Harmony All-around

by Song Yongping

Hexie is probably one of the most resounding words in China today.

Its English equivalent is “harmony”. In modern Chinese, it refers to “aptness and balance of combination” (see Modern Chinese Dictionary, p. 510).

Hexie is actually a rather peculiar term. When taken as an adjective, it conjures up imageries of perfection and goodness, as well as a certain air of ambiguity, such that it is useful for painting a false picture of peace and prosperity. When used as a verb, however, it ceases to be so lovely and graceful. For one to be hexie-ed spells unthinkable consequences.

In real-life praxis, the word is also frequently employed to describe the quality of one's sex life.

In 2008, I spent a year to create some works under the rubric of the Harmony (Hexie) series.

The archetype of the series is based on the auspicious Chinese traditional motif of “Amiability All-around”.

The expression “amiability all-around” (yi tuan he qi) originated from the Southern Song dynasty, specifically from Zhu Xi's comment in his Records of the Sources of Confucians from Around the Rivers Yi and Luo concerning Cheng Hao, a progenitor of Northern Song Neo-Confucianism: “Mingdao [i.e., Cheng Hao] sat still all day like a figure moulded out of clay, but radiated amiability all around when dealing with people.” Legend has it that, once, when the famous Northern Song scholar Cheng Hao spent a night at a Buddhist monastery, he obtained by chance a secret self-cultivation manual from within a Buddha figure. As he practised that which was taught in the manual, he soon became aglow with vigour and doubled spiritedness, as if he had drunk from the fountain of youth. Thus, later generations depicted Cheng Hao in paintings as a roundish man dressed like a lad, his face friendly-looking and his hands displaying a scroll which represented the long-lost secret manual. The scroll would typically have the words “Amiability All-around” written on it.

When one fosters amiability all around in dealing with people, one would have peace in the family, make friends outside, as well as generate wealth in doing business.

It should also be mentioned that a Painting of Amiability All-around from the Ming dynasty exists in the collection of Beijing 's Palace Museum . It is inscribed with an ode to the painting itself by the Ming Emperor Xianzong (i.e., Zhu Jianshen of the reign period Chenghua). The Emperor allegedly painted the work after ascending to his throne to express the hope that his subjects would be united as one.

A more precise name for my artworks here would really be the Harmony All-around series. When there is harmony all around and great peace throughout the world – oh, what joy!