LIU HAI-SOU (刘海粟) & LI CHING-HUI (黎锦晖)

Mr. Li Ching-hui is a writer of popular songs, while Mr. Liu Hai-sou is the president of a fine arts academy. That they are both "artists" is no reason for putting them on the same canvas; the reason is rather that they are alike in one respect, namely they are two of the most misunderstood persons today. They have been called charlatans and impostors, and in the case of Mr. Li, he has also been stigmatized as an immoralist. To be sure, the latter epithet was applied to Mr. Liu too once, but that was the time when the employment of female models in art schools was considered most shocking. Since then, people have learned to be more lenient in their judgment and have come to see that undraped female forms do not necessarily awaken in us ungodly desires but may in fact be objects of beauty. The people who upbraided Mr. Liu for his offence against morality have now forgiven him. He no longer calls forth moral indignations; whatever unfavourable criticisms that have been levelled against him at present come instead from the ranks of those who are suffering not so much from having a moral conscience as from an esthetic one. No one takes any notice of the imperfections of Liu as a man, but as an artist, not a few have taken him severely to task.

In the case of Mr. Li Ching-hui, however, he has never enjoyed any such change of fortune. From the very beginning of his career till today, he has been shunned by society as a person vulgar and depraved beyond the hope of redemption. He not only has written songs that appeal especially to maid-servants and cabaret girls, but also has the bad taste of permitting his wife and daughter to act in the films. The self-appointed guardians of public morals flock to see the girl-choruses trained by him, and are grieved to see that the young should be exposed to the temptations which they themselves find to be so irrestible. They shake their hoary heads, and lick their parched lips—and come home with the determination that such exhibitions of womanly charms should be banned, in the interest of social ethics and their own peace of mind.

Musicians also have heaped abuses upon Mr. Li, and have found many faults with his compositions. But in spite of all that, Mr. Li is as popular as ever. The reason is of course not far to seek. Although he employs the technique of Western music, his tunes are essentially Chinese. He is not content with copying others—that is why he has been called an ignoramus and an upstart by the other musicians in China.

Like Li, Liu Hai-sou also believes that the traditional art of painting in China has an intrinsic value which may not be inferior to that of the West. His attempt at combining the good qualities of the two forms of art in his own paintings may not be successful, but they are at least not unnoteworthy. He may not deserve emulation, but he certainly does not deserve calumny and abuse. They should at least be given a chance!

[No. 50; Dec. 13, 1934]

刘海粟¹和黎锦晖²

黎锦晖先生是通俗歌曲作曲家，刘海粟先生则是一所美术学院的院长。他们都是“艺术家”这一点，并不能成为把他们相提并论的理由。要说理由，他们在一个方面有相似之处：他们是当今受误解最深的两个人。他们都被人们叫做骗子，而黎先生还被说成是道德败坏之人。当然，后一顶帽子也曾给刘先生戴过一次，那是在艺术学校雇用女模特的做法还被认为是伤风败俗的时候。自那以来，人们在评判这样的问题上已经学得宽容了，认识到一丝不挂的女性形体并不一定会勾起我们的淫荡欲望，而确实可以成为审美的对象。曾经严厉斥责刘先生道德败坏的人们现在都已经原谅他，他不会再激起人们的道德愤慨。加之于他的批评，现在并非来自道德良知的谴责，而是来自审美需求得不到满足。再没有人去注意刘先生其人的瑕疵，倒是颇有人对作为艺术家的他严加责备。

但是黎锦晖先生还从来没有遇到这种运气的转变。从他出道之日至今，人们一直把他当作粗俗下流、堕落得不可救药的人而避之唯恐不及。他不仅创作特别吸引女佣和歌舞女郎的歌曲，而且还有听任他的妻子和女儿参与拍摄电影的不良趣味。那些自封的公众道德卫士成群结队来看他排练的女子歌舞团的演出，为年轻人竟然也受到他们自己都非常难以抗拒的诱惑而感到悲痛。他们摇着白发苍苍的脑袋，舔着发干的嘴唇回到家，并下定决心：女性魅力的这样一种展示必须禁止，才能维护社会道德的利益和他们自己心境的安宁。

音乐家也对黎先生骂不绝口，并对他的音乐作品吹毛求疵。尽管如此，黎先生依然受到欢迎。原因当然也不难寻找。他虽然采用了西方音乐的技巧，曲调却是中国式的。他不满足于模仿别人——这就是别的中国音乐家说他不学无术、自命不凡的缘故。

和黎锦晖一样，刘海粟也相信，中国的传统绘画艺术自有其不低于西方绘画的内在价值。他试图把两种艺术形式的优点在自己的绘画中揉合起来的努力，可能还不成功，但是，至少是值得关注的。他也许不值得仿效，但是，也不该受到诽谤和辱骂。至少，应该给他们一个机会。

［第50期，1934年12月13日］