He can hear
the voice of silence
——by Wendell Berry 
　　According to the aesthetics of mysticism, poetry and art possess “mediumistic power” that can spiritualize people. For people living in the modern age with years of cultivation in science and technology, this sounds like a fairy tale. Even so, real poetry and art do have some extraordinary charm and enlightening strength which lift people out of worldly sounds and conceptions. Zhanshan’s recent oil painting series reminds me of a line of poem by Wendell Berry — He can hear the voice of silence. I am convinced that I have heard the “voice of silence” in his portrayal of the land, fields and creatures.
　　Looking back on the history of man’s struggle for survival and prosperity, the vast land has always been the most reliable foundation for our survival, remaining solemnly silent from ancient times.
　　Confucius once asked in a most time-beaten and respectful voice that “When has nature spoken for her part in creating the four seasons and nourishing plants and creatures?” All the things and creatures in nature: water and grass, horses and cattle, trees and stones, etc. are obscured and shadowed by blatant human voices and earthly exploitation of natural resources. Nature seems to be under our feet and before our eyes, yet it is so far away. We have turned a blind eye, still unable to see its beauty and hear its voice…
　　Ever since the existence of human civilization, the three most basic relations and dimensions have been that between man and the land, man and god, and between humans themselves. Since the Renaissance and in particular the industrial revolution, the modern history has fundamentally changed the way of man’s existence, ousting the land and god from the realm of human thought and culture. The arrogant man has become the sole inhabitant on earth, boasting themselves as the “only one endowed with intelligence”. Since then, the land receded into the dark abyss of silence, and man, blinded by greed during the process of sped-up industrialization and urbanization, has lost his capability of feeling the existence of the land and others. Driven by rapid technological advancement and the profit of global capital, the relationship between man and nature grows increasingly harmful and confrontational. “Our world is ultra modern”, say the philosophers who are first realize the way to get rid of crisis in the modern era and is aware of the destructive and alienating power of technology, to change our mode of thinking, and to re-judge the relationships between man and the Earth, the nature, the land and himself. Otherwise, it won’t be just a prophecy but a tragic finale ----- “man has lost the ability of prediction and self-control and will destroy the earth before destroying himself.”
　　With the deterioration of the ecological environment and the impending exhaustion of natural resources, ecological issues are increasingly becoming unneglectable in recent years. Once again, people begin to doubt and criticize human centralism that was first mauled by Martin Heidegger. And people now begin to rethink the rights of nature and the boundary of man’s will. It has increasingly become the consensus that “man is not the sole being in the world”. According to the research conducted by Logan and other philosophers, human centralism is the root cause of ecological crisis in the modern era. Logan believes that human centralism which originated from the Bible leads to split man and nature, making humans mistakenly regard nature as meaningless and valueless, and that man can willfully exploit nature, control and rule all creatures in the world. This kind of perspective is human centralism in the domain of ecology. Therefore, White, Devore and other philosophers advocate equality of all creatures, and oppose the idea of regarding nature simply as something to be exploited to satisfy man’s desire and ambitions.  They lay much emphasis on the fact that science should serve as an approach to contemplate nature, and not a tool to exploit and making use of nature. Aldo Leopold, in his book entitled The Land Ethic, clearly pointed out the necessity to redefine man’s position in nature, and advocated that man should be regarded as just one integral part of the evolution chain in the universe instead of the master of the universe and nature. In his view, we should apply exactly the same outlook on rights, values and ethics to the understanding and treatment of all creatures in universe.
　　Based on this philosophy, some other scholars echoed that animals should also have their own rights.  Finberg, Schwartz and Gray dissertated much on whether animals have rights, and Tom Regan, an American philosopher, went on to declare that not only animals, but also the entire nature has its own rights. Hence, he proposed that a new discipline — Environmental Ethics, which is established to research on the ethical standing of creatures other than humans. He firmly fustigated the principle of prioritizing human interests, and regarded it as injustice and maltreatment to nature if it is only taken as a means of realizing man's ambitions. Rachel Carson, a pioneer in the modern environmental protection movement, sounded the first alarm of how the so-called modern technology destroys human's own living environment through a dimension of means in her book Silent Spring. With her weak voice and prospective vision, she challenged the long-standing basic ideology and social traditions of humans. More and more artists, inspired by their philosophy and beliefs, are contributing to the greater influence and development of ecological values in various ways. On top of pondering over the philosophy and theory of ecology, artists are in a position to get across the “final memories” of man’s original living status to people in a more vivid and direct manner. This, I believe, is where the meaning of Zhanshan’s recent works lies.
　　Martin Heidegger, a great poet and philosopher in the 20th century, likened art to the "journey back home” for man in the modern age to return to the original state of living. From his perspective, art sings a carol of existence, and the greatness of art lies in that it presents the basic experience and all dimensions of existence through “lifting the cover”. And in Zhanshan’s art works, we again take a glimpse of the vast, magnificent land at its ease amidst the modern painting techniques. The “Final Memories” series created since 2006 awakens our past memories of the happy, harmonious co-existence between man and the land, the mystical and all other things and creatures.
　　The Red Sky (2006) series presents us the deity and inherent ethical dignity of the land with an enormous scale portraying its power, solemnity and splendor. Those in the art circle familiar with Zhanshan are clear that he has already developed a fairly mature style in the 1990s. By employing realist language and techniques, he depicted the bright sun, colorful fields, laboring farmers and cattle, all of which come together to sing a symphonic poem of heartfelt laud and appreciation of all creatures in nature. The most representative works are Golden World (1995), August Scenery North of the Great Wall (1995), Luofenggou Valley (1995), The Sunflower Field (1996), etc. Through these art works, we can glimpse at the profound understanding and vivid expression of the poetic co-existence between man and nature.
