我相信人是有命的，一切都是注定的，我和田老师的缘分真是难以解释，是非常奇妙的。他因为出身不好被分配到贵州省清镇第一中学。我第一次接触他大概是在初三的时候。他给我们班上美术课，我还记得他拿着三角板在黑板上写那个美术字，教我们一笔一画的写美术字。写什么呢，写***万岁。我当时并不知道田老师会画画，只知道他教我们美术字，后来有一天我路过他家门口，他家开着门，我看见墙上有一些小的风景画，画的春天的桃花。我当时心里面就怦怦直跳，因为我喜欢画画，但是我没见过油画。后来我每次路过我都要转头去看，看他家的门开着没有，如果开着我就再看看那些画。他家那个窄窄的门，大概就是我命中注定的绘画之门。从那以后我就把它记在心里了，好像跟他就有了一种关系，虽然那时他并不认识我。直到有一天，我们班去农场劳动，田老师也在这个农场，我看见他在那儿画写生。我就特别想引起他的注意。可是我很害羞也不知道怎么办。我想了个办法：在废纸箱上撕下一面纸壳，用白纸糊上，用田老师教我写的那个美术字的方法，在它上面写了“画板”两个字。我就想让他看见我也是画画儿的。我把那个“画板”拿到他的面前晃来晃去。田老师只是特专注地看风景，看一看画几笔，他始终没看我的“画板”，我当时心里应该是特别沮丧的。

　　事情就这样过去了，后来，我读书读到高二，有一天我的姑父告诉我：国家恢复高考了，以前凡是高中毕业生，居民户口的就要下乡去当知青，农民的孩子呢，就回家去种地。而这个时候呢，说是恢复高考了。贵州艺校，那是一个中专，也是贵州唯一的一所专业艺术学校。

　　姑父说他认识文化馆的李梦虞老师的丈夫田世信，他是中央美院毕业的，让我去跟他学画。我一听很激动，因为我知道田老师。他虽然不认识我。我就特别想跟他学画，后来我的姑父就带着我去田老师家，他好像拎了一筐鸡蛋。我记得田老师教我起形，搭几根直线，然后就上明暗，他让我眯着眼睛看，我就眯着眼睛看，画出来的画是模模糊糊的。田老师认为画的挺好，我得到了非常大的鼓励。她的妈妈特别喜欢我，看我时的眼光特别的慈祥，说我是个小机灵鬼。

　　田老师和他的爱人李梦虞老师对人特别好，尤其是对家庭困难的农村孩子特别关心，那时候一分钱的学费都不要，有时候还招待我们吃东西。后来我们考学，田老师又亲自带我们去考试点。带我们住旅店，陪我们考试。因为我们这些乡下孩子没出过远门啊。

　　考试的时候我记得田老师还教我怎么面试：“什么是油画？你就告诉他，油画是用油画颜料画到亚麻布上的”，如果问：“什么是国画？你就告诉他国画是用毛笔画在宣纸上的”。我也不记得考官有没有问我这两个问题，但问了我喜欢什么画，然后我说我喜欢“***走遍大地”，“走遍祖国大地”。是李琦画的，***戴着草帽穿着白衬衣，一脸慈祥的笑容。还有一张画是“蒋家王朝的覆灭”，陈逸飞画的。我很顺利，因为这两段话都是田老师提前跟我讲过的。后来到了贵州艺校，要分专业，我不知道我要报哪个专业，我也不懂他们有什么区别，我就请教田老师，田老师说：你就报版画专业，因为那个专业的老师里有蒲国昌老师，他的造型功夫好，让我跟他学素描，我就听了老师的话就报了版画专业。

　　对我的人生来说，这两位老师改变了我一生的命运。在艺校的四年当中，我经常到田老师家蹭饭，我们学生都特别喜欢他。他喜欢开玩笑，喜欢乱讲。老师和学生都喜欢听他一边喝酒一边骂人，他在聚会的时候，总要挑一个人出来嘲笑讽刺，被他调侃的人也不生气，田老师就是这么一个有魅力的人。后来我到了中央美院上学，田老师也调到中央美院工作，我在版画系他在雕塑艺术研究所。我毕业以后留校，田老师在立水桥盖了一个工作室。完全老北京的那种风格。在那个时候有那么大的房子：那几乎就是一个最理想的生活样板了。我记得田老师的旁边还有一个院子，是一个铸造厂。田老师是因为铸造厂的引荐把工作室建这里的。田老师在这里创作了一批用陶土烧制和用黄铜铸的非常棒的作品。

　　后来我在昌平的上苑，发现一个村，那里有山有水，有一个水库，有京密饮水渠经过那个村子。我打小就在河边长大，我特别希望能够在一个有山有水的地方居住，于是，我找到了上苑。找到以后我就特别兴奋地告诉田老师，并劝说他搬家，因为立水桥那个地方污染特别严重，是北京最有名的垃圾场之一。有时候打开水龙头会流出彩色的污水，经过垃圾堆有时候它会自己燃烧。田老师去看了之后就搬到了上苑。后来艺术家们越聚越多，就成了一个有名的艺术家村。

