of illusion:the Buddhist Saint (Bodhisattva) shows iconographically,in Buddhist
art,a radical endurance concerning the impermanence of the dharma(s) which reveals a "sweet and tender thought"(mrdutarunacittatâ) in face of ignorance.
It is finally Dharmaksânti:radical patience concerning the illusion of the permanence of anything.
For the Chinese Classical Thought such a reasoning means deviation(xie);the cardinal notions of the Infinite Vital Breadth (Qi) and the Reason of Things
(Li) prevent nihilism.In place of  de-construction in a
 cosmic apocalypse,one has never-ending construction through the process of mutations(yi).And Art
mirrors this:Emperor Song Huizong wrote in his catalogue,the Xuanhe Huapu:"(...)when one enters the wonderful,one knows not whether Art is Dao or Dao is Art(jin
hu miao,ze bu zhi Yi zhi wei Dao,Dao zhi wei Yi)."Mo luo ke xun"-"the continuity of the veins and arteries can(always) be searched",say the Chinese.And the Yijing
(the Book of Mutations),foundation-stone of the Chinese Thought:"he who knows the Way of the transformations-mutations will also know how the Subtle Spirit acts"
(zhi bian hua zhi Dao zhe,qi zhi Shen zhi suo wéi hu-Xici,I,9).Finally:"Advent following advent is what is called mutation"(sheng sheng zhi wei yi-Xici,I,5).
Dao is a self-contained process always going from extreme subtlety to overwhelming majesty-in fact from invisible virtuality to actuality.From rarified Infinite
Vital Breadth(Qi) to mature condensation of form (xing)-then a return to no-form,just to re-start the whole construction.One might interpret-visually,in terms of the
 the art of ceramics,from the ethereal characteristics of Ru to the explosion of Jun...When it comes to Art in China,one should be allowed to endlessly elaborate
 on the basis of the well-established doctrine of a  Substratum(Ti) and a Function(Yong) governed by an intrinsic Reason of Things(Li) which acts(xing) together the Infinite Vital
Vital Breadth(Qi).The Yijing is book which aims at unveiling the mysteries of the Way(Dao) from the seed (ji) to the tree. The Way conducting the process of all
Life.From the infinitesimal(wei) to Infinity(wuji),one is boldly tempted to say.And the attempt here would be "to investigate what of the Wonderful it is possible to
attain through the infinitesimal essence(yanjiu jingwei suo de zhi miao),as Emperor Huizong wrote in His remarkable "Talks on Tea"(of the Daguan era)Daguan Chalun
or, more properly saying,Sheng Song Chalun(1107-10)("Sacred Wise Talks on Tea"-by the Emperor).
Mere beauty is for the Chinese adornment.One must have accession,through meditation (chan-zen), to the deep layers (li) where lies the Reason (LI) inherent
to Beauty.And then the outward manifestation(biao) will be coherent.For this Su Shi wrote about his friend,the great poet-calligrapher Huang Tingjian:"(...)he has
transcended the beauty which comes from dust and established only the outer manifestation (which corresponds to the inner reality)of the myriad of things-chao
yi yan chan;du li wanwu zhi biao(...)"Li-what lies within-in conjunction with biao-what is visible without-corresponds to the Reason of things-LI- in the conduction
of the Infinite Vital Breadth(Qi)...Marcel Granet's great maxim:"le Tao (...)est actif(...)rayonne inlassablement une sorte de vacuité continue".Shortly,diamond
radiance.Ti and Yong in perfect union(he bi).


The Song dynasty(960-1279)has  represented the paramount moment of Civilization in China;but for the barbarian invasions which have overshadowed
(but not destroyed) it,Song radiance would be more evident in our world to-day than it is.For Song splendour has never ended;it has taken more subdued colours due
 to great ignorance,this real illness that inflicts mankind.When one considers the ceramic art of the Song,two angles are to be noted:that of the seemingly undecorated
wares,in which purity of form,depth of lustre and colour,subtlety of glaze-Ru,Longquan,Guan,Ge-are essential,and decorated-so to speak- objects,like Jun,in which
there are abstract designs.
A hue governs the glaze chromatic scale of the ceramic ware that has become known as Céladon,in the West:a predominantly greenish-blue or
bluish-green tint derived from iron oxides,but which can appear in opaque buff , beige,olive or even serge tones,depending on the reduction or not of oxygen in
the kiln during firing,blue being the result of reduction and greenish yellow,that of oxidation.But a mysterious tonal green-blue in-between seems to be the result
in the best pieces;even when it turns to be greysh or buff,a blush of greenish-blue always persists.This hue is called QING by the Chinese.It is the colour of
the East,according to the Shuo Wen Jie Zi-where the sun rises and Spring starts.The classical definition is by Xunzi,a 3rd-century b.c.e. thinker:"(...) one seizes
qing in the blue,but it acts more as colour than blue itself(...)"-qing,qu zhi yu lan er qing yu lan.Lan-blue- would thus be statical,whereas greenish- blue qing would
be its dynamic pair.Céladon is just a practical inconsequential expression,coined in Europe in the 17th century because of of the colour of the garments of a character in
  a play then in vogue based on the novel "l'Astrée",by Honoré d'Urfé.In Chinese,the ideogram combines the elements "life"(sheng) and "cinnabar"(dan)(=red,the colour of
blood,which of course is the essence of life).And the everlasting mysterious tonal green-blue can only  be perceived by the mind in alterated states:enlightment or
supra-consciousness:Shiva's third eye:prajñacaksus.
Texture was another constituting essentiality of Song ceramics.It is defined by the expression ZIRUN.It is rarely shining or lustrous;rather it is a dense glaze
opalescent in many case(specially in Jun),that is seen.Zirun glazes look and feel unctuous:their greasy surface evokes life and the need of contact:the radical of the charac
ters is "water",the richness of humid environments.Touch the zirun glaze and your hand will be the vehicle of rapture(samâdhi):"sanmei shou"-"handly (conducting)
Samâdhi",as Su Shi wrote in a poem about tea and Song tea ware.
In a personal letter to the present author Nicole Vandier-Nicolas wrote:"(...)a circle is difficult to complete(by hand).But in the centre of the circle
lies the'heart's(xin)marvelled  glance -very demanding,very exacting glance;notwithstanding,light into the minutest details(...)"So with ceramics in China.After centuriesall is
 there;after centuriesof experience,the Song era saw an apogee. To this day, acme for mankind.After generations Tradition was consolidated:in China the notion of "experie
nce" (jingyàn)

