草原之子赵九杰出生于内蒙古，毕业后即在当地高校任教，和当地牧民情同鱼水，除去一年二十天沙尘暴的侵袭，那儿的天空蔚蓝澄爽。牛羊像褐云、白云滚动，民风淳朴，能歌善舞，乡土民谣不绝于耳，剽悍、奔放、朗润，朝霞暮霭，更令他着迷，画笔喷涌着热浪。他画人之骄子的亲切感受，早年作品虽有稚弱的笔触，掩不住青春烈焰的燃烧。
　　几年前他调到厦门大学建筑系教美术，亚热带阳光格外灿烂，隆冬看不到冰块，山也不肯脱掉绿袍，四季树叶滴翠，让弘一大师、鲁迅、林语堂、陈嘉庚欣喜的大海昼夜扬波，武夷山雄秀深沉，与九杰故乡风物迥异，将他心灵底层不肯告别的暮春内美唤醒，即使双手握笔同时挥洒，也画不尽千变万化的新题材。
　　他在大学就读时，俄罗斯画派写实风格的训练为他打下了坚实的造型基础。但他又是个敢于师心独创的浪漫主义者、色彩诗人，重视原色的响亮和印象派用光的明丽繁丰，一次蘸上三四种颜料，果断地落到画布上，腕部稍稍旋动，色的交织互补互映，追索温润春雨、干裂秋风的斑驳，甚至达到拓片似的金石味。他懂得：节制是美，过犹不及。避免设计与人为制作气，适可而止，防止受惯性主宰，习气成灾，把握美的纯度与深度。一只眼是经验较多的艺术家，另一只眼保持天真童趣，躲开结茧的危险。他给自己的座右铭是：“常画常新”，不重复中外古今名家，更不蹈袭自身昨天的旧作。做到后者更需毅力与才华，才华只有走进平常父老姐妹平常心，咀嚼透世间大悲欢，承受泥香书香的滋养，方能萌芽壮大而趋朴茂浑厚。我不敢说九杰业已完成此类建树，但他认清了走向，会拼搏到最后一息，以死在画架前为最大乐事。真正的大师要战胜的顽强对手还是旧我！古哲说的自胜者勇，包含着多少历史的泪和笑！
　　前年，他访问俄罗斯，在几家大博物馆，见到了梦绕魂牵的一大批名画原作，感慨系之！一是绘画离不开民族整体文明而一花独放。自己不懂俄文，只靠翻译很难彻底理会普希金、莱蒙托夫、托尔斯泰、陀思妥耶夫斯基、屠格涅夫、蒲宁、高尔基、茨维塔耶娃，所以阻碍了对画的钻研，领悟限于表层；二是比起欧洲遗产，俄国绘画并非大海，至多是伏尔加河。个人荣誉乃大漠沙粒，永远不该骄矜，停滞即艺术的病危通知。跳出尘嚣，刻苦自励，期于晚成。大器小器，让时间与大众评说。
　　悟透自己所作俄国人物速写，未表现北极熊的力量，新型“多余的人”的忧郁与对酒的生死恋，含泪微笑的少女已消失在西方流行色的香风彩雨里，只可聊备一格。必须把有限精力投入自己无限挚爱的国内题材。为陶冶气质，两个冬季的漫漫长夜攻读石涛的《画语录》，找出大师比黑格尔、狄德罗、车尔尼雪夫斯基高明之处，练习以禅眼观人阅景，强化由含蓄中提炼明朗、模糊中找出清晰，将沉着痛快对立统一的思维能力。辛勤自耕让拜金时髦画家嘲弄为书呆子。他方寸澄明，不受波动，显示凡人的定力。
　　受友人们敦促，他从大批近作里挑出略具代表性的画送上海展出，并编辑成册，呈献专家及热爱他作品的人们。下面的话录自2006年9月4日晚，侄女对我（柯文辉）提问的回答：
　　问：九杰叔最突出的艺术品格是什么？
　　柯：不幻想成功，不怕失败，自强不息。
　　问：他的作品的风格特征是什么？
　　柯：对阳光、故土、花树，凡人灵魂内美的礼赞，是诗性思维的形象化体现。画风行云流水，如同天籁。安详的炽烈，雅静的繁艳，如音乐的对位，构成马头琴与中提琴的二重奏。
　　问：他的画里有浮躁吗？
　　柯：浮躁的病根是急于攫取名利，害怕艰苦，看不清越怕耕耘便离收获更远。虽然欲望需要自己的奴隶，但地球上的名利资源无法使六十多亿人满足。以汽车为例，中国达到两人一辆，要用尽四个地球产的石油，并拿出一小半耕地修公路。脱离资源侈谈高消费，只会提高犯罪率，并使精神文明萎缩，道德退化。九杰的作品较为宁静，若有百分之几的浮躁，证明人不能摆脱大气层的干扰，让观众共鸣基础更广，完全没有反而奇怪。
　　问：请谈谈《青春与梦想》、《美好时光》、《中国风》！
　　柯：《青春与梦想》下笔大胆、肯定、具象，但兼有抽象之美。包括以抽象手段去实现具象内涵，或反其道而行。在这方面给他启示最多的是八大山人，以大片留白——浩然大气支撑起画面，造型简到极致，空灵具体，无人企及。九杰心仪已久，借得无形的意象，画境和谐。把梦的种子撒入我们的心中，帮助观众认识春天——大地的诱惑！幻有时比真美，梦时而超越空间阻隔，跳跃性大。《美好时光》描述浓绿丛中的宴会，杯壶花树，达意便休。主人殷勤谦逊，居众星拱月之地，朦胧又富动势，桌当中红色鲜嫩，笔锋有弹性，气氛热闹，又彬彬有礼。《中国风》把传统雕塑的静中有动，戏曲舞蹈的动中生静，前主后实，浑然一体。由繁到简笔，有回忆汉魂唐风的潜流，面部表情故意淡化，打破常规。这题材还有开拓余地，有待于继续追踪。
　　他作花卉抓住生机蓬勃，不斤斤于一花一瓣的形似，概括、流妍，形成阵势，颂扬宇宙秩序的玄妙，增添欣赏者对生活的酷爱。《海港》里的大船若勇士，小船似少年，穿插有情趣。《中国园林》讲曲折韵味，凄然古树，屋宇棋布又破均衡。江南暖味，油然而生。
　　善读画者如吟古诗，物象为引发联想，用自身的见识与相关史料，从年轮去感知大树。
　　九杰是正在前行的艺术家，恳切地吁请专家观众给予批评，那是真切的理解和扶持。
　　希望只和开拓者携手而行。九杰！勉励啊！

柯文辉
2006年9月4日夜2时

　　Zhao Jiujie, the son of grassland, was born at Inner Mongolia and also taught there in a university after graduation. He had a very close relationship with the local herdsmen. Except for 20 days of sand storm each year, the sky there is always clear and blue. Flocks and herds are like brown clouds, rosy sunglow and glorious sunset are enchanting, local traditions and customs are simple and honest, and folk songs and dances are everyday banquets. All those attractions brought him enthusiasm to create. His early works might be immature but the flaming of youth is striking.
