| Asian-themed performances like NTDTV's | | | | rope the boy should have been using to lead |
| Chinese New Year Spectacular offer an | | | | the horse. Without much thought, he picked up |
| entirely new experience for many Westerners, | | | | an ink brush and added a rope to fix this |
| partly because they are so different from the | | | | apparent flaw in the painting. When the buyer |
| more typical, narrative-driven, performing | | | | came back and saw the new rope, he was |
| art forms. They ask something different from | | | | terribly upset. He told the dealer: "I was |
| the audience - a slight shift in | | | | only willing to spend so much on this |
| expectations, a shift in sensibility. | | | | painting because of the rope that wasn't seen |
| | | | but could still be felt!" |
| The appreciation for what is implied rather | | | | |
| than what is in plain sight sets Asian art | | | | The more something is described in a concrete |
| apart from Western art. Traditional Chinese | | | | way, the smaller the range it covers. For |
| dance, for example, is less precise and | | | | example, the phrase "hot water" describes not |
| strict in form than its Western counterpart, | | | | only water but its temperature, so although |
| ballet. It is because it attempts to evoke a | | | | "hot water" is more specific than "water," it |
| different sort of feeling. Like a glass of | | | | precludes "warm water," "cold water," and |
| claret with its subtle undertones, this kind | | | | other kinds of water and is therefore more |
| of dance leaves room for the imagination | | | | limited. Perhaps this is why so much of |
| while leaving a lasting impression. | | | | Chinese art seems to speak in generalities. |
| | | | Ink landscape paintings with their broad |
| The following story may help shed some light | | | | brush strokes and wide swaths intentionally |
| on the mystery: | | | | left blank are particularly hard for the |
| | | | Western eye to grasp. These paintings can |
| Once there was an art dealer who had a | | | | often seem vague and unclear, but to the |
| painting that depicted a young farm boy | | | | discerning viewer, each brush stroke speaks |
| leading a horse across a bridge. The boy was | | | | volumes. |
| facing the horse, his body leaning back, and | | | | |
| he looked like he was exerting great effort. | | | | The same holds for the Chinese language -- |
| One day a buyer came in and had to have this | | | | known for being extraordinarily concise and |
| painting. However, he didn't have enough | | | | yet also rich and descriptive precisely |
| money on him to buy this rather expensive | | | | because it is so succinct. Indeed, many |
| artwork right away. So he asked the dealer to | | | | Chinese words and proverbs contain concepts |
| hold the painting for him while he went home | | | | that could take paragraphs to explain in |
| to get the funds. As the seller took the | | | | another language. |
| painting down, he noticed it was missing the | | | | |