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Review Of Sea Of Ink
Example of English Literature writing
Date : 27/12/2015
Author Information
Uploaded by : Nicole
Uploaded on : 27/12/2015
Subject : English
Review
of Sea of Ink
Inspired by a reproduction painting that was given to him as a gift, German author Richard Weihe set out to capture in writing the essence of the 17th Century Chinese artist, Bada Shanren.
Sea of Ink is as enigmatic as the series of novels that precede it, that have been published by the excellent Peirene Press. Peirene`s mission is to translate European novels into English, choosing titles no longer than an intense two hour reading spell. And spellbinding they are – just for the sheer uniqueness of their narrative and spare, stylised publishing format.
Weihe had a hefty challenge on his hands in choosing to write about a little known artist from 17th Century China and locating him against the backdrop of the old Ming Dynasty and the establishing new Qing Dynasty. The latter was far more suspicious of the power of the arts and letters Shanren`s own life is testimony to the alchemy that can take place between artist or scribe, and the paper that willingly soaks up his thoughts.
The plot of Sea of Ink, if you could call it such, is very simple – Bada has been on the run since he was a young boy, having been a member of the fallen Ming Dynasty. From there, he gets married twice but proves to be fickle in his ability to share his life with family. This is where his own narrative really picks up, when he leaves the home he shared with his second wife, a nascent soul with no acknowledgement of his existing family ties.
The rest of the book, laid out in 51 chapters, sets out a ritual of arrival, encounter, a settling in, and going through the process in detail of trying to capture the very soul of nature itself. His new sense of place, or who accompanies him, or indeed who he must run from, provides a slightly altered perspective each time on what marks to make on each successive drawing.The ritual also has a sensual effect on the reader – every painting that Shanren creates is preceded by the crushing of the ink, the mixing of the ink with water on the mixing stone, and the moment just prior to the first mark being made. Weihe here remains true to the very heart of what drew him to write about Shanren in the first place – the dance created by the artist and his materials.
This novel creates a pleasant sureness to the life of the ascetic – if we do not mourn what we leave behind each time, self-identification through attachment to people and places do not matter. Shanren recreates his identity by changing his name often, but his personality and spiritual self grow each time only through his choice of paintbrushes and special ink – signs of respect from the masters he meets along the way that symbolise his growing maturity and connectivity with the oneness of nature and all sentient life. In fact, his final name `Bada Shanren` means `man on the mountain of eight compass points`, implying that he is on the single point where all directions meet and become one.
Sea of Ink could have benefited from a shorter whistle-stop through Chinese history – if Weihe included it to provide a historical backdrop and the story of Shanren`s origins, it fails in being too focused too thinly on the wider historical picture. I felt I was reading a Chinese version of Cowboys and Indians on fast-forward, and didn`t get a familiar enough grasp of Shanren to justify it.
Once it gets going however, there was nothing I would have allowed to interrupt that two hour sitting. Through literature, this book focuses the ancient visual art of ink painting, drawing the reader into the unconscious world of hand/eye coordination, and the alchemy of thought. And the questions it raises about the life of Bada Shanren remain open so that we can ponder on them ourselves: Baba Shanren changes his name several times, reinstating himself into new identity each time. But at what price? Does he invade himself? Divide himself? For Shanren – and this is the singular philosophy of the novel – these divisions do not exist. By capturing the essence of nature in his art he plays with the philosophy of nonduality, knowing that no matter how many identities he incarnates while he is living, each one has already preceded him, and each one will follow. History remembers names – facts are simply names, and perhaps this is why I had so much difficulty with the lengthy prologue of Chinese dynasties rising and falling. Social history records the substance of human life, as did Shanren.
Nicole O`Driscoll Jan 2013
Inspired by a reproduction painting that was given to him as a gift, German author Richard Weihe set out to capture in writing the essence of the 17th Century Chinese artist, Bada Shanren.
Sea of Ink is as enigmatic as the series of novels that precede it, that have been published by the excellent Peirene Press. Peirene`s mission is to translate European novels into English, choosing titles no longer than an intense two hour reading spell. And spellbinding they are – just for the sheer uniqueness of their narrative and spare, stylised publishing format.
Weihe had a hefty challenge on his hands in choosing to write about a little known artist from 17th Century China and locating him against the backdrop of the old Ming Dynasty and the establishing new Qing Dynasty. The latter was far more suspicious of the power of the arts and letters Shanren`s own life is testimony to the alchemy that can take place between artist or scribe, and the paper that willingly soaks up his thoughts.
The plot of Sea of Ink, if you could call it such, is very simple – Bada has been on the run since he was a young boy, having been a member of the fallen Ming Dynasty. From there, he gets married twice but proves to be fickle in his ability to share his life with family. This is where his own narrative really picks up, when he leaves the home he shared with his second wife, a nascent soul with no acknowledgement of his existing family ties.
The rest of the book, laid out in 51 chapters, sets out a ritual of arrival, encounter, a settling in, and going through the process in detail of trying to capture the very soul of nature itself. His new sense of place, or who accompanies him, or indeed who he must run from, provides a slightly altered perspective each time on what marks to make on each successive drawing.The ritual also has a sensual effect on the reader – every painting that Shanren creates is preceded by the crushing of the ink, the mixing of the ink with water on the mixing stone, and the moment just prior to the first mark being made. Weihe here remains true to the very heart of what drew him to write about Shanren in the first place – the dance created by the artist and his materials.
This novel creates a pleasant sureness to the life of the ascetic – if we do not mourn what we leave behind each time, self-identification through attachment to people and places do not matter. Shanren recreates his identity by changing his name often, but his personality and spiritual self grow each time only through his choice of paintbrushes and special ink – signs of respect from the masters he meets along the way that symbolise his growing maturity and connectivity with the oneness of nature and all sentient life. In fact, his final name `Bada Shanren` means `man on the mountain of eight compass points`, implying that he is on the single point where all directions meet and become one.
Sea of Ink could have benefited from a shorter whistle-stop through Chinese history – if Weihe included it to provide a historical backdrop and the story of Shanren`s origins, it fails in being too focused too thinly on the wider historical picture. I felt I was reading a Chinese version of Cowboys and Indians on fast-forward, and didn`t get a familiar enough grasp of Shanren to justify it.
Once it gets going however, there was nothing I would have allowed to interrupt that two hour sitting. Through literature, this book focuses the ancient visual art of ink painting, drawing the reader into the unconscious world of hand/eye coordination, and the alchemy of thought. And the questions it raises about the life of Bada Shanren remain open so that we can ponder on them ourselves: Baba Shanren changes his name several times, reinstating himself into new identity each time. But at what price? Does he invade himself? Divide himself? For Shanren – and this is the singular philosophy of the novel – these divisions do not exist. By capturing the essence of nature in his art he plays with the philosophy of nonduality, knowing that no matter how many identities he incarnates while he is living, each one has already preceded him, and each one will follow. History remembers names – facts are simply names, and perhaps this is why I had so much difficulty with the lengthy prologue of Chinese dynasties rising and falling. Social history records the substance of human life, as did Shanren.
Nicole O`Driscoll Jan 2013
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