has a collective connotation.It refers to the "examination"(yàn) of the(links)in the "chain"(jing)(established by one's predecessors),be they one's teachers or colleagues or
the Masters in the tradition that one follows.A collective acquisition thus.In the case of ceramics,in the early days,a practice without texts,as the potter had no
intellectual background,only the knowledge transmitted by the likewise uncultured forefathers."The Unknown Craftsman",as is called the Bernhard Leach's English
adaptation of Sôetsu Yanagi's book.
Ruyao was manufactured in a kiln the location of which was discovered at Qingliangsi Village,Daying Town,Baofeng County,Henan Province in 1986.
According to the Chinese expert Chen Wanli the fabrication of Ruyao would have started in 1086.In 1107 Emperor Huizong would have started to patronize its
production for the Court in Bianliang (Kaifeng).So until 1106 Ru would have been a minyao(unofficial ware);from 1107 onward Ru would have become guanyao (Imperial
ware).A special guanyao produced in Bianliang has so far-to our knowledge- not been archaeologically proved,due to the
 frequent floods there during the centuries.
With Ru starts the consolidation of a Chinese holistic psyche manifesting itself in the ceramic sphere.In this domain it represents the mentality so aptly
described by Su Shi about his friend Huang Tingjian: biao(manifestation) in harmony with li(virtuality).In the "bubbling surface" of the unconscious mind arises an
an "archetypical form" present there from the dark depths of the ages:the "music of the spheres" referred to by Kandinsky (cf. Sir Herbert Read-Athens,1960).Qing-
bluish-green or greenish-blue),the colour of ether;zirun,the texture of viscous plasma of omnipresent sempiternal Qi;the fissures of "craquelé",lines which are the wen
 of future manifested symbols as yet immersed in virtuality...Form:the presence of a quasi-absence...all is there in the ceramic support.The glory of multi-splendour!
Nothing of this would have been possible without the communal mentality described above.Experience is collective and this from the very beginning in China:
the Liji ("Record of the Rites") already states:Tianxia wéi gong-"Under Heaven all is communal!"
Accordingly,the manufacture of Ruyao has started to consolidate a praxis rooted in a communal experience coming from generations of Chinese potters and-
regarding the effects of crackle-which are called wen(written modernly with the radical of "silk").During nine hundred odd years crackle-virtuality showing the sign
sign of pre-destined Order,for being lines in the shape of crab' s claw(xiezhao) or fish-roes(yuzi):gossamer-like lines,similar to the webs of small spiders,they show
the coherence of natural creations in the process of cosmic gauzes.These lines-wen-represent "nuclei of form and structure"(H.Read)which float in the greenish-blue
scenario evocative of atmospheric ether and they adjust themselves from one border of a bowl to the other,for instance,but also in different ceramic pieces ,even
in pieces manufactured in different times,in different dynasties.If a ware be superposed to another,there will always occur total adjustment of lines,invariably showing
lines like a crab's claw(or fish-roes),which characterize Song céladons or qingciyao.Technique alone cannot explain this.One may speculate it to be the expression of
 an ARCHETYPICAL FORM reflecting(ying)-like a mirror-the unconscious mind of the Chinese,linked from the dawn of their Civilization,to the spontaneous Reality
of Life,to Image(Xiang),not to the illusion of imagination."To encounter the Dao,approach objects(yu Dao ji qi)",wrote Wang Fuzhi,meaning that through
the visible one captures(qu) the invisible(F.Jullien).In this line of  thought Chinese aesthetics concentrate on the leit-motif of transition: all things are in constant
(chang) change-in paintings it is a vague horizon immersed in mist,which also dominates va thlleys,in calligraphy the "flying-white'fei bo)leaves blanks between
traces;in ceramics we might interpret crackle as the virtual lines of future actualizations,all immersed in bluish-green ether.So Ruyao would epitomize a landscape
of transition translated into ceramics,a flash of the Chinese unconscious mind,an archetypical nucleus therefrom...
One may surmise that such a degree of refinement in the manufacture of céladonswas made possible by the general spiritual atmosphere prevailing in
the Song dynasty,specially during the enlightened reign of Emperor Huizong,who ruled  away from barbarity and wished for China an era of Peace and Illumination...

Again it has been communal and the result of accumulated experience,crowned by the Emperor's atavic sophistication.All the great minds of China's past were also
part of the enlightened era,through this accumulated experience-and how inconsistent would differences prove in face of the calamity of 1126/7!