　　I once briefed on the post-human orientation of Zhanshan’s early works in my book entitled Globalization and China’s Image, and called it the “new rural landscape painting” in the post-industrial society. I believe such a style brings forth a new relationship between man, the countryside and the land where man is no longer the pretentious king of all creatures, and land is no longer passively ruled by man. Such art works go beyond human centralism of the modern times, and luckily for him, spiritual inclination is again embodied and deepened in the “Red Sky” series.
　　Compared with his works in the 1990s, the “Red Sky” series focuses more on the vast and largely uncultivated wilderness. Set off against the background of snow-capped mountains in the distant and close-by wild mountain ranges, the villages and fields of North China seem humble and reserved. In some paintings, all you can see is the desolate mountains, lakes and wilderness. This not only adjusts and creates a new painting layout, but serves as a metaphor and symbol of an artistic spirit. In the “Red Sky” series featuring humbleness and return to Mother Nature, the artist abandoned the strong subjectivity and carol-singing style of his works in the 1990s, and changed to a style of humbly understanding and learning how to respect the dignity of the land. Zhanshan tried to enrich his realist painting techniques, which can be best embodied in the pink sky. Such treatment of color, not conforming to our worldly experience, not only caught people's eyes and left a lasting impression, but added a modern touch to the paintings, and highlighted the solemnity and resplendence of post-human orientation.
　　Looking back on Chinese contemporary art history, the significance of images of villages, fields and the land are diversified and complex, nonetheless, they almost without exception are the means of production and publicity channels of China's political ideology of the 20th century: First by criticizing the feudal land ownership, then by praising the collective land ownership, then by portraying the images of new countryside of the new era dominated by poetic scenery of fields from what resembles the perspective of a tourist. However, Zhanshan’s "Red Sky" series is a fundamental breakthrough in the significance of images in contemporary Chinese rural landscape paintings. His works offer a kind of new visual experience and an abundance of spiritual inspiration in the era of modern civilization characterized by developmentism and consumptionism by uncovering and presenting the deity of the land, depicting the respect and humbleness felt toward all creatures in nature, pursuing spiritual return to nature and sticking to his belief that all creatures are created equal.
　　In the "Red Sky" series, on top of portraying the solemnity and sacredness of the land, the artist also sounded an alarm and reflected on man’s uncontrolled exploitation and transformation of nature. In this series, you can see black highways stretching straight into the mountains, cutting the whole scene like a knife and destroying the integrality and harmony, thus reminding us of the fact that human footprints have been extended to the farthest corners of nature. This is undoubtedly accusation and an alarm bell of the modern human centralism in a subtle and low-profile manner. Zhanshan is very restrained in his treatment of such themes, and in most paintings, highways and cement roads, as symbols of modern industrialization, are not easily recognizable when they are hidden in the depth of mountains, thus adding a more critical tone to the works while maintaining the overall image of the solemn land, weakening people’s anxiety as roads are associated with high speed.
　　In Survival (2007) and Living Creatures (2007), the artist’s attention is fixed on laboring cattle and domesticated horses, both of which are commonly seen in rural landscape paintings of North China. Zhanshan largely portrays their destiny, and seeks to explore the truth of life through depiction of their tenacious and humble existence. In painting cattle and horses, Zhanshan continued his style of realist painting, and cleverly applied techniques employed in modern art to his composition of pictures. In Survival, the cattle is not in a real setting, but in the virtual space which very effectively draws people’s attention to the laboring cattle, highlighting how hard they labor and the strength of silence. A small plot of newly dug land can hardly hold the heavy weight of the huge cattle, thus conveying discomfort and anxiety which in turn evokes people’s sympathy and compassion. In Living Creatures, the artist plastered together a number of paintings of horse heads, creating a much stronger visual effect and enabling the images of horses with varying postures and vastly different facial expressions to talk silently with people. I personally feel such silence mutual exchange soul-stirring ---- in a moment of eye contact, we can hardly tell whether it is us humans watching and ruling over them, or they are observing and pitying us.
　　In the 1990s, Zhanshan portrayed many plants including golden wheat, red sorghum, green grass and golden sunflowers in his rural landscape paintings. By sincerely and candidly singing praise of the rural plants, Zhanshan now looks at the world in a more calm, profound and refined manner. Compared with his works of the 1990s, the Fruit Trees (2007) series is best suited to the day-to-day experience of urbanites. In mid-winter, the locust trees, cut by man, seem to be swallowed in the snow-clad wilderness, which is symbolic of how nature, living things and creatures are treated in the modern society. The rural plants can be seen as nature's blessings to us, and the locust trees more subtly depicts the vulnerability, constraint and awkwardness of the relationship between nature and metropolitan people living in the era of modern industrial civilization. Lao Tzu once said, “Everything is created and reproduced by the abstruse essence of the universe.” All creatures in the universe exist and won’t die out just because of our ignorance and negligence, and their vitality and intrinsic value have always been beyond our limited knowledge. Indeed, one can't help feeling startled and saddened by the truth of existence and the stupidity of the self-righteous human race.
　　Zhanshan’s “new rural paintings” rewrite how we see nature by portraying the dignity of the land with the broadest possible vision. Possibly only when man returns dignity and rights to the land and nature, can they all co-exist harmoniously and enjoy freedom. Can we hear the “voice of silence” of nature and all creatures under the heavy shackles of modern civilization in Zhanshan’s non-human centralism? Can we relive the past memories of harmony between man and nature? 
　　At the bank of Jinjiang River, Chengdu, February 2008