structure

In art there is first form then emptiness. In life there is first emptiness then form.

“The primordial is formless. When it manifests itself, it gives rise to all dharma. What is the basis of dharma? One stroke.”

This is to say, there exists a realm that is formless (“the primordial”). When it manifests itself it is also the arising of all “dharma” (thoughts and phenomena). Dharma is rooted in one stroke, for the non-arising gives rise all arisings. Then, what does this have to with painting? Shi said, “The painting is the expression of these arisings.” Paintings merely give them shapes and forms and therefore, the basis of painting must be one stroke, for the basis of dharma is one stroke.

Liu Xie wished to give a complete and internally consistent account of literature. One of his ideas is that affections are the medium of literature, and language merely the product.

Liu Xie 劉勰 ca. 465–522