Draw a Bow Slowly
"Here, the youth hidden among the trees slowly drew his bow. The sun had not yet fully risen, but the morning light had already evaporated the dew on the branches. The youth saw the sharp arrowhead gleaming like a rainbow. He surveyed his surroundings, yet the target remained elusive. His arm strength, long honed through practice, required only a deeper focus and a greater sense of calm to await the moment. As he reminded himself to regulate his breathing, he envisioned the arrow's release and the target falling like a morning star."
This passage may come from a chapter of the novel "The Young Hero" (tentative title), perhaps around a quarter or a fifth of the way from the beginning. As you can see, the protagonist is a skilled young martial artist, journeying with an uncertain destination. In this chapter, what guides him is no longer a compass or treasure map, nor any grand external objective, but rather a small light that naturally emanates from his mind, accompanied by an animal with a keen sense of smell. The mysterious purple sky seems to hold an enigmatic pedometer, as if to say: those who heed their inner voice are blessed with destiny. When some setbacks come, such as an unsuccessful assassination or an unrequited love, an untimely rose and a heap of heartbreak, these are the trials along the journey, washing over the unmoving stone like a stream. Why do the splashes of water also shimmer with a spectrum of colours? Perhaps because the world constructed by HOU Yijie is still viewed through the lens of youth, refracting a brilliance that leaves us in awe. It is a magical realm where dreams, passion, and romance remain undimmed, where the choked sobs and tears of heartbreak are achingly sincere, and where beauty glimmers, capable of transporting us to another time and space, reuniting us with an idealized version of ourselves.
Of course, as you may have already guessed, the specific passages and main content of "The Young Hero" exist solely in the curator's imagination, inspired by the works exhibited by HOU Yijie and the concept of "Draw a Bow Slowly" that he presented to me as a thematic prompt. HOU Yijie wants the viewers to be inspired and free to associate with his paintings and the figurative fantasy world he constructs, and the role of the curator should perhaps be to respond by occupying the position of "first viewer". This response can also be seen as my playful imitation and manifestation of HOU Yijie's working methods.
HOU Yijie's dynamic artistic exploration integrates the emotions and sensations arising from contemporary challenges with the histories, legends, fables, and anecdotes of Chinese culture. Through fluid and precise brushstrokes, he constructs tension-filled spaces shaped by the interplay of societal forces—the imperial court, the hermit's retreat, and the outlaw's wilderness. In HOU's notes, he writes down a series of phrases he catches in the process of reading and contemplation, which help him conceptualize the visual images in his paintings and often become the titles of his paintings. Through this deliberate extraction, martial arts novels intersect with Western films, and the narrative and visual styles of anime merge into the figures he shapes. In his paintings, mermaids and wandering monks, the firearms of mechanical civilization and the elixirs of ancient spiritual traditions are wonderfully fused into one. The long-standing culture of Xia Ke (chivalrous martial artists in Chinese culture), in its fusion with popular culture, offers us new perspectives and understandings. As a condensation of traditional cultural psychology, "Xia Ke" symbolize a group of people who escape the confines of the law and seek a self-defined justice. This quest encompasses both the fervor and courage of life and reflects a yearning for the realization of justice. HOU Yijie believes that they are the ones closest to a state of freedom, and thus worthy of being immortalized in his paintings. When HOU attempts to release the potential and vitality of local civilization through the method of "reconstructing antiquity", he simultaneously responds, in his own way, to the demands of new conceptual explorations in the era of globalization.
However, it is also worth noting that the current state of "Draw a Bow Slowly" reveals some subtle changes from his previous works. The once-ambitious Xia Ke now seem to exhibit a greater tolerance for and awareness of their own vulnerability. Although nunchakus, pistols, swords, and roses appear in the exhibition, HOU Yijie, within his spectrum of cold weapons, has uniquely chosen the "Bow and Arrow", a long-range weapon, and further emphasized the state of "Draw a Bow Slowly". In his daily work, I imagine HOU constantly contemplates the textures of various weapons and the characteristics of their movements, as his adeptness with the use of lines in his works always allows for creating precise forms. What makes the "Bow and Arrow" unique among weapons is that it does not involve close combat but rather leans toward a self-imposed test with a fixed target: hitting the bullseye through the coordination of hand, eye, and mind. In the education system of the distant Zhou Dynasty, archery was emphasized as one of the Six Arts for the cultivation of a gentleman. This has made "archery" an important cultural metaphor and a means of self-cultivation at an early time. If one fails to hit the target, one must seek the cause in oneself. Thus, in the action of slowly drawing the bow, there is a delayed judgment of the target, which points more towards inner self-reflexivity. The inherent dramatic tension within the painting thus becomes even more subdued and understated. The accumulation and concealment of energy often present a more challenging state than its unrestrained release, yet this very restraint signifies the artist's progression toward maturity as a holistic individual.
By/YAO Siqing
