道家讲上善若水，佛家有般若智慧之说。当水与般若遇见的时候，那种流动的、随缘的境界就出现了，那是灵光乍现的、柔软感性的水波，它又是生命力无边的包容。这样的水般若在哪里呢，也许是电光石火、转瞬即逝，也许翩若惊鸿、宛若游龙……但是见到这些画作，有缘人就真正被那片水光潋滟的智慧照亮了惊喜。

There is a saying in Taoism, the highest good is like that of water, and there is a concept called prajna in Buddhism. When water comes together with prajna, it becomes flowing, causal, miraculous, soft and sensitive. Water, in the meantime, is a wisdom that has endless vitality. But where does such water flow to? Maybe to a person who vanishes in a flash, maybe to a person who flies swiftly as a frightened goose, fleets like a swimming dragon? Only the predestined one can be lightened by the overflowing wisdom on water.

陶冬冬，青绿二号，2019，80 x 160cm, 布面油画 © 2019，陶冬冬

Tao Dongdong, China Blue No.2, 2019, 80 x 160cm, Oil on Canvas © 2019， Tao Dongdong

在这样的智慧笔触后面的画家应该是一个什么样的人呢？其实在我的印象里，画出水般若的陶冬冬就是一方山水神仙。他守着上王峪山水的四时变化，就像郭熙在《林泉高致》里面说的那样，“春山如笑，夏山如怒，秋山如妆，冬山如睡”，在陶冬冬眼里，四季都是好风景。春天的时候，我看见他拍到花开，夏天的时候，有大大的莲叶在他的房子里面绽放；到秋天，阳台上，一盘盘的柿子和枣儿，闪着光泽；到冬天的时候，就是枯枝冰河，也是一种守望。在陶冬冬的画里，群山有时候是被朝霞染过的，有时候是被晚霞浸润的，有时候是有雨丝的，有时候是带着风痕与风声的。群山万壑，在陶冬冬的眼里，随着旦暮晨昏，染就一派神圣。我见青山多妩媚、料青山见我应如是的那种境界在守望里，李白的相看两不厌、只有敬亭山也在守望里。“灵山”是大地上的“圣像”，“圣像”是人心里的“灵山”。

Hiding behind such brushwork of wisdom, what kind of people can this painter be? In fact, in my mind, what Tao Dongdong does is staying by the side of the land and water of Shang Wangyu, and living by the shifts and changes of the seasons. Just as Guo Xi said in Elegant Forest Fountain Falls, hills as if smiling in spring, angry in summer, dressed in autumn, and sleeping in winter. For Tao Dongdong, good sceneries stay all year round. In spring, I saw him capturing flower blossoming; in summer, there are lotus flourishing in his house; in autumn, plates of apricots and dates are sparkling in his balcony; in winter, deadwood and dried-up river create another beautiful artistic conception. In his paintings, mountains are sometimes dyed by the morning glow, and sometimes by the setting sun; sometimes there is rain, and sometimes there is wind. In Tao Dongdong's eyes, mountains and valleys are never boring, as morning, night and seasons take place by turn. He has seen so many charming mountains and has reached a spiritual state of calmness, just as Li Bai said, "Leaving us to look at one another. You, Jingting Mountain, and me, the loner". The "spiritual mountains" are "holy portraits" on the ground; the "holy portraits" are "spiritual mountains" in people's minds.

在上王峪的山水中，浮现出灵山与圣像的交映，染就了一段水般若。那种般若智慧，随着粼粼的波光，从湖面上荡到他的笔触理，那里面含着四时风物的芬芳，藏着一个人在红尘滚滚中的修行。那种透彻，那种随缘，安之若素。这就是活色生香的艺术家陶冬冬。

In the mountains and water of Shang Wangyu, the spiritual mountains and the holy portraits add radiance and beauty to each other, bringing up a prajna of water. The wisdom of prajna, as the water glitters, swings from the lake to his brushes, with the seasonal fragrance of nature, and his journey of practice in the world of mortals. The penetrativeness, the mature mind, the equanimity, the diet, are all his journey of practice. This is Tao Dongdong himself at his fullest.

上王峪山水，摄于陶冬冬工作室 © 2019，陶冬冬

the Mountains and Water of Shang Wangyu, shot at Tao Dongdong's Studio © 2019，Tao Dongdong

被水般若滋养的艺术家，可以睡最少的觉，可以吃最朴素的饮食。然后，一个人在时光里面不留沧桑，永远抱有天真，永远抱有希望。当他在那种朗朗阳光里面抬头向上看的时候，目光还是一个少年。

The artist nourished by water can sleep the least and eat the simplest. He will leave no vicissitudes in time with naivety and hope forever. When he looks up in the sunshine, he is still a young boy.

上善若水。水是随物赋形，是随时流动，是遇到污浊的东西都可以抵挡，是水滴石穿，穿越年华，水总能够留下来一种纯粹。而般若智慧是拈花微笑，是无以言传。是从有象中修出来的空灵。这种智慧，穿越了年华，它镌刻出来了一种永远的蓬勃和对于生命的信念。追随般若，不是一种消极的遁世，而是在水的滋养下焕发生命的生机，随天地万物而生长。这是最大的世间有为妙法，也是这本作品的主题境界。

The highest good is like that of water. It is constantly changing and flowing, and can keep out any dirt that it comes across. Constant dropping wears away a stone, water is beyond time and can always leave some degree of purity. Prajna is like smiling with flowers in hands, it is unable to explain in words, and it is the invisibility acquired from tangibility. Such wisdom has transcended time and engraved a life belief that is forever booming. Following prajna is not a passive retirement from the world, but a re-vitalization of life with water, growing with myriads of things in nature. This is the greatest promising in the world and the theme of this series of works.

关于艺术家 | About the Artist

陶冬冬，旅美艺术家，现工作生活于北京；毕业于中央工艺美术学院（现清华大学美术学院)，后赴美北卡罗莱纳大学获得艺术硕士学位，期间专研戏剧美术，曾制作完成美国最大壁画；荣获美国总统杰出艺术家奖，美国艺术家特殊人才；曾多次参加国内外艺术展览，作品被国内外多家美术馆、画廊及私人所收藏。

Tao Dongdong, U.S.-living artist, currently based in Beijing. Tao graduated from Central Academy of Arts and Crafts (now Academy of Fine Arts, Tsinghua University), and later achieved a Master’s degree at the University of North Carolina in the U.S. where he specialized in theatre arts and created the largest scale fresco in the whole country. He was awarded American Presidential Award for Excellent Artists, Special Talents of American Artists. He has participated in multiple exhibitions at home and abroad, and his works have been collected by various art museums, galleries and priates.

关于作者 | About the Author

于丹，知名文化学者，北京师范大学教授、博士生导师。于丹是古典文化的知名普及传播者。在中央电视台《百家讲坛》、《文化视点》等栏目，通过《论语心得》《庄子心得》《论语感悟》等系列讲座普及、传播传统文化，以生命感悟激活了经典中的属于中华民族的精神基因，在海内外文化界、教育界产生广泛影响。

​Yu Dan, a famous contemporary Chinese cultural scholar. Beijing Normal University Professor, tutor of doctoral students. As an influential spreader and promoterof classical culture, Yu Dan has appeared in a number of TV programmes including the Lecture Room and the Cultural Perspective. Through her published books including the Analects of Confucius and the Analects of Chuang Tzu, she popularizes classic culture and activates the spiritual genes of the nation. She has a broad effect on culture and education at home and abroad.