以yǐ形xíng寫xiě神shén

What does 以形寫神 (yǐ xíng xiě shén) mean?

以形寫神 (yǐ xíng xiě shén) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "Use form to convey spirit." In use it means: The purpose of depicting physical appearance in painting is to capture the inner spirit and vitality of the subject. Form serves as a vehicle for something beyond itself. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Tiger.

Literally: "Use form to convey spirit."

The reading

Gu Kaizhi, the founding father of Chinese figure painting, insisted that a portrait could render every detail of a face correctly and still fail completely if the subject's spirit did not come through. The angle of an eyebrow, the set of the mouth, the direction of the gaze: these small formal choices determine whether the viewer feels they have met a living person or merely looked at a colored surface. This principle governs every craft where function must breathe through structure. The chair that looks correct but feels wrong to sit in has form without spirit.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeshīcí 詩詞
• FocusLooks back
• Element火 Fire
• Zodiac tie虎 Year of the Tiger

Source Gu Kaizhi (顧愷之), Eastern Jin dynasty, painting theory recorded in historical texts

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Wisdom & Learning, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Tiger, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.