Qi Baishi - Personal Experiences

Personal Experiences

Wang Chao-Wen said that while Baishi was talking to a student in Peking he saw an outline of a bird on a brick floor in muddy water. He goes on to say that not everyone would have seen the bird, and that it was because Baishi was always concerned with finding new images to paint that he had a “special sensitivity” (p. 129). It was said that Baishi had something special about him because he was constantly thinking about painting and had such a strong drive and motivation to be a great artist. (Chao-Wen p. 90698)

Some excerpts from Qi Baishi’s journal were found that represent his strong drive and passion for his work, not to mention his high confidence in his speciality. From the article “An Appreciation of Chi Pai-Shi’s Paintings,” (Baishi was previously known as Chi Pai-Shi) his journal entry reads as follows:

“When I cut seals I do not abide by the old rules, and so I am accused of unorthodoxy. But I pity this generation’s stupidity, for they do not seem to realize that the Chin and Han artists were human and so are we, and we may have our unique qualities too… Such classical artists as Ching-teng, Hsueh-ko and Ta-ti-tzu dared to make bold strokes in their paintings, for which I admire them tremendously. My one regret is that I was not born three hundred years ago, for then I could have asked to grind ink or hold the paper for those gentleman, and if they would not have me I should have starved outside their doors rather than move away. How wonderful that would have been! I suppose future generations will admire our present artists just as much as we admire these men of old. What a pity that I will not be there to see it!” (Wang Chao-Wen p. 130-131)

From this excerpt it is evident that Qi Baishi was serious about his work. Because of Baishi’s talk about wanting to be human it was clear that he was educated about the times and the political issues that were going on while he was making his art work, which is powerful because he never took any political stance in any of his art works. This except also shows how passionate he was about other artists and how much he would want to be mentored by them.

What is unique about Baishi is that his works show no western influences, unlike most other artists at this time. Other artists praised Baishi for his “freshness and spontaneity that he brought to the familiar genres of birds and flowers, insects and grasses, hermit-scholars and landscapes” (Xiangtan, p. 2). Even though Baishi wasn’t the first artist to focus on small things in nature, he was recognized for his very careful and beautiful way of painting such common images.