Memory · Resurrection

Whether Wu Jian’an feels it himself or not, I feel that he is trying to build an untamed world and its corresponding value system. This world is full of outrageous violence as well as idealized images and patterns made of splattering blood and broken limbs. More obvious is an underlying regulatory system and unshakeable relationship between weakness and strength that are constructed by these images and patterns. They unquestionably existed in ancient times and are still valid today although gradually being forgotten.

For anybody who does not look carefully, Wu Jian’an’s work may be interpreted as the product of violent aesthetics. Indeed, violence perhaps is one of the earliest and longest lasting images in most people’s memory. It is a social issue and a philosophical topic dealing with life-and-death, and an important phenomenon existing in all cultures in the world. In recent years, the discourse on this subject takes place mainly in the field of film studies. In the field of contemporary Chinese art, more and more artists also are starting to pay attention to it.

We cannot ignore the possible effect of this current interest on Wu Jian’an, but his work does not only show a concern with violence, or a formalistic breakthrough occasioned by it. Perhaps if we extend the methodology of Erwin Panofsky’s iconographic studies, we can have a better understanding of Wu Jian’an’s new series of works.

The heaven of nine levels is a widely used term in traditional Chinese culture. It appears frequently in ancient poems ???no less than 139 times in the Anthology of Tang Dynasty Poems.

What is the heaven of nine levels? There are several explanations in ancient texts. To put it simply, it is one of the earliest models of heaven constructed by ancient Chinese. If we read the explanations closely, none of them mentions the appearance of humans, probably due to the philosophical view of nature held by Chinese ancestors.

Although in later usage it became synonymous with “heavenly world,???in the context of Chinese belief of the “harmony of heaven and human,???it also represents the structure of the human world and society. The “harmony of heaven and human???is a basic concept in traditional Chinese philosophy, and is the opposite but also complementary belief to the “separation of heaven and human.???

In his creation of The Heaven of Nine Levels, Wu Jian’an utilizes the complex structure of the heaven’s nine levels and its gigantic volume to achieve an overwhelming visual effect (I will return to this topic later). Seeing it directly in front of our eyes, there is no doubt that we will be shocked by its oppressive effect. Lighting and close-observation magnify all the surprising details to an extreme degree, while at the same time skillfully concealing the vast scope of the work.

Is there any hidden intention behind such a visual reading method that works against the norm?

No doubt, one of the most successful aspects of the work is that it forces the audience to dig deep for details. If in Western belief God exists in details and specifics, the soul of The Heaven of Nine Levels is concealed in details and specifics.

There are in total nine different kinds of animals in the work ???bird, human-faced-bird, human-headed-bird, winged-human, human, tiger, frog, giant salamander, and fish. They are closely interwoven. The nine animals are arranged in a spatial relationship starting from the sky and ending in water, which symbolize the nine levels of the universe. The fish in water represents the lowest level in this spatial structure, and the bird in the sky the highest. All the other animals occupy their own level in this structure.

The nine animals bite and embrace each other. Each level is bigger than the previous one and surrounds it. The bird, hidden in the innermost level, has a fish in its mouth. What surrounds this bird is a human-faced-bird, whose mouth has a giant salamander in it. Surrounding the human-faced-bird is a human-headed-bird, which has a frog in its mouth. Immediately outside this level is a winged-human biting a tiger. The fifth layer is human ???human biting human. Starting from the sixth level, the order and relationship is reversed. What surrounds the human is a tiger which is no longer in the mouth of a human but on the contrary, has a winged-human in its mouth. Similarly, this time a frog bites a human-headed-bird, and a giant salamander has a human-faced-bird in its mouth. The outermost level is a giant fish biting a giant bird.

The work is full of such biting-and-enfolding relationships. The two involved parties in a certain biting relationship are fixed, but their power relation changes according to their placement and situation. Today’s conqueror may well be the conquered at a different time in a different environment. Nobody is the absolute superior or ruler.

In my opinion, this aspect of the work is the clearest statement of Chinese philosophy. In the ancient indigenous tradition, a simple dichotomy is the most important methodology to understand the world ???the essence of everything is the double existence of two opposite elements, which are constantly transformed into each other. This philosophy is best articulated by the theories explaining yin and yang. Nothing is absolute and nothing should be understood as absolute, a relationship clearly presented by the image of the taiji diagram. Combining the theory of five elements with the yin/yang theory further enhances such an interactive relationship. The five elements restrain each other, but also limit and are transformed into each other.

Enriched with the logic whereby the strong and the weak are constantly transformed into each other, the order of the nine-leveled universe also becomes complete and more humane in feeling.

To extend this reading one step further, we will find the power that supports this order ???rebellion. Without a rebellious spirit and desire, the weak would not become the strong. What constantly revitalizes the system is the strength to face challenges and to rebel against power.

Emperor Huangdi is believed to be the founder of the Han people. The most memorable story of Emperor Huangdi is perhaps his war against the rebellions of the Emperor Yandi and Chiyou, in which he triumphed and was elected as the leader of all tribes. As for Emperor Yandi and Chiyou, one became Emperor Huangdi’s subject and the other was put to death. The result of Emperor Huangdi’s victory over the rebellions was the expansion of his power across the entire central plain, and consequently the Youxiongshi culture [of Emperor Huangdi’s tribe] replaced those of the Lieshashi and Jiuni groups in the south to dominate the central plain.

