I was not sure how I would feel about interviewing an art historian after having left the field three years ago.  I wondered if talking with Mr. Liu Mo would spark an interest in art again that I had buried in the back of my mind.

我不确定当自己已经离开艺术这个领域三年之后再来采访一位艺术历史学家会有怎样的感觉。我在想与刘墨先生的谈话是否会再次激发出埋藏于我心灵深处的对艺术的兴趣。

What was striking about this interview was how Mr. Liu interviewed me before I began interviewing him!  He asked me how the West generally perceives Chinese art.  I recalled in my mind my past research on negotiating 20th century Chinese modern Western-influenced paintings as part of the study on Modern art history rather than two separate histories of “Modern 20th century Art” and “Chinese Art in the 20th century.”  The latter label treats Chinese art as a seemingly unchanging tradition through time whereas the former implies that Western art evolves at different stages in time.  In response to Mr. Liu’s question, I pointed out that when people think of Chinese art, no matter from which period, the image of classical landscape paintings comes to mind along with a general assumption about the importance of the brushstroke.  However, Chinese art has not always been of one tradition and style, and this is what many people overlook.

采访刚开始时刘墨先生就给了我个惊奇，因为在我采访他之前，他竟然先采访起我来！他问我西方总体上来讲是怎样看待中国艺术的。我回想起来了我在学习艺术史时做的关于“二十世纪在西方影响下的中国画”的调查研究，而不是将“二十世纪现代艺术”与“中国二十世纪的艺术”分开来看。这两种研究方式的区别就在于，后者是将中国艺术看作是看似不变的传统，而前者则暗示西方艺术随不同时代在进化改变。在回答刘墨先生时，我说，当人们想到中国艺术时，无论是从哪个时期讲，古代山水画和毛笔书法都会首先出现在他们的头脑中。但是，人们往往会忽略，中国艺术并不是一直限于一种传统风格。

Mr. Liu Mo has written books and articles on Chinese art history and traditional Chinese culture.  He is currently conducting research at Beijing University.  Mr. Liu studies the changing Chinese perceptions of traditional Chinese art and the direction of Chinese art the Chinese have proposed to pursue throughout history.  My answer to his question on Western perception of Chinese art brings the discussion back to how this understanding affects how the Chinese feel about their tradition.  Mr. Liu explained two approaches the Chinese have used to re-think traditional Chinese society and culture.  The 1919 May Fourth Movement brought on a school of thought that deemed traditional China as a burden on modern China.  During the 1980s the Chinese again felt burdened by tradition and sought to reform the arts.  However, Mr. Liu stresses the importance of understanding traditional Chinese culture and society by reading classical texts like Sima Qian’s 109 BCE to 91 BCE historical masterpiece, Shi Ji (史記), in order to re-acquaint oneself with the origins of Chinese culture and society and how it has affected the culture and society today. 

刘墨先生曾写过中国艺术史和中国文化的书籍和文章。他现在在北京大学做调研，研究传统中国艺术正在变化着的观念和中国人期待中国艺术在整个历史中所走的方向。我对于他那个关于西方怎样看待中国艺术的问题的回答将我们带回到了关于这种理解是怎样影响中国人对他们自己传统看待方式的讨论中。刘先生通过两个例子解释了中国人曾经是怎样反思传统的中国社会和文化的。一个例子是1919年的“五四运动”为学校带来了一种思想，认为传统的中国是现代中国的负担。另一个例子是在二十世纪八十年代，中国人又一次感到传统的负担，寻求艺术改革。但是，刘先生强调了通过阅读古代文学，例如历史学家司马迁（生于公元前109年，卒于公元前91年）所著的《史记》来了解中国传统社会和文化的重要性，因为这样可以使我们熟悉中国社会和文化的起源，了解它是怎样影响今天的社会和文化的。

When Mr. Liu was young, he had a passion for painting and calligraphy.  His inspiration for researching and writing about Chinese art and literature comes from this direct contact with the arts rather than from a traditional academic approach, which is objective and perhaps cold.  Mr. Liu studies Chinese art history from an empathetic perspective.  Mr. Liu still enjoys painting and has even named his studio Teng2 Shi2 Chang1 Shou4 Shan1, which incorporates the names of painters from a span of Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

当刘先生年轻时，他就对绘画和书法很有激情。而他对于调研和编写关于中国艺术和文学的灵感也是直接来源于此，而不是来源于客观的，甚至感觉冷冰冰的传统的学术方式。刘先生是通过共鸣的观点来研究中国艺术史的。他仍然喜爱绘画并且将他自己的工作室命名为“藤石昌寿山”，这个名字合并了宋、元、明、清四个朝代画家的名字。

One of Mr. Liu’s biggest contributions to the art and academic communities is that he brought attention back to Chinese traditional culture.  After experiencing a 20th century of trying to re-identify a “modern” Chinese culture by adapting from Western cultures, Mr. Liu said that the Chinese today do not necessarily feel that they have to learn everything from the West.  I asked Mr. Liu if he feels that this change in attitude is in part due to China’s rising economic and global stature.  Mr. Liu noted that now that the economy is better, it has changed how people react politically and socially.  However, one cannot measure a country’s development without cultural consideration.

刘先生对艺术和学术圈最大的贡献是，他引起了人们对于中国古代文化的重视。他说，在经过二十世纪的一次试图为适应西方文化而重新定义“现代”中国文化之后，今天的中国人认为没有必要从西方学习每一件事情。我问刘先生这一态度上的转变是否是因为中国崛起的经济和全球地位。刘先生指出，尽管经济转好，它改变了人们政治上和社会上的反应方式，但是不考虑文化因素，是衡量不出一个国家的发展的。

Mr. Liu defines the “everyday diplomat” with another definition: “Tian Xia Xing Wang, Pi Fu You Ze.”  The historical proverb describes poetically how everyone is responsible for the prosperity or destruction of their country.  Thus we are each born with a part to play in society.  For Mr. Liu Mo, he has demonstrated cultural responsibility.  In a world focused on technology and other sciences considered essential to human advancement, Mr. Liu says that the human psyche has needs that these sciences can’t address.  Literature, music, and the visual arts can liberate the mind.

刘先生将“平民外交家”定义为了“天下兴亡，匹夫有责”。这句古老的名言道出了每个人对国家昌盛或衰亡应付的责任。因此，我们每个人生来就是社会的一分子。对于刘墨先生，他承担起了文化上的责任。在一个将技术与其他科学视为人类的成就的社会中，刘墨先生指出，人类的精神需求有些是这些科学无法解决的。文学，音乐和视觉艺术才可以解放思想。