　　He transferred to the Department of Architecture of Xiamen University several years ago. There the semitropical sun is always shining with no scene of ice or barren land in winter; trees are evergreen in all seasons, and the ocean is always onrushing and the Wuyi Mountain is always magnificent. This is the land once attracted the famous Buddhist master Hongyi, the literary master Lu Xun, the luminary Lin Yutang, and the prominent oversea Chinese leader and the  founder of Xiamen university Mr. Tan Kah Kee. This is also the land that now presents complete different landscapes to Jiujie's, awakens his deepest thirst for tenderness and becomes the fountainhead for his new creation.
　　While in college, the training of Russian realistic painting laid a solid foundation for his structure. At the same time, Jiujie is also an original romanticist and poet of color, emphasizing the brightness of primary colors and floridness of the Impressionist light. He is so skillful in managing colors that his movement of wrist can produce the amazing effect of interweaving colors for coexistent moisture and dryness. He understands that restraint is much better than excess. He consciously avoids artificialness and calculation, and not to be ruined by inveterate thinking and stereotypes. He is a sophisticated artist with childlike innocence which enables him free from the bondage of conventions. His motto is: "Constant painting with forever freshness", that is to say not to imitate the ancestors and not to repeat oneself. The latter needs more originality and talents. Talents can only be nourished through abundant experience of life vicissitudes, profound reading and knowledge, and an unperturbed heart. I can not assert that Jiujie has accomplished all these, but he has already found his way and will strive for it till the last moment of his life which will surely end in front of the easel. The real rival for a master is himself. It is hard to imagine how much tear and laughter are tasted when the sage said that the bravest is the one who overcomes himself,
　　The year before last, when Jiujie visited Russia and saw the masterpieces in museums he has been longing for, he couldn't help thinking that painting can not be separated from its own cultural roots. For example, he can not fully understand Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Dosdoevsky, Tugnev, Bunin, Gorky and Tsvetaeva through Chinese translation. Not knowing Russian also baffles his research on Russian paintings. He also realized that compared to the ocean of European heritages, Russian painting is only a Volga River. Personal achievement is the sand in the desert which does not worth overbearing. It's wise to be away from the madding crowd and be devoted to the quiet self-cultivation. Success or not, why not leave it to the judgment of time?
