Dear A –
I had some illusions –
– ha! –
– confusions –
– yes –
— “the monkey is reaching for the moon in the water” –
– when I started this journey –
– pilgrimage — remember how Chaucer would pronounce it – I don’t know how to imitate that sound – something like pilgrimaaaazh – with the emphasis on the maaaazh part – I don’t know why it comes out this way in my mental pronunciation – but there it is –
– confusions about leisure and rush –
– imagining myself as the daily explorer and opener of new realms and the evening recorder — sipping brandy, puffing on a big cigar, inscribing the day’s events by quill pen in my vellum notebook –-
the word “scramble” never entered my mind — but the truth is that every day — after the first week-and-half spent in leisure time among friends in Shanghai and Beijing — has been a scramble — especially for my friend You Chengcheng – who has been managing every detail — for train tickets, hotels, leads, tips, contacts — in China this last being the most important —
and amidst the scramble the necessary reminders — keeping the goals in sight — Bada Shanren and Xie Lingyun — the ground whereon they walked in their various centuries ago — Xie a thousand years before Columbus set sail our direction — Bada a bit before the Age of Alexander Pope – but seeming as old as Xie in sensibility – or as new –
– keeping my mind on these and avoiding distractions — while also not ignoring serendipitous new possibilities — The Green Vine Studio of mad Xu Wei in Shaoxing for example — just suddenly there without being asked for — a painter whose work Bada himself cared about and learned from –
– and around all this — who would have guessed the heat – and humidity – and their toll on mountain climbers — even when the way itself was not rugged — sweat drenched, dehydrated, exhausted — one day at least, I just could not take another step –
– not complaining — just reflecting on all the things I didn’t think about back at the start — and wondering now what I DID think about — can’t remember anything! —
but forget about all that nothing — there have been a few successes — Bada’s studio cum museum in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, for one — with the only known portrait —
fetched from a temple that no longer exists in nearby Fengxin County —
and the beauty and wit of the paintings –
sorry they aren’t better reproduced here – but look at the glint in that bird’s eye! – and the tenuous stems of those water lilies – Bada has painted whole forests of such plants –
so here’s my own revelation — with no scholarly standing at all — the real secret to Bada’s so-called “mysterious” work — is right there in the portrait — look into those eyes — look at that smile —
and he’s well remembered in the community, it seems – here’s the neighborhood health clinic named after him not far from the temple that was supposedly his last studio before he died in early 18th c – you can see his name Bada Shanren 八大山人 about in the middle of their sign —
in my excitement – I often forget some basics – such as taking the right photos – so I have no picture of Baihufeng – White Fox Cliff – now called White Tiger Cliff – that “hu” is homonymic in Chinese for both animals – and at some point in history since Bada’s time, the locals decided the “cliff” looked more like a tiger in profile than like a fox – so they just changed the Chinese character from 狐 to 虎 –
so I forgot the photo – but here’s a villager indicating to You Chengcheng, my ever-resourceful friend and companion, just which direction we had to go next – UP – and five minutes later it was pouring rain — of course
Sorry about the mundane details here!
During the climb, it occurred to me that (a) there was some magic about doing what Bada himself did several centuries ago – he and his Zen Buddhist teacher climbed up here to write poems about the natural scenery – sometime between 1653 and 1656 – and (b) I imagined through my rain-and-sweat-soaked vision that the man who looked at the trees during his climb also made paintings that repeated the forms —
next day come the contacts – a bevy of County Heads of this and that – thinking this foreigner will have funds to invest in local development projects or wealthy poet friends back in New York (!) who might do the same –
I don’t know if you can see the grim faces on this crew – except for You Chengcheng – who was inexplicably giddy – maybe from exhaustion by this time – or the beer at lunch – anyway it got us to the things we needed – (a) a tour of the village of Jiegang – where Bada was head of something called the Lantern Society – which no longer exists –
a poor village, where they grow wheat and dry it in the village plaza –
and live in wonderful houses like this –
the village head offered me a free house for a year if I wanted to live here – add to this that the director of the Bada institute offered me a research position – and a woman in a Beijing art gallery is just dying to marry an American – and my prospects look pretty sunny, don’t they –
there’s a (b) to go with the (a) above – and it lies down this little road
and up this little path –
and into this lovely bamboo grove –
where you see one of the two purported remains (sorry, I don’t believe it!) of a temple where Bada got his Buddhist initiation –
here’s the other bit of wall, in a field/yard just outside the bamboo grove and fronting on Helin Temple –
to tell the truth – I don’t care too much about the truth here – this wall may or may not exist from Bada Shanren’s days in the 1640s or 1650s – but certainly this was his turf – he trod these paths and this bamboo grove – going from the Lantern Society located just over the hill behind the present day Helin Temple to Jiegang village and maybe on to Fenxin County to visit his teacher – that is enough for me – to breath that air – and feel that presence –
and then there was the kindness of the local people – especially the woman abbot of the temple – whose name I am ashamed to say I do not know –
That’s pretty much the end of the Bada Shanren story so far – a lot of details to be retold over a cup of tea sometime – but the main sketch of it anyway –
The Xie Lingyun part of the pilgrimage is still under construction – in some ways less successful so far – after all, he dates to the 4th century – how much of our stuff will still exist 1600 years from now –
Affectionately, R
Thousand Word Studio 