A transformational trip in Eternal City

Exhibition is an invitation to look through the eye of the other

The painting, the calligraphy and the poetry of Fan Zeng will be on display in a major exhibition, Symphony of Civilizations, opening in Rome on June 30 under the patronage of the Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Art critics will certainly be out to come up with the best description of the master's style, but what might be called the Fan Zeng in Rome effect is not just a call to pay the closest attention to something different, another painting technique born in another cultural context. More interestingly, it is an invitation to look differently through the eyes of the other.

In that sense, Fan Zeng in Rome is not merely an educational experience but, as an aesthetic decentering, a transformational journey.

On a rainy morning in Shanghai recently, walking along the Huangpu River, a Parisian who had become familiar with the "Four Treasures of the Study" over the years realized that he had become a fish in one of Bada Shanren's paintings. Bada Shanren, known for his unusual behavior - he was traumatized by the collapse of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) when he was 18 - was in the habit of entertaining long conversations with his fish, and the Frenchman had heard of his theory of "birds in the water" and "fish in the air", an approach that may explain the ethereal appearance of the master's aquatic creatures.

Having circulated as a fish around rocks of various shapes in dark water or closer to the sunlight, the French self-proclaimed connoisseur was in a position to make an important contribution to the development of Taoist studies.

The intuition and the implications of the Zhuang Zi were absolutely correct: It is true that not being a fish, it is impossible to know whether or not this animal can experience happiness. But, after what was a refreshing incarnation as a fish, the Frenchman could testify that these cold-blooded organisms enjoy, in their own ways, their modest place in the universe.

To some, this transformation into one of Bada Shanren's fish may seem unreal, but something even more fantastic happened: Bada Shanren's fish took the form of Fan Zeng's Lao Zi.

One of the master's loyal assistants who had been asked to relate the peculiar event to the artist worried about bothering him with such absurdities, but he is still trying to fully comprehend why, instead of showing displeasure, Fan Zeng, serenely sitting in the study of his Beijing residence surrounded by respectful disciples, reacted to the story with gales of laughter - laughter that resonates along the Silk Road to this very day.

Following this second transformation, the pompous academic debates on the art of the brush, in the Chinese capital, in Tokyo or in New York, simply lost their relevance when it became obvious that in Fan Zeng's ink, Bada Shanren's spirit was fully alive.

To enjoy the leisurely life of one of Bada Shanren's fish, and to share, from the inside, the outlook of Fan Zeng's Lao Zi were already unforgettable and surprisingly rich moments, but the journey was not over.

In an unexpected turn of events, when our Parisian found himself in the middle of a dialogue between the 21st century Chinese renaissance and the Cinquecento, he realized he had been changed into one of the eyes of the Michelangelo that Fan Zeng had created for his Roman exhibition.

In this last optical metamorphosis, while Bada Shanren's fish and the ancient wisdom of Lao Zi reignited the spirit of Michelangelo, the inner fire of the Italian giant gave a new life to the art of the ink. The final focus revealed with unprecedented clarity the art of Fan Zeng.

The master was not only representing the eyes of Renaissance man, he saw with the vision of the Florentine genius just as the Creator shines in the light of the stars.

The author is director of the Euro-China Forum and founder of the New Silk Road Initiative. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.