The Figure of Zhong Kui Painted by Lin Yueping

青年画家林跃平擅长国画人物创作，近期钟馗画系列题材造诣颇深。钟馗题材得到历代画家的喜爱，名家迭出，精品如林。他上追梁楷、高其佩、任伯年之法，注重细心刻画表情，泼墨结合行草书线条，融合了书法的视觉冲击，诗书画印相结合，一气呵成，刻画出钟馗粗朴豪壮、浩然正气、赐福送祥的风格，采用浪漫夸张和变形手法，使钟馗的形象丰富多资，合韵飞扬，生动有趣，雅俗共赏。

The young artist Lin Yueping is adept at traditional Chinese figure paintings. Nowadays he is steeped in the series of Zhong Kui figure paintings. Zhong Kui is always in the good graces of many renowned artists in history who have produced a great number of exquisite works. Following the strokes of Liang Kai, Gao Qipei and Ren Bonian, Mr. Lin pays specific attention to portraying the facial expression of figure. By combining the Chinese ink-painting with cursive handwriting and integrating the visual shock of handwriting, he depicts a bold, righteous Zhong Kui who symbolizes auspiciousness at one stroke. With the romantic exaggeration and distortion technique, the multiple figures of Zhong Kui stand vividly and cater to both refined and popular tastes.

其笔下的钟馗：有的身着不合身的衣帽、环眼圆瞪、怒视前方、目光犀利、须发怒张、头部和身躯的扭动、握剑手势的屈伸，欲动于静之瞬间，有如破纸而出，叱咤风云之英雄气概；有的乘骑驴，擎破伞作华盖；有的持破扇遮面，窥察秋毫；有的手持如意器物或手托柿子或手捧寿桃，或蝙蝠降临或蜘蛛堕下，寓意深刻，具有浓厚的生活意味和人间情趣；有的刻画了鬼卒奴役担挑琴、剑、书、画等系列作品，构成　一幅幅善与恶，美与丑之较量的生动画卷，把钟馗的人格力量和思想境界表现得淋漓尽致，反映了人们对正义的追求和邪恶的痛恨，对镇宅驱邪、祈福进财、幸福安康、延年益寿的美好愿望和良好的祝愿。

The figures of Zhong Kui drawn by Mr. Lin wear misfit clothes and hats, with his angry glare, raised hair, twisted head and body, and the grip of sword, the figure is depicted lively as if the hero was breaking away from the paper. Some figures are portrayed as riding on a donkey, with a broken umbrella as the canopy; some are gazing with examining eyes behind an outworn paper fan; some are holding Jade Ruyi, persimmon or birthday peach with bats or spiders shown in paper, which has profound meanings and delight of life; ghost servants are depicted to shoulder lyre, sword, book and painting in some paintings, which indicates the battle between virtues and vices, incisively represents the power of personality and ideological level of Zhong Kui, reflects people’s aspiration for righteousness and hatred to evil and their desire and wish for ward of evil, better life, happiness and health and longevity.

古人言：笔墨当随时代。我国是一个古老的几千年文明国家，千百年来钟馗的神话在华夏民族中广为流传，童叟妇孺尽人皆知，钟馗画题材更是得到唐、宋、元、明、清数百年画家大师们历久不衰之画题。钟馗受到皇家贵族及民间平民百姓的崇拜和敬仰，其影响是家喻户晓，普及到了穷乡僻壤。钟馗画不只是一件具有欣赏价值的艺术品、吉祥画，而且形成了年节、端午节家家户户兴盛悬挂钟馗像的民间习俗。近代的齐白石、徐悲鸿、李可染等著名的绘画大师，也画钟馗，更是直面近代社会现实，讽刺谩侮邪恶势力。钟馗画题材是社会时代的需要，社会共鸣的产物。

As the ancient has said, a good painting should reflect contemporary. China is a civilized country with thousands of years of history. For the past hundreds of years, the myth of Zhong Kui spreads widely among various nationalities and people of different ages, and Zhong Kui is the constant figure painted by those great artists through Tang, Song, Yuan and Qing Dynasties. Enjoying worship and respect from the royal families and general mass, Zhong Kui has its influence extended to every household, even the remote and poor regions. Zhong Kui painting is not only an artwork or propitious painting worth of appreciation, but also constitutes a folk custom that the painting should be hang in every household during Spring Festival and Dragon Boat Festival. The Zhong kui painted by modern artists Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong and Li Keran etc. has reflected the contemporary society and criticized the evil force in the society. The Zhong Kui-themed paintings are created as needed by the society and resonate with the society.

现今，我国正处于建设社会主义小康社会的新时代，必须共筑一个和谐、幸福、安康、团结、富强的社会，千百年来钟馗的艺术形象已经深入人心，成为驱邪纳福的典型代表和正义之象征。我认为青年画家林跃平能够大胆地成功尝试和不断追求更新颖的构成形式，用熟练的行草书线条、工与写、传统与现代，来创作钟馗画系列作品，不只是在画画而已，而且是画外有画，寓意深刻，是紧密地和爱国主义思想联系在一起，是社会价值观的体现，是当今时代的责任感和使命感。

Nowadays’ China is seeing a new era of building a socialist well-off society, i.e. a harmonious, happy, well-off, uniform, thriving and powerful society. For thousands of years the figure of Zhong Kui has been deeply rooted in peoples’ heart as the symbol of evil-exorcising and fortune-impetrating and righteousness. In my opinion, the young artist Lin Yueping has made a bold attempt to and persistently tried for more original form, he created works with skillful cursive handwriting lines combing the traditional and the modern. His paintings imply significantly, being associated closely with patriotism and the symbol of social values with sense of responsibility and mission of the society.