一段时间以来，画了些看上去有些“古意”的新作，与松雪道人所言“作画贵有古意，若无古意，虽工无益……”的品格追求其实相距甚远。无论内外，我所谓的“古”其实是极为粗浅的表示--顶多也只是借穿了一下古人的外衣，细究起来多半是不伦不类的。对于我只当是好玩。玩完后回过头看看，实在也是真心地在玩，偶有题记为证：夏暑闷热，有清风戏帘，操笔寻趣。想来玩古意是意欲让身心清净，淡淡的盼着能消消暑热，或是暖暖的驱去寒凉。于是，作画便是件风雅的事，并且是自以为的雅。如此，画作没有担负太多使命，简单到心里。

　　画里无非是三三两两，或四五佳丽，偶尔点缀一两个小男人，纯然是无聊中的执着，或看山望水，临风惆怅，怎么看都是些不屑作为的举止，与今天都市人的格调极不写照。便疑问：我师古或许是不可信的，至少偏离了生活原态。但这些虚妄的图像是源于生活的真实才有了借古催新所表，抑或是淡淡图于心里的伤痕或喜悦让生活起了皱褶，以至于生出了些如古意般的新情？

　　今人和古人若只是时间纬度地看待，面对自己的古今也是同样的。赵孟俯认为“宋人画人物，不及唐人远甚。予刻意学唐人，殆欲尽去宋人笔墨”。他是把唐人成果作为参照。对我们而言，宋元时代也已是古得久远。尚古其实有着巨大空间。此一时彼一时，左看右看，上看下看，原本是极自己的事。

　　凭直觉很随意但甚是喜欢地向顾闳中、周昉、戴进、唐寅、陈老莲、八大山人、石涛、金农、新罗山人等古人学习，自觉门前有古风吹来，却仍会本能地定睛看看身边正生发着的新人新事，图之自以为趣。

　　只要不是徒然于感觉的真实，新或古意义都一样。

　　雷子人

　　2005年12月13日于望京雅园

　　New Ancient Implication

　　For quite some time, I have turned out some new paintings characterized by some "ancient flavor". They are, however, far away from the goal set by Master Songxuedaoren that ""painting is valued for its ancient taste. Without ancient taste, whatever delicateness is no good…" Either inner or outer "ancient taste" seems very superficial expression, wearing at the most some ancient overclothes, but finally proves to be nondescript. I also painted this "ancient taste" for fun, but in review, I realized it is more than that. It is a playing with all my sincereness, as noted in the inscription: "Sultry summer, cool breeze flirting the hanging, take brush for amusement." The ancient taste was played to purify body and mind, to drive away hotness or coldness. Then painting becomes something elegant or self-considered elegant. In this way, painting is liberated from too much mission to simply express one's heart.

　　Nothing but several beauties, with occasionally one or two small men appear in my paintings. For me, it is but an insistence in boring life. Some of these figures look at landscapes, some bear a sorrowful expression in the wind-totally different from today's urban life. Then comes the question: Maybe it is not true that I have fallowed the ancient style, since what I portray may have deviated from the reality of the ancient time. But do these ancient flavor paintings come as a result of using ancient style to describe today's situation as based in reality? Or as a result of some ripples of life caused by sadness or happiness so that I want to express my mood with an ancient style?

　　If the ancient and present can be viewed as only a matter of time, then the same to personal "ancient and present". Zhao Mengfu claimed, "Song people paint figures far less good than Tang people. So I make all efforts to learn Tang people while cast of Song style as much as possible." He referred Tang works for painting. But for us, even Song and Yuan already reference of far ancient. So the ancient-admiration could in fact be very flexible. The perspective of now and then, here and there, could be very personal matters.

　　By instinct and incident, I always love and learn some famous or not famous ancients including Gu Hongzhong, Zhou Fang, Dai Jin, Tang Yin, Chen Laolian, Ba Da Shan Ren, Shi Tao Shang Ren, Jin Nong, Luo Pin, Xin Luo Shan Ren, etc. I can almost feel some ancient air flowing inside my room, but at the same time, also instinctively fix attention on the new happenings around, for personal amusement.

　　New or old does not matter, if only not based on illusive reality.

　　Lei Ziren

　　Ya Yuan, Wang Jing

　　December 13, 2005

作者：雷子人