Ruyao could thus be viewed as a kind of prototype of a new phase in the manufacture of céladons-when this branch of ceramic art became more than the
mere trial to express the qualities of jade-as céladon had been from its roots in the Shang dynasty-now it was cosmic.And this vocation persisted
the centuries ahead.As has been explained aesthetic theories concerning ceramics were absent,due to the manual side of this art:it was anonymous and the work
of uncultured poor people,whose inspiration had its roots in ancestral experience accumulated in the medulla of a monolithic Civilization consubstantiated TI,the
Essence of this cultural organism of China.External influences did exist-China was not immune to importation-but its has been on the level of YONG:"function",
 ideas and techniques which have been developed according to TI-so always "renovation";never "revolution".As Jingdezhen became a great center for porcelain
manufacture during the mid  Ming dynasty(circa 1500,as shown in burials) and the Qing period,expansion brought about evolution of ideas.In the 18th century
Tang Ying(2nd. quarter of the century) was appointed director of Jingdezhen.
He was a scholar,whose literary collection is called "Words from a potter's heart"(Taoren xin yu) and he has left a text that provides us with a magnificent intellectual
background for the ceramic art of China.The compact text is a ratification of the cosmic,holistic perspective of Chinese Thought as a whole:
"To work(gong),one must first knead the clay(shenzhi) that comes from forests and sources. As form one does not go beyond those of the zun and lei vases;
one equally duplicates those of the yi and ding(vessels).Furnace smoke brightens the colours;even a lump of terra cota(wafou) partakes(can)of the might of the bellows
(tuoyue).The colour-brush gives birth to flowers:porcelain allows to examine the Images(xiang)of Civilization(wen ming)".
"Shenzhi"-"knead the clay"-and "tuoyue"-"the bellows"- are expressions from Laozi(chapters 11 and 5).They place the manufacture of ceramics in the
perspective of universalism:the clay is the Yin element,the earth component-"forests and sources";tuoyue" is not any bellows,but a metaphor for cosmic might
-the eternal evolutions within the space between heaven and earth:the power of Shiva,if one thinks in Indian terms.And the potter's work is linked to that of
the metallurgist,thus reminding us the two phases in human Civilization:that of pottery ineolithic cultures and of bronze in more advanced ages.The expressions
"taoye" and "taozhu",still used in the language,refer to both these stages.For Tang Ying the art of the potter and that of the metallurgist are in conjonctio-marriage-
in the great symbolism which describes the architecture of Civilization.
Likewise the universe is capable of transmitting a message of life everywhere present,also in the reminiscence of the unconscious mind,for reminiscence,
far from being a "vulgar memory"(G.Durand),is,on the contrary,"imagination épiphanique"(ib.).So "all things,between Heaven and Earth,possess a sort of vital idea


