古時候，要有錢有閒的人才有機會畫畫。一般普羅大眾既迫於生計，也沒有那種閒情在紙上做探索與硺磨的功夫。能拿筆畫畫的人不是文人就是有錢的人，這些人每天拿毛筆寫字寫信，偶而興來，在寫字的宣紙上隨意塗上幾筆也是有的。因為是文人嘛，基本功夫也許不甚了了，畫畫只是乘興，偶一為之而已。但這些人往往文學底子深厚，也在畫上題幾個字抒發一下感想，遊戲遊戲──這就是我們所謂的「文人畫」了。

文人畫講求意趣、率性，不求形似，不重色調。「逸筆草草」，隨便撇個幾筆，談不上構圖，文字倒是題了一大堆，說畫畫的目的就是要表達「意念」、「寫意寄情」。加上古時顏料也少，大概因為這樣，只好把心思轉到「墨韻意趣」上去追求了。

In the old days, a person had to have money and time to be able to paint. Forced to work hard for their living, ordinary common people had no leisure time to explore and hone their skills with paper and brush. In those days, painters were either rich or were educated men of letters. Such individuals wrote with the brush almost every day. Occasionally, when in the mood, they would casually make some paintings on the same xuan paper that they used for writing. Because they were literati, they perhaps did not have much in the way of painting skills, and only painted a little when the notion took their fancy. However, these individuals nevertheless usually had great familiarity with literature, and would write a few characters on their paintings to express their feelings. The rather playful works that were produced in this way are what we now call "literati paintings."

Literati paintings emphasize wit and the artist's whims, and don’t stress realism or strong colors. They are only one step above casual doodling, and have no composition worth mentioning. On the other hand, they often bear extensive calligraphic messages, which is in keeping with their purpose of conveying "ideas" and the artist's feelings. In addition, few pigments were available in former times, which was probably why these would-be artists sought to express their thoughts and feelings in calligraphic ink. ＠

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責任編輯：昌英