　　有一段时间村子里边经常都有失窃的，还有对面的一个工厂被人抢劫，说是来了几辆卡车把仓库都搬空了。为了安全，我就劝田老师收点学生，他同意了，我就把我当时飞地的学生推荐给他，他不收学费，这造成了那些曾经崇拜我的学生对我的意见（我收费）。田老师对我一直都是特别的欣赏，也特别关心，特别爱护。中间也有一些误会，他看重才华，认为我为赚钱放弃了艺术追求。其实我好冤，只是不得已而已。我们各自都经历了很多事情，其实，我在上苑的那些年是非常痛苦的。一方面我办学是在跟学院对抗，一方面我画画，是和市场格格不入的，和当时的批评格格不入。这是我的主动选择。我做了《欲望中国》的雕塑，人的身上长满了***，这些都可能是田老师这样岁数的人，他们所学的，他们的教养，他们的观念无法接受的。他受不了我这种粗鲁下流的愤怒。还有一个原因是，田老师开始做一些帝王像，这些和中国文字结合的作品，我其实是有态度和怀疑的，我跟田老师也直言不讳地讲过。我更喜欢他的那些以贵州普通百姓为题材的作品，和《母与子》《自雕像》《谭嗣同》《老子》等志士先贤为题材的作品。他对鲁迅和许多文化名人的解读，我觉得特别深刻，而且极具力量和个性。而我自己有一段时间也去迎合批评，我认为那些都是艺术家们所走的弯路。

　　田世信老师是我的恩师，他和我的另外一位恩师蒲国昌对我的影响是一生的，我的性格、审美和野心，都和他们的影响有关。他们真的是我的榜样。在做人还是在做艺术上面，我觉得那种执着，那种单纯，那种激情，他们对艺术的那种超强的或者超级的信仰都感染着我并决定了我艺术生命的基调。人是有命的，我们从哪里来到哪里去，会经历什么和成为什么，都是注定了的。我很庆幸遇见田老师并接受到他的艺术启蒙，也很感恩他和师母李梦虞老师对我这样的穷孩子所做的善事，他们俩和贵州的缘分造就了我，也影响了我的价值观。谢谢你们，祝愿你们身体健康，祝愿田老师创作出更多更好的作品。生命不息，战斗不止。共勉。

学生：王华祥

2018年6月11日写于万圣谷

（王华祥现任中央美院造型学院副院长、版画系主任）

A Wonderful Stroke of Fate

　　I believe in fate; everything is preordained. That fate brought Professor Tian and I together is truly hard to explain, but so wonderful. Because of his family background, he was sent to Qingzhen Middle School No. 1 in Guizhou. My first encounter with him happened when I was in my third year of junior high school. He taught art to my class, and I remember he used a drafting triangle to write in art lettering on the blackboard, teaching us stroke by stroke. What did he write? Long live Chairman Mao. I didn't know that Professor Tian could paint; I only knew that he taught us art lettering. Later on, I passed his house and his door was open; I saw a few little landscape paintings of peach blossoms in springtime hanging on the wall. My heart started pounding in my chest because I liked painting but  had never seen an oil painting before. Every time I passed after that, I would turn to look and see if his door was open. If it was, I would look at those paintings again. The narrow door of his home was the door to painting that sealed my fate. From that time on, I remembered it as if I had a relationship with him, even though he didn't know me yet. One day, our class went to the farm to work. Professor Tian also went to the farm, and I saw him sketching. I wanted to attract his attention, but I was really shy and didn't know what to do. I thought of a plan: I took a panel from an abandoned cardboard box, affixed a white piece of paper and wrote "drawing board" on it using the art lettering that Professor Tian had taught us. I wanted to show him that I could draw, so I took this "drawing board" and waved it in front of him. Professor Tian was very focused on the landscape, looking and then drawing a few strokes. He never saw my "drawing board," and I was very sad about that.

　　Things continued in this way until later, when I was in my second year of high school. My uncle told me that China had reinstated the college entrance exams. Previously, high school graduates living in the city had been sent down to the countryside and farmers' kids went home to cultivate the land, but by that time, they had already reinstated the college entrance exams. The Guizhou Provincial Art School was a technical school, but it was also Guizhou's only specialized art school.

　　My uncle said that he knew Tian Shixin, the husband of Li Mengyu, who worked at the cultural center. He had graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and my uncle thought that I should study painting with him. I was very excited when I heard this, because I knew Professor Tian, even though he didn't know me. I really wanted to study painting with him. My uncle took me to Professor Tian's house, and I think he took a basket of eggs. I remember Professor Tian teaching me how to make shapes, joining a few straight lines and then adding shading. He had me squint, so I squinted and drew something unintelligible. Professor Tian thought that it was pretty good, and I felt greatly encouraged. His mother particularly liked me; her eyes softened when she saw me, and she always called me a "clever boy."