(sheng yi) which is the wonderful (miao) aspect of formation-transformation(zao hua)-ever changing- like(bo ru),ever dispersing-like(dàng ru),it cannot be described
in forms"(Zhu Yunming).The "forests and the sources"transmit this vital idea but also does the cosmic "bellows"which is the great Might of the universe...The enlightened
mind of the intelligentsia captures it in painting and calligraphy,but so does also the enlightened uncultured  mind of the potter,which has absorbed it in the unity of
the holistic symbolic Chinese Civilization ,through an unbroken ancestral experience...Jun=Balance=Equilibrium.Thus,mind in Peace.The Transparency seen in the pure
moments of dawn (zhao che),when the world is virgin.The EPIPHANIC IMAGE:cosmic Shiva-lingam.For acceptance of the cosmic process-a "state of continuous creation
and destruction"(H.Read)- It is true serenity and such was the secret also of the uncultured ceramist for  the spontaneity of his unadulterated and magnificent spirit which
transmigrates adequately and wonderfully into things(miao yi yu wu you yi)"(Dong You(12th.century).According to the Vimalakîrtinidersa a Buddha'sLiberation itself
occurs in the   first movement of conscience(cittapûrvacarita), in its  only unadulterated moment of perfect freedom.Zhao che-the Transparency of Dawn.
In our world,inherited from the Greeks,form may be viewed as an archetype which is given by the naked body,model idealized as perfect.But in China forms
are transitory-everything is submitted to formation-transformation(zao-hua) in the process of life.Under such an angle a definitive model for Beaury-the naked body-
would be impossible.No Venus,no Heracles,no Zeus,as eternal mutation prevents any fixed   eternal model of form.It is thus understandable that the archetypical form
should be the ever-changing,ever-dispersing explosions of the cosmic process-line pre-destining ways(dao) ,stains and blots,not the  idealized model of the human body.
An "indeterminate shape(...)more or less complex(...)which appeals"(H.Read).EPIPHANY.But only of amorphous shapes and lines of virtuality.Distillation,one might evoke.
This view of the world,as based on cosmic Truth,transmitted by the the thought prevailing in the East,leads to Beauty:the Transparency of Dawn,image of
Reality,not imagination of Reality fostered by the illusion advanced by vicious creeds.Science with Conscience is its consequence:"(...)plus que jamais nous ressentons
qu'une science sans conscience,c'est-à-dire sans affirmation mythique d'une Espérance marquerait le déclin définitif de nos civilisations(...)"(Gilbert Durand).For,
behind a myth there is always an Idea;its reading reveals Truth,like a sonorous conch which reveals the pristine,primaeval sound of the sea. Vibration of OM.
It is this Conscience behind the science of the manufacture of ceramics in the East that should disclose Beauty which reveals Truth.Spontaneous Beauty.Ziran
and Zhen.The Chinese ideaogram for Zhen-Truth- shows the alchemy in the transmutation of the human mind from the obscurantism of delusive creeds to the
illumination of macrocosmic Truth brought the microosmic level within the holistic process of Reality."Les tentatives de démystification de l'illusion religieuse d'un
Feuerbach,d'un Nietzche ou d'un Freud se trouvent alors sans objet en présence de l'Absolu transpersonnel du Non-dualisme,à la fois radicalement immanent et trans-
cendant à sa 'manifestation'(...)
"Céladon"is but an incongruous-albeit practical-denomination for a colour-a hue-the name of which,in Chinese,responds to a totally different ideology-rather-
concept.QING is "the colour of Nature",as the Mathew's Chinese-English Dictionary translates it.It is a "neutral tint" which can apply to "green,blue,black",not only
to bluish-green or greenish-blue.The final result is given by chemistry:the  percentage of iron content added to the glaze AND the prevailing :conditions
inside the kiln at the moment of firing:reduction of oxygen tending to blue-green tones,ampleness of oxygen,on the contrary,to oxidation,leaving olive,golden or
blackish hues.Céladons  all owe their colour to iron content of the glaze:in bluish-green ones it means one to three per cent-"the yellower tones are given by ferric
oxide and the bluer by ferrous oxide"(Gompertz,G."Chinese Celadon Wares").But Song black wares glazes also result from iron content:six per cent,applied over an iron-
rich slip.In oxidizing conditions during firing-with therefore ample supply of oxygen-the result in the end was a very dark hue.Deep outer space.
It should always be kept in mind thatiron is a cosmic primaeval,pristine element,also a component of the human blood,which of course is the chief support of Life.
In an holistic Civilization,such as China's,this should not be seen as irrelevant.Reducing oxigen in the kiln during firing will bring about blue-
like that of the Summer skies- or green,like Spring vegetation,or the shores of tropical seas.Nature trans a fabricposition.
It might not be too far-fetched to say a word about the etimology of the ideogram for the colour Qing:it is a logical aggregate (hui yi) composed of two
elements:sheng(life) and dan(cinnabar-red mercuric sulphide,which in China,in Daoist alchemy,is considered to be a drug for attaining immortality).The vermilion
colour of cinnabar naturally evokes blood-a sacrificial animal used in a ritual to promote Spring and the growing forces of life after Winter,which in Northern China
is extremely severe and represents the closure of the earth(Karlgren,B.:"Grammata Serica Recensa",entry 812). Proto-greenish stoneware is attested already in the
Shang-Yin dynasty(3rd.millenary) and its aim was to imitate jade,used in the Neolithic Culture of Hongshan in fertility rites(the so-called pig-dragon-zhulong),in
this society,is represented in foetal position).
Moreover a recent experiment(1994) conducted for the present author,in Paris,by Hervé Moskovakis(Elypse Engineering),utilising a process called"electro-
graphy",has demostrated that jade does transmit positive energy,shown by coloured zones when the stone is carved(report of  the experiment published in "Oriental
Art",v.XLVII no. 1,2001).
Man participates in the cosmic process in full liberty and consciousness through his cognitive faculty:SHENHUI:the recognition (hui) of the Subtle Spirit
(Shen) everywhere-holos.There is no Truth which is not holistic.This is cheng,cardinal Virtue of Sincerity: to attain(de) its vital Idea(sheng yi) one must clarify -render
transparent- the source of things(xu ming wu zhi yuan).For,according to the Yijing,in the emergence of things lies the "heart of the universe"(hexagram 24:"fu,qi jian
tiandi zhi xin hu")."(...)ce stade de l'émergence,compris comme retour,est précisément ce moment crucial où l'invisible se relie au visible(et)...se déchiffre(...) comme
une simple transition(du patent au latent)(...)aussi,ce stade de l'émergence est-il celui où la logique à l'oeuvre ne s'aperçoit pas seulement de façon ponctuelle,en se
limitant au moment concerné,mais se laisse appréhender globalement(...)celui où le processus s'explicite en entier(...)on accède à ce qui en est le coeur(...)plus que
tout autre au sein de la série des hexagrammes,celui-ci offre un biais pour accéder à l'invisible;il nous ouvre une brèche sur le mystère de l'immanence(...)"(F.Jullien:
"Figures de l'Immanence"pg.167).
We are stardust,so science now teaches us:in the unconscious layers of the mind lies with certainty this knowledge;through an art which is pure,virgin
and therefore spontaneous(ziran= by itself so)it emerges as manifestation.


JUNYAO

Evolution.Cosmic evolution.
Tianji "(...)c'est la spontanéité créatrice sous son aspect moteur,c'est la prédisposition instinctive qui  pousse  à l'acte chaque être
selon son mouvement propre(...)au chapitre 14(du Zhuangzi)dans la section consacrée  à la danse Xianchi,exécutée par Huandi sur
le lac de Dongting,Tianji désigne l'énergie créatrice,concentrée à l'origine des temps,avant que ne se déclenche le processus du
devenir(...)"(Nicole Vandier-Nicolas:"Art et Sagesse en Chine"pg 185).
Tianji:the Spring of Heaven;the Natural Impetus.


"I have searched Spring,but it was long gone;
One must not be distressed or feel grief for the time of perfume, which is gone;
A furious wind has caused all the deep-red flowers to fall;
The green leaves have become somber
But fruits cover the branches"...
Du Mu(Tang dynasty-guiwei year-803)

"The universe becomes a unique gongan"-apparent Chan(Zen) puzzle the shoking incongruity of which may lead to Enlightment,
wrote Nicole Vandier-Nicolas.It is the "Great Image"(Da Xiang)(Laozi-chap.14),which is the Form of Indetermination"(wu zhuang
zhi zhuang).Being stardust we carry it buried in the depths of our mind.