　　He understands that all his momentary impressions of the Russian girls, the vodka and his Russian sketches were already yesterday, he needs to assimilate these experiences to his loving Chinese themes. For more cultural nourishment, he even spent two winters to read the famous art criticism in Qing dynasty, Shi Tao's Notes on Painting and seek for more enlightenment than from reading Hegel, Diderot and Chernychevsky. He also practices Zen for the dialectical ability to be restraint and ardent, clear and ambiguous, serene and sharp. His self-cultivation and diligence might be sneered as bookish by those money worshipping painters, but his perseverance is too strong to be affected.
　　Upon the encouragement of friends, Jiujie selected some of his representative works for an exhibition in Shanghai, he also compiled this picture book for all those who love his works.
　　The following dialogue is chosen from my nephew's interview about Jiujie's Art with me on September 4th, 2006.
　　Q: What's the prominent feature of Jiujie's artistic temperament?
　　A: Never fantasize success, no fear to failure and always strive for perfection.
　　Q: What are the characteristics of his works?
　　A: Eulogizes for sunlight, plants, homeland and beautiful souls of ordinary people. These are the visualization of his poetic mind. His paintings are natural and smooth, with flame in sedateness, floridity in solemnity. Just like the duet of the Mongolian Horse-head urheen and viola.
　　Q: Is there any fickleness in his paintings?
　　A: The reason of fickleness is the anxiety for fame and money, and afraid of hard work. Although desire needs its slaves, but fame and gain on Earth can not satisfy more than six billion people. Take automobile as an example, if each one has two cars in China, that will cost the gas production of four Earths and need half of the lands for highways. Talking about luxuries without concerning the resources will only lead to high crime rate and low moral standards. Most of Jiujie's works are peaceful, if there is a little fickleness, it is only natural to show that "to err is human".
　　Q: Say something about Youth and Dream, Beautiful Times and Chinese Trend.
　　A: Youth and Dream is bold, positive and concrete, but also has the beauty of abstraction. It actuates concrete implications with abstract methods, or vise versa. The famous painter in Qing Dynasty, Badashanren inspireed him a lot in this aspect, to leave large blank on the canvas and support the whole picture with simple images. Jiujie has been attracted by this method for a long time. He spreads the seeds of dreams to our heart, and lets us feel the charm of the Spring ----- the temptation of the Earth. Sometimes illusion is more beautiful than truth while dream transcends reality. Beautiful Times describes the banquet among flowers and trees, with cups and teapots. The host is hospitable and moderate, active but misty, occupying the central position of the picture. The color red on the center of the table makes the whole picture dynamic and flexible. Chinese Trend combines the tranquility and activeness of Chinese traditional sculpture and theatre dance. It shows the heritage of the Han and Tang Dynasty while breaks the rules with abstracted faces. This theme can be explored further.
　　Jiujie's painting of flowers grasps the essence of vigor while obscures the concrete shape of leaves and petals, produces a spirit of fluency and grandeur, praises the order of the universe, and enhances the audience's love of life. Big ships in The Harbor are like warriors and small boats are like young men. Chinese Gardens is complicated and meaningful, with old trees and orderly houses, expresses the natural flavor of Southern China.
　　Appreciating good painting is like reading good poem. Portraying images is to inspire imagination, it's just like judging the age of a tree from reading its annual ring.
　　Jiujie is an artist on the road. He needs critics' comments and criticism which are the real understanding and support for his art.

　　Jiujie, hope you walk only with explorers. Keep on going!
2:00 a.m. September 4th, 2006