因有画“肉”诮,遂以韩马“肥”——试辨前人对杜甫论画诗的一个误解

Flesh is Not Equal to Fat:Talking about a Misunderstanding of Du Fu's Painting Poems

杜甫《丹青引赠曹将军霸》有"干惟画肉不画骨"之句,唐人张彦远据此认为杜甫"徒以干马肥大,遂有画肉之诮"。其实这是一种误解。在杜诗中"肉"与"肥"是两个完全不同的概念。与"肉"相对的概念是"骨",与"肥"相对的概念则是"瘦"。杜甫的"画肉之诮"不仅与前人的艺术理论一脉相承,更是与他的艺术理念消息相通。如果因为张氏的误会,就进而判定杜甫此论为"不解事之失言",会对正确认识杜甫的艺术鉴赏力产生不良影响。

Du Fu's "Danqing song to Cao generals Pa" has the sentence "Han Gan but painted the flesh does not draw the bones", so Zhang Yanyuan holds that Du Fu laughs at Han Gan for he only draws flesh. In fact, this is a misunderstanding. Du Fu's "flesh" and "fat" are two completely different concepts. "Flesh" is relative to the concept of "bones", and "fat" is relative to the concept of "thin". Du Fu's view is not only consistent with the predecessors of the art theory but also consistent with his artistic concept. Because of Zhang's misunderstanding, Du Fu's artistic appreciation will be adversely affected.