        The world of Junyao is one of explosion,"infinite explosion of matter,a state of continuous creation and destruction,within which,however,we discover
 nuclei of form and structure,constellations and finite worlds"(...)"out of the seething cauldron of psychic particles"(H.Read) R
the Genesis is recreated.It is YINYUN,the"intermingling of the influences of Heaven and Earth"(Yijing II,5),from which "the myriad of things transform abundantly' '
(wanwu hua shun).Yin-Yun refers to an original state of things prior to any repartition( Shi Tao:bu fen shi wei huntun- a turbid void-plasma- within which however
all virtuality (neng shi-"possible things")lies,as this dynamic void is pervaded by QI-the Infinite Vital Breadth,in which all things and beings inchoate. Science has now
taugh us that our solar system was formed from previous galaxies which had come to an end and having become stardust gave birth to a new cosmic formation.
"The type of artist we are considering may be searching for(...) forms behind the veil of consciousness,for forms irrespective of any representational
significance,that can be teased out of the seething cauldron of psychic particles(...)such forms need not be figurative;they are more likely to be amorphous,gestaltlos.
The deeper we penetrate the cloud of unknowing,by contemplation or intuition,the less likely we are to find the shapes and images of our waking world(...) we enter
what Anton Ehrenzweig has called a 'Gestalt-free matrix of forms',a matrix within which the shapes are as yet unformed,and only acquire form and significance as
the inchoate primary substance coagulates(...) such forms,when found,are potent(...)to explain this power the word 'magic' has been evoked(...)I prefer to resort to
Jung's hypothesis of an archetypal form(...)" Sir Herbert Read in Athens in 1960 was refering to modern abstract painting.In 2015 why not use his enlightened
words to apply to a new theory on Chinese ceramics,when they fit so well to Junyao? Even more so in our modern world,after the Mingei (Minyi)movement of early
20th century,led by Bernard Leach,Sôetsu Yanagi and Shôji Hamada,among others,which identified Truth with an inborn,natural and spontaneous Beauty created by
uncultured potters-a spiritual Beauty the fundamental principle of which Yanagi also saw expressed in the anonymous crafts of the  Song dynasty...

The Way (Dao) opens up to an Absolute perpective.It transcends both limited space and precise time.It is far-reaching(you) and long-enduring(jiu)
as said in the Zhong Yong(XXVI).Being so these qualities bear witness(zheng) of the validity of the Process which governs the Cosmos,from the Big Bang up to now.
Even prior-how many Big Bangs have we experienced?
                               
From the Chinese viewpoint Truth is what matters;in fact cosmic Reality,which would thus correspond to Correctness (zheng) lato sensu.As said in the
5th century WENXIN DIAOLONG,by Liu Xie,about the Confucian Classics(Jing) viewed as "global and totalizing"(F.Jullien):"(...)they are the Image of the Universe
(xiang tiandi)(...)"In the 21st century abstract art,as manifestation of the unconscious mind,can(or should) lead to interpretations hitherto not possible; as
"gestaltlos,amorphous... shapes and images"(H.Read),they would represent penetrations into the "Cloud of Knowing" behind the "Veil of Consciousness"(ib.)
-following such a way(dao)should thus be feasible for the undestanding of Jun ceramics in our day.

Even before  the full blooming of modern art theories,in 1915 R.L. Hobson,the English expert,wrote that "(...) it would be possible to construct a formidable
list of the colours which appear in the Chün (sic=Jun) glazes(...)on the edges and salient parts where the glaze is thin the colour is usually a transparent olive green
 which passes with the thickening of the glaze into a frothy grey shot with fine purple streaks(...) the grey sometimes remains thick and opaque,covering large areas
and it is liable to become frosted over with a dull film of crab-shell green(...)it is in this frosting and in the opaque curded grey that the V-shaped and serpentine
partings known as 'earthworms marks' most frequently occur;and sometimes a steel blue colour emerges in these partings and in small spots in the grey(...)for
under  the grey there seems to be always blue and red struggling upwards towards the surface(...)hence the blue and lavender tinge which is so constant(...) but
it is the red which almost always triumph,emerging in fine streaks of purple,crimson or coral(...)completely overpowering the grey,which only remains on sufferance
ina few fleecy clouds(...)"
Explosions.Cosmic explosions,as we know that the Universe has experienced in its very long existence.
Jun wares are unique creations.Every piece on its own,although Tradition is behind. Hobson was most probably describing one of the so-called "numbered
Jun"(they carry a number on their base-one to ten) and are believed to be later wares,manufactured during the early Ming dynasty(15th century) in order,perhaps,to supply
the newly-built palaces needed when Peking wa s declared primary capital of the Empire in 1421.The numbers would refer to sizes concerning flowerpots used in the
Imperial precints.The violet and purple splashed effects are now magnificently widely displayed,"covering large areas",but they all stem from the addition of a copper
solution to the iron glaze,which had always reflected the Jun Tradition of earlier manufacture(the splashes were then more restricted in area-abstract purple blots
 or spots,"cloudlike and unpent".James C.Y.Watt has suggested that this kind of purple splash would represent"the popular imagery of purple mists and clouds that
emanate from Daoist deities(...)Daoism was very much in the ascendant during the reign of (Emperor)Huizong".In fact,the Guan Yinzi,an apocryphal text-but certainly
reflecting a former original( by Yinxi?),
the guardian of the pass who would have received Laozi when he left China for the West by the Pass of Xiangu- now possibly identified with the site of Louguantai,
70 km from Xi'an-states that ,prior to Laozi's arrival,Yinxi  "had observed that violet clouds of Energy were seen floating over the Pass"(jian you zi qi fou guan) .
Nevertheless,nowadays,would it no be possible to identify these "violet clouds of Energy"(zi qi) with the cosmic explosions kept hidden by "the veil of
consciousness","the forms irrespective of any representational significance"(H.Read) but evoking our condition of stardust? "The infinite explosion of matter"(idem)?
As the Chinese themselves say:"flashes of spiritual light that suddenly emerge"(ling guan zha xian),also present in dreams or in altered states:"Le sommeil des
puissances,souvent décrit par les mystiques,est un état d'intériorisation totale qui soustrait l'esprit à la dispersion de la vie sensorielle,et le laisse libre de s'unir
au Total indéterminé(...)son pouvoir de participation"(N.V.Nicolas)-such a thought is evocative ,even provocative, and would make one think of the fugitive moments
of Enlightment in Buddhism-the flash of satori...