Among those who rebelled against Emperor Huangdi, Chiyou was the fiercest. Several ancient texts narrate the battle between Chiyou and Emperor Huangdi. In summary, there are three accounts. First, after Emperor Huangdi defeated Emperor Yandi, he also defeated Chiyou and consolidated his ruling power. In this account, the war between Emperor Huangdi and Chiyou is the aftermath of the Emperor Huangdi-Emperor Yandi battle.

Second, Chiyou declared a war against Emperor Yandi, who asked for help from Emperor Huangdi. Emperors Huangdi and Yandi then killed Chiyou together at Zhongyi.

In the third account, Chiyou led his army to attack Emperor Huangdi but failed, and was subsequently killed.

It is hard to verify which among the three accounts is the most accurate. However, there is no doubt that Chiyou’s desire to rebel against Emperor Huandi was all-consuming. In contrast to Chiyou, the rebellion of another historical figure Xingtian is only sparsely and even romantically recorded in historical texts. The literal meaning of Xingtian is to cut off one’s head. Xingtian was not an important historical figure until the Jin dynasty poet Dao Yuanming (365-427) wrote a poem praising his courage.

To judge from the results, the rebellions of Chiyou and Xingtian were in vain, leading to results that were the exact opposite of their intentions. Perhaps because of this irony, they become the earliest tragic heroes in Chinese history. Just as in the famous Chinese fable in which a chicken is killed to threaten disobedient monkeys, the death of Chiyou became one of Emperor Huangdi’s strategies to strengthen his power. Xingtian’s situation must have been the same.

In his creation, Wu Jian’an created the images of Chiyou and Xingtian by manually cutting ox hide used in the traditional shadow puppet theater, highlighting their heroic yet tragic rebellious spirit

It is necessary to point out the significance of Wu Jian’an’s choice of material ???ox hide. In pre-historical times, the ox was the friend but also the enemy of people. Images of untamed oxen running amidst hunters can be found across the world from China’s Mt. Helan rock painting, to Indian rock painting, and Spain’s Altamira Cave paintings. The ox rebels against people, but also provides them with necessities to survive. Today, although the number of wild oxen on the North America Continent is small, they are still untamed.

It is not hard to recognize that the ox in primitive society faced a situation similar to that of Chiyou and Xingtian. Their heroic pride had undeniable tragic results, and human beings take on the role of Emperor Huangdi. If we see hunting for ox as a battle, the presentation of the human’s victory is not limited to eating their flesh or sucking the marrow from their bones. After consuming their flesh and organs, the use of their hide also becomes a way to symbolize their victory over the ox. After an ox dies, it cannot stop human beings from cleaning and using its hide. Once this has been done, the only visible traces of its original form are perhaps the pores that cannot be scraped away. It is just like Xingtian, who firmly held his weapon in his hand after death but could not fight anymore.

After a series of treatments including plugging hair, polishing, degreasing, drying and so on, ox hide becomes stiff and transparent. Visually, it is smooth and clean, soft and pure in feeling. However, its origin is in the system whereby the strong devour the weak although the bloody process is glossed over by the ultimate beauty achieved by the strong. The rebellious and untamed spirit of the ox is apparent in the natural traces of its veins, pores and blemishes. It is precisely because of the persistence of such subtle effects that we detect evidence in the carefully prepared ox hide of its innate stubbornness and rebellious spirit.

In order to make the works Chiyou and Xingtian, Wu Jian’an invited renowned shadow-puppet makers for help. Their exquisite carving skills transformed his complex designs onto ox hide. The refined skills highlight two seemingly opposite meanings ???the process of carving is the ultimate presentation of taming and conquering the ox, but at the same time it magnifies the sympathy toward the unbending rebel.

Wu Jian’an occasionally uses rice paper or sheet metal to make other works. But for the images of Chiyou and Xingtian, he insists on using ox hide. I think, this is perhaps the reason.

Through carved lines thin as hairs and interweaving curves, the persevering tenacity of ancient life emerges from the delicate works. We can even say that the rebelliousness and tenacity of Chiyou and Xingtian are resurrected through the ox hide.

I believe that deep in the mind of every living species there are memories that can be traced back to billions of years ago and that these memories can be activated under certain conditions. The emergence of Heaven of Nine Levels in the post-industrial world reflects the rule of survival dominating the world since pre-historical times. We can perhaps even say that Wu Jian’an’s works are the resurrection of a shared group memory in today’s world. Our psychological state when we are threatened but lack any kind of tool or weapon is reproduced in his works. Such a state ???fearful but at the same time filled with a strong desire to obtain power ???is the basic state of mind of a human being when confronted with the challenges of survival. To return to the truth of human experience ???it can be only achieved by true art.

Yan An, Ph.D.

Central Academy of Fine Arts

Wangjing, Beijing

May 23, 2008