近来吴冠中先生与关山月先生在讨论中国画的发展即如何认识、对待中国画时,提出了两种绝然不同的“零”说。吴认为“脱离具体画面的孤立的笔墨,其价值等于‘零’”;关则针锋相对地说:“否定了笔墨,中国画等于‘零’”。拜读二位先生大作之后,觉得两者对笔墨的认识都失之于偏,甚至对于什么是笔墨的概念也十分模糊。前者对笔墨的否定,与后者对笔墨的肯定,无多大差别,肯定否定都等于“零”,也可都不等于“零”。 Recently, Mr. Wu Guanzhong and Mr. Guanshan Yue discussed two issues of how to understand the development of Chinese painting and treat Chinese painting. Wu believes that “isolation from the concrete picture of isolated ink and brush, its value is equal to ’zero’”; Guan is tit for tat: “No ink, Chinese painting is equal to zero.” After reading the two gentlemen’s masterpiece, I felt both of them lost their understanding of ink and wash, and even the concept of what is a pen and ink is very vague. The former negates the pen and ink, and the latter affirms the pen and ink. There is not much difference between them. Positives of negation are equal to “zero” or zero.