For being based on REALITY,not on speculation(conjectural opinion)-and for being holistic-the universe of Chinese aesthetics represents unsurpassed
lasting theories valid to our days and overflowing considerations that encompass the whole of Art.In the 11th century Shen Gua(1030-1098)was a brilliant scholar:let
us brood over whar he said on the arts of the brush.
"when the creative idea is guided by the dynamism of the Subtle Spirit(shen ling yi zao), there will appear,in addition,the images of men,beasts,plants and
trees,of flying and terrestrial creatures in their instanteinity.They will fully(liaoran)appear before the eye;the brush will then be commanded according to the creative idea
(sui yi ming bi);in silence (mo)and by intuitive knowledge of the Subtle Spirit(yi shen hui)the scenario will be naturally(tian)( depicted).That is what one calls a living
brush ,and to enter the realm of full understanding of painting(huo bi yong zhi,zi ci hua ge jin)( we should remember that the first meaning of "ge" is that of a large
tree which extends far its branches;hence "thoroughly to investigate" in figurative meaning).
Mutatis mutandi the text above could apply to all the arts of China;verily to all Art,in short.Now, in the West,one may see behind the"veil of consciousness",
"nuclei of form and structure",within "the cloud of unknowing",which one may penetrate by "contemplation and intuition"(ib.)...
Consider a Song Junyao bowl in my collection(formerly in thr collection of M.Calmann ,who offered it to Mme.Vandier-Nicolas in Paris)(cf."Anais-Museu
Histórico Nacional-volume 31,1999):cosmic virtuality is of course blue ether,but crossed by Y-shaped lines,which are predisposition of shapes,nuclei of images-
a fish (from the left) or a bird(from the right)?..
One might remember Kandinsky:he spoke "of the symphony of forms  that arises from the chaotic hubbub of cosmic elements which we call the MUSIC
OF THE SPHERES"(H.Read).This treasury of hidden forms reside in the alayavijñana of the mind-the "valleys and mounds"(qiu he)-and they emerge in supraconsciousness,
through abstraction.

For true and the only Eternity-rather Infinitude-would be  infra-memory,which for certain ones becomes supra-consciousness ,that one carries from
time immemorial and is eventually expressed through Art.Aprastisthita:no-support.Apratisthitanirvãna,that of the bodhisattva,extinction which is not stop,nir-

vâna without nirodha-one goes on but without any illusion.There where Li really meets Qi.When Su Shi spoke of the "Constant Reason"(chang li) may he not
finally had in mind this "infinitude" as transmited by immemorial reminiscence as suggested-also- by Junyao?
The Daoist Book of Zhuangzi(attributed to the 4th century b.c.e) recognized already-using a flowering terminology-the importance of abstraction as
a vehicule of manifestation for Truth deeply ingrained in the subconscious mind.The mythical Yellow Emperor (Huangdi),wandering(you-word evoking spiritual
mind experiences) on the north of the Red Water,ascended to the height of the Kunlun mountain(also a  place with spiritual connotations).Gazing towards the
south he lost his dark-coloured pearl(Zhuangzi book 12)(xuanzhu-meaning the Dao or Absolute Truth).He sent Knowledge(zhi) to search for It,but Knowledge
could not find It;nor did Clear- Sighted Li Zhu or Debater Chi Gou.Only Abstraction(Xiang Wang=non-Semblance) could find Truth. According to some texts
(Ren tian yan mu,by Zhi Sheng(668-740))this dark-coloured pearl lies in the Great Ocean(Da Hai),where Xiang Wang found It. The Great Ocean is the image of
the unfathomable depth of Truth(cf.Vandier-Nicolas,N.:"Le Houa-che de Mi Fou",pg101).11th-century Liu Jing wrote:"when extraordinary people and exceptional
works are in conjonction,this gives the world the model of the ideal mankind"(qi ren qi wu fang hebi,qi yu shijian renwu yang).The Absolute Dao is many-splen-
dored(dao):it is Substance(Ti),but is found in the objects(qi) which are Its functions(yong).Cosmic organicity.Dynamic vacuity(xu) which shines through(zhao).
The counterpoint of the subconscious abstraction which man harbours for being stardust would be the perception of the "vital idea"(sheng yi) present
everywhere in the cosmos.The circle is complete:this would correspond to total coherence!"Sheng yi"-the "vitality found in living things"(Susan Bush)(and every
thing is alive in the universe) is a"self-conquest of the sensible spirit(heart)(xin zhi suo zi de);it corresponds to  Cosmic Efficacity(De),the Energy which manifests
the Dao(Emperor Huizong). In the objectivation which has been defined as "miao" in Chinese Thought-"magic" lato sensu ;transcendental
cognition(if one wishes) and one would thus have:"miao xin"-"magic sensible heart(or mind)","miao ming"-"magic luminosity"-always classifying something
existing beyond the limitations of the normal kinds of cognition."Zhen Jing"-the "Essence of Truth"(´Sûrangamasûtra)(in Demieville,pg 48).
Let us return to 11th century  Shen Gua,one of those Song geniuses who belonged to a group of intellectuals-to-day they would be defined as "holistic-
for whom Truth would be all-grasping.He wrote:"(...)be it in the art of writing or of painting,what is called 'magic' (miao) lies in the 'transcendental cognition'
(Shen hui)("trans-intellectual"(Hugh Moss) cognition);it would be difficult to search for it (only) through the form of objects.But people in the world who analyse paintings,
in their majority,can (only) point
out failures regarding the depiction of forms,dispositions and colours-that is all.But few reach the observation of the hidden Reason of Things and of what is
created in the Depths(ao Li ming Zao)(...)when the sensible spirit(the heart or mind) is reached(de xin)the hand gives a response(ying shou);the idea(intentionality)
having arrived,all will be perfect(yi dao bian cheng);there will be thenceforth acession to the Reason of Things and penetration of the Dimension of the Subtle Spirit
(gu qi Li ru Shen);from a far perspective one reaches the Spontaneous Idea (of things)...""Jiong"-"far-reaching perspective"-is deemed necessary for it  gives a global
vision of them.
Legend and myth enlighten us about a dispute coming from the dawn of Civilization in China:that between Huang Di,the Yellow Emperor,and Chi You,a hibrid
creature depicted as having a human body with ox horns and hoofs-in art this being is represented by an image evoking religious beliefs;on the other hand all art
related to the Yellow Emperor is not antropomorphic,but geometrical,basically forms connected to the square and the compass.In their mythical dispute the Yellow
Emperor was the winner,which has left a cosmic,not a religious perspective as foundation of the cultural ideology of the whole people.
 The Chinese genesis leads thus to abstraction,not to antropomorphism,as 5h century Liu Xie would acknowledge in his monumental Wen xin diao long:
"Wen ("configuration","ideo-graphism") as Cosmic Efficacity(De)-how great(immense)!:
               With Heaven and Earth advenant;
Colours sombre and yellow then mixed
And structures square and round divided..."