　　Professor Tian and his wife Li Mengyu were wonderful, and they took special care of the kids from poor rural families. He didn't accept a cent of tuition and would sometimes have us for dinner. Later, when we were taking exams, Professor Tian personally took us to the exam site. We all stayed in a hotel, and he accompanied us to the exam because us rural kids had never been this far from home before.

　　When I was taking my exams, I remember Professor Tian teaching me how to do the interview: "What is oil painting?" You tell him that oil paintings are painted in oil paint on canvas. If he asks, "What is Chinese painting?" You tell him that Chinese painting is painted with brush on rice paper. I don't remember if the examiners asked me these two questions, but they did ask me what kinds of paintings I liked, and I said that I liked Chairman Mao Travels All Over the Country, which was painted by Li Qi. In the work, Chairman Mao has a white shirt, a straw hat, and a kind smile on his face. The other painting was The Destruction of Chiang Kai-Shek's Court by Chen Yifei. This came really easily to me, because I had already discussed these two answers with Professor Tian. Later, I had to choose a major at Guizhou Provincial Art School. I didn't know what department to register for and I didn't understand the differences between them, so I asked Professor Tian's advice. He said that I should register for the Printmaking Department because Pu Guochang was one of the instructors. He had a good foundation in modeling, and Professor Tian wanted me to take drawing from him. I listened to him and registered for the Printmaking Department.

　　These two teachers changed my life. In my four years of art school, I often went to Professor Tian's house for a free meal, and all of us students really liked him. He liked to crack jokes and shoot the breeze. Teachers and students alike enjoyed hearing him swear as he drank. At any gathering, he would always choose one person to make fun of, and the person he chose wouldn't be mad. Professor Tian was just one of those people. Later, I enrolled in the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Professor Tian was transferred there as well. While I was in the Printmaking Department, he was at the Sculpture Institute. After graduation, I stayed at the academy, and Professor Tian built a studio at Lishuiqiao entirely in the old Beijing style. At that time, having such a big place seemed to be the ideal way to live. I remember that there was another courtyard next to Professor Tian, which was a foundry. Professor Tian had built his studio there because the foundry introduced him to the place. During this time, Professor Tian made some great works in clay and brass.

　　Later, I discovered a village with mountains and water when I was in Shangyuan, Changping District. It had a reservoir, and the Beijing-Miyun Drinking Water Canal ran through the village. I had grown up by a river, and I really wanted to live in a place with both mountains and water, so I found Shangyuan. After I found it, I was so excited that I told Professor Tian. I advised him to move, because the pollution at Lishuiqiao was really bad back then; it was Beijing's most famous garbage dump. Sometimes, when you turned on the faucet, you would get polluted water in a rainbow of colors, and when you passed the garbage dump, sometimes it would be on fire. Professor Tian went to see the village and decided to move to Shangyuan. Later, more artists moved to the area, and it became known as an artists' village.

　　For a while, there were a lot of thefts in the village, and the factory across from me was robbed blind. Apparently, several trucks pulled up and emptied out the warehouse. For security, I advised him to accept a few students and he agreed. I recommended students from my enclave to him. He didn't accept tuition, which meant that students who once liked me complained (because I required tuition). Professor Tian always appreciated me and showed special care and concern for me. During this time, we had some misunderstandings; he valued talent and thought that I had abandoned my artistic pursuits to make money. I was offended, but I did what I had to do. We've both gone through a lot, but my years in Shangyuan were very difficult. First, my administration work was resisted by the school, and second, my artwork wasn't well-received by the market or the critics at the time. This was my choice. I made Desire China, a sculpture in which the figure's body is covered in penises. Based on what they had learned, how they taught, and how they thought, people Professor Tian's age couldn't accept this kind of work. He couldn't stand this rough, obscene anger. Around this time, Professor Tian had begun to make works about emperors and kings. I had opinions and doubts about works that involved Chinese texts, which I discussed frankly with Professor Tian. I really liked his works depicting ordinary people from Guizhou, as well as Mother and Child, Self-Portrait, Tan Sitong, Lao Tzu, and his works on ancient sages. I thought that his interpretations of Lu Xun and other cultural personages were very profound, full of power and personality. For a time, I pandered to the critics, because I thought that it was simply something that artists had to do.

　　Tian Shixin is my mentor. He and my other mentor, Pu Guochang, have had a life-long influence on me. They have influenced my personality, my aesthetics, and my ambition. They are truly my role models; as men and as artists, I think that their perseverance, simplicity, and passion, and their strong or almost super-human belief in art influenced me and set the baseline for my artistic life. I believe in fate; where we come from and where we go, what we experience and what we become is all predestined. I was very fortunate to encounter Professor Tian and become his student, and I am very grateful to him and Li Mengyu for their kindness to a poor kid like me. Meeting them in Guizhou shaped me and influenced my values. Thank you, and I wish you the best of health. I am sure that Professor Tian will make many more great works in the years to come. Life goes on and the struggle never ends; we can only encourage one another.

Student: Wang Huaxiang

11 June 2018, Wansheng Valley

(Wang Huaxiang is currently the head of the Printmaking Department and the Deputy Director of the School of Fine Arts at the Central Academy of Fine Arts)