It was a village in India. The people were poor. However, they were not unhappy. After all, their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries.

    Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog's legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, and so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.

    This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was catch them. Agreement was reached, and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money. For the first time, the people were able to dream of a better future. But the dream didn't last long.

    The change was hardly noticed at first, but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well. More worrying was that the children fell ill more often, and, there seemed to be more insects around lately.

    The villagers decided that they couldn't just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides(杀虫剂) and medicines. Soon there was no money left.

    Then the people realized what was happening. It was the frog. They hadn't been useless. They had been doing an important job---eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.

    Now, the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.

浸没在水中的种子，能吸水胀大，而不能萌发，其主要原因是（  ）

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知其白而守其黑：国画之美生根于中国文化

范曾

    天籁、神韵、简朴是中国文化的源头，国画产生于中国文化之中。

    中国文化很注重天人合一。这种特质造就了中国文化的开放性、包容性和启智性。对中国绘画而言，中国文化的启智性是非常重要的。中国绘画不需要像西方文化那样严格的逻辑分析，而需要的是感悟力。一方面，要遵循自然之道，体会天地大美。天地山川、草木虫鱼都有其自身之美、有它运行的目的，中国绘画就是要你去体会这种美、这种内在目的性，然后将其运用到笔墨中，表现出来，而不需要你问“这树长在这儿对不对”“这老鼠怎么比南瓜还大啊”……另一方面，天地大美只有通过感悟才能转化为人类的美感。明代“心学”流派的重要代表人物王阳明在《传习录》中写道：一朵花在深山开放，你不知道它存在，可是当你看到这朵花的时候，这朵花的颜色、形态就渐渐显现出来，它果然是个美艳的存在。

    中国文人讲“气韵生动”，其中的“韵”并不是单纯的作诗时押韵的“韵”，意义更为丰富饱满，注重的是创作主体（无论是艺术家还是诗人）对于宇宙惯有的一个诗性的判断。天地大美自然而生，可是也需要画家对其有诗性的判断、有所感悟才会于人有意义。所以，当中国人的智慧和感悟在哲学上的体现用到绘画上来的时候，绘画就受益无穷了。老子哲学里有“知其白，守其黑”，说的是深知本性洁白，却守持混沌昏黑的态势，这就是中国人的思维，也正是国画美之所在。笔墨加上宣纸就是黑和白，只有维持黑白间比例的平衡和谐才能守住国画的这种美。中国禅宗讲，“妙悟者不在多言”。王维在《山水诀》中将此视为对山水画的要求，其实，这是对整个中国绘画的要求——以少许胜多许，以最简练的语言表现最丰富的内容。

    中国绘画就是“有无相生”之道的形象体现，笔墨的“有”和画面空白的“无”相互辉映才造就了国画之美。

    元代山水画家倪瓒的画就非常注重黑白间的比例，比如他的《容膝斋图》，几棵小树，一个茅亭，朦胧的远山，没有人物，没有动态。然而，你一看就能感受到一种淡淡的哀愁，一种天荒地老式的沉默和寂寞。

    八大山人画的鸟，蜷曲着身子，寥寥几笔，把鸟的全部内在生命表达得淋漓尽致。他的画已经撇除了一切的繁文缛节、一切的矫揉造作和一切的事功媚俗，剩下的只有“士气”的符号，简捷清纯、精微广大、高明中庸。

    中国画的这种简结丰润源远流长，早在远古时期陶瓷上的绘画就有体现。猪纹陶钵属于河姆渡文化时期，但刻画在陶罐上的猪极富神韵。大量的留白、相当简单的细条，却将猪那种神情、动态刻画得栩栩如生，能引发你无尽的联想。

    人面彩陶瓶属于五千年前的仰韶文化时期。这个作品反映的是远古先民的一种思考状态，你可以看出他在思考，你看他的眼睛里若有疑惑，可是这个疑惑又混混沌沌，让人感到没有答案而有所茫然。这个茫然体现出一个童稚的天真。还有，嘴边那个酒窝在那儿，像一个很憨厚的人，混沌、茫然、天真、憨厚、简朴。从这个简单的作品中，我们看到了天籁、神韵、简朴。这就是我们文化的源头，这种对于艺术的感悟、对于“微言大义”的追求流传了几千年，深深地扎根于中国的国画之中。