The cosmic process was henceforth dominant in the Chinese Thought;the limitation and narrowness of monotheistic Revelations,brushed aside.
Sheng Yi-the "vital idea" which is organically a legacy of the cosmos-is present not only in things but in contexts.Enlightened superior men-the true
junzi-feel it as a dynamic framework,a kind of spiritual abode within which they create;as Emperor Song Huizong has put it:DE,the cosmic Efficiency or Power through
 which the sensible heart(xin)manifests or realizes the Dao-the Absolute(De zhe,xin zhi suo zi de)in pure autonomy.
In the 11th century Huang Tingjian has so described his poetical mood,  in mid age,due to the arrival of Spring:"(...)off- shore from Bajie Embankment/
a boat (merely)touches the surface of the water(...)"(ba jie tan tou shang shui chuan).His was the world through a very simple imagined mood .Later,in the 14th century,
when aesthetical evolution had reached paramount expression,NI Zan,perceiving the shadow of bambous through the brightness of the moon and hearing the sound
of a harpsichord below a cliff covered by moss,sought "to imitate(fang fu) the vital idea(suggested to him) as in a startled dream".
The result?A painting or a
poem would be equivalent,as Exultation (xing) or Emotion(qing) alone count.And in the 21st century one should be allowed to read even further:the messages of the hidden
levels of the unconscious mind-supra-consciousness of cosmic events left as traces(JI)scattered in stardust and shown in the mysterious ceramic vessels of Song
China...
Susan Bush("The Chinese Literati on Painting.Su Shih to Tung Ch'i-ch'ang",pg135) wrote:"(...)the distinctions that might easily be drawn between subjective
and objective,between the conception in the artist mind and the idea attributed to a thing in nature,were simply not considered necessary by Chinese writers-we cannot
absolutely limit literati painters to a subjective view,as does Cahill in "Wu Chen"(...)"Sheng Yi co-exists pervasively and cosmically an organic reality even prior
to the primordial Genesis-it was its propelling agent(we would say"springs of action"-ji),not only in the artist's mind.But the superior man seizes (de)it and elaborates.
That is what Huang Tingjian has called "the mounds and valleys"(qiuhe) of the mind,metaphor which evokes the depths of the mind from where an idea advenes.Therefore
a literati painter "sketches ideas"(xie yi),as these ideas are fulgurations-zha xian.Springs of the action of the Big Bang itself!
Buddhism also recognizes the ever-perduring responsability of the act(although denying the actor).Tucci wrote in "Mandala":"(...)Alayavijñana,conscience réser-
voir(...)-aucun acte,aucune pensée ne se trouve ainsi perdue,mais se  dépose dans cette psyché universelle,qui,par conséquent et implicitement,n'est pas une entité
immobile,mais une expérience continuellement enrichie(...)en elle le passé vit avec le présent(...)quand les mondes,à la fin des âges,sont détruits par le feu cosmique,
c'est pour cette raison que la force karmique-total de  toutes les expériences individuelles-agit et pousse à la création d'un nouvel universe(...)qui ne commence pas
'ex-novo',mais suit les prédispositions qui ont survécu à cette destruction(...)"
One may deduct that very early Chinese Thought has recognized the totality of memory.Reminiscence is linked to the notion of "Ji"-"minute","hidden springs
of action",which  connects to that of "trace" ji-pronounced the same,but written with a different character-one marks the beginning of a process(within the Process);
the other,the traces left behind at the end of this process;that which will make it possible to re-start... Written with the radical "wood=mu","ji"-"hidden springs"-indicates
the"moving power of the universe",the "operative tool" through which the Dao manifests Itself.The past gives the seed through which Qi-the Infinite Vital Breadth is
conducted to a a proper(yi) form(xing).The Yijing elucidates the Sage about the Future because both Present and Future are conducted (zhu chi) by the seeds preserved
in this plasma which is Qi prior to condensation before Yin-Yang interrelation(virtuality before actuality).The Way(Dao) gives  the only proper ways(dao)-this is
unavoidable to generate Destiny(Ming),its only Source(Yuan).The "Book of Mutations"(Yijing) states:"Does not he who knows the springs of things possess the
knowledge of the Subtle Spirit"(zhi ji qi Shen hu...)(Xici,2,5).For although cosmic memory be totally available, its individual reminiscence is fragmentary,depending
on personal capacities-destinies or mandate,which arise from potentialities dictatedby one's place in the flux of phenomena which define life throughout time.
This we call samsâra in the Indian tradition,where it is thought to govern reincanations.In China how do things go in the aftermath of death?Following the evolution
of Confucianism(Neo-Confucianism),in the 11th century,Zhang Zai wrote:"Form and sensible qualities of the myriads of beings and things are only the dregs of the
Subtle Spirit(...)in its flourishing state ,life is like the alcoholic spirits,which carry (however)a sediment;in the dry state of death,the refined alcoholic ground
disappears,leaving behind the lees;but these too,finally, have a place to return:they join the mutations of the Subtle Spirit(wan wu xing se,Shen zhi zao po(...)
sheng er rong,ru zao po zhi han jiu li;si er gao,ru jiu li jin er zao po cun;qi jiu zao po yi you suo gui:gui yu Shen hua(...)"(Zhang zi Zheng Meng zhu,by Wang Fuzhi).
Man's greatest difficulty to overcome is perhaps the great  need for eternity;Asia's greatest contribution for Civilization is the Conscience of Infinitude
instead of the search for the illusion of eternity: Paradises do exist in Buddhism,but they too are only temporary,as cosmic Truth shows and teaches us:even
galaxies will eventually transform and mutate(bian hua). "(...)même au stade de la vertu,le danger est de ne point continuer d'évoluer,de s'arrêter,c'est-à-dire de rester
attaché à une forme de conscience particulière(cheng xin),si parfaite qu'elle soit,au lieu de la dépasser(hua):toute fixation,même sur le bien,est stérelisante,conduit
à la sclérose(...)fait obstruction au dynamisme inhérent  à la réalité(...) le Sage(...)tel le Ciel peut traverser la totalité des moments et des occasions,et atteindre à
l'universel(tong)(...)"(François Jullien-1989 pg 258). For the Chinese Thought-non~dualistic,holistic,organicist-Ti-Sub-stance cannot be apart from Function-Yong;
it is a process in which the Void(Xu)can only be known through its manifestation:all meditation on the Void ONLY is heresy.Hence the value of Art-the WAY:DAO-
.Void and plenum being inseparable in the process of existence,nirvâna and samsâra are equivalent.JUNYAO;IMAGE(Xiang) of cosmic phenomena-at the same time,
virtuality(Ti) in the Y forms of a craquelé floating in the bluish-green ether(qing) and actuality-realisation-in the explosion of purplish abstrations(yong).
But not only Junyao are XIANG.All céladons,as we will try to develop."The Xiang image is basic,elemental,and powerful,like the original hexagrams disco-
vered by Fuxi(...)(it) is what is revealed when outer layers are stripped away"(Sturmann,P."Cranes above Kaifeng"pg.45).In fact,in the "Book of Mutations" Xiang represents
the phase of the digramatical combinations of the lines Yin-Yang,underlying that of the trigrams, which show the myriads of things-the Xiang phase in the process of
the cosmic manifestation precedes the full view:it is thus subconsciously hidden...Abstraction:"Images of higher Truth"(Cai Tao,quoted in Sturmann,ib.)

Xiang would thus be Essence:in our modern times,the unconscious Images that spring from the  our legacy as stardust(as consigned in a cryptic part of
the Book of Mutations"-Xici,II,11).Sense-establishing symbolic Image; in short:Icone.
For the purpose of this essay the Xiang-Image-phase is all-important,as defined above,as it leads to abstraction,before full manifestation-Xing-in the
genesis of the Myriads of Things(Wan Wu)(the trigrams).

The 20th century has given us-at least and at last-absolute freedom of thought;gone-by the fires of Inquisition.In Art one should be allowed to elaborate
even further and not limit oneself to theories which were the only possible ones before the discovery of the veiled unconscious levels of our mind.What does this
mysterious and magic( miao) ceramic of China transmit that one could not dream of previously?Not only the amorphous colour tachism of Jun,but also the inarculate,
description-braving tonalities and tact of Ru and Longquan,the plunging depth of the dark wares...and what more that we have not yet thought of?For nothing is ever
lost in the cosmos-Science has proved that traces (ji) of the Big Bang itself can still be detected to-day.We are all stardust-reminiscence remains thus with us.

Modern Art has been Liberation in the West(in China aeons before).Let us consider sir Herbert Read once more:"(...)the latest picture of the universe offered
to us by the astronomists is of an infinite explosion of matter(...) within which, however,we discover nuclei of form and structure(...)"how could one better describe
Junyao?Perhaps because it is, at the same time,virtuality (Ti) and functional realization(yong),that is why we focus on it.