“A Modest Essay on a Grand Topic: The New Valuation of Art and the Awakening of Artists” was published in Yong Bao in August 1935. It offers a snapshot of his vision for art’s evolving role, urging artists to awaken and liberate art from religious and capitalist constraints to serve as a universal spiritual force for the masses. At just 26, Wang’s untimely death left only a handful of works, making this piece a rare and profound reflection of his ideals. As usual, the Chinese text is followed by an English translation.
《一篇大题小作的文章 – 今后艺术之新估价 – 艺术家应有的觉醒》
王元奇
作者近忙于《图案的取材及其它》之著作。屡承索稿，每思今后艺术与艺术家之本身问题，兹走笔数行意在引玉，深愿艺术界起而共商榷之。- 作者识。
艺术是为人生，还是为艺术而艺术，这是曾经白热化过的一个问题，恐怕到现在仍然是在人们的脑海里徘徊着：这项问题的结论我们姑且不必去深求它，只从社会的演变可以透视出艺术的新价值。
首先，我们要追溯艺术在过去的地位：最早的艺术是人类生活余力下的产品，很单纯的并没有什么特殊的目地。此后人类的欲望日高，且由多事而实的结果而私有产发达，资产者因为生活余力的充足，渐次使艺术走入某一具有生活余力的特殊阶级所特有的享乐范围；同时艺术家本身又未必能在物质的生活上得到完满的解决。于是从此艺术便成了游离于艺术家及资产者之间的商品了。在这种现状下艺术自然免不了为任何别的目地而利用。
这样的事实今日仍然继续着。
衣、食、住是人生活必需的东西，而超于物质的宗教，艺术等与衣、食、住也有同等的需要；宗教在从先是大部分人生最主要的精神寄托，并且一般人们也没有觉悟了寄托精神于宗教是迷信的勾当。
近年来迷信宗教的信仰已随着科学的昌明而没落；同时科学的发达固然能在一方面说是福利于人们，但是科学的昌明也正是日益促进人类的罪恶与黑暗。展开来说：何况法律只能治少数和有形，而不能统治多数无形的罪恶与道德，于是人类超于物质的生活反因科学的急进而入于毫无轨道的搁浅状态。
那么与宗教有同等地位的艺术是否对于这项问题有补救的可能或取而代之的必要，这就是今后艺术之新估价的先决条件。
在科学打破了宗教的迷信之下一般人们彷徨着的心情是急待寻找一个新的中心信仰，换句话说也就是需要一种共同的精神寄托；艺术是和宗教一样的精神活动，但是它不使人迷信，并且它在无形中可以陶冶人们的性情，冥冥中支配着人们的形而上的一些行动，这样看艺术自然是科学昌明后取宗教而代之的惟一的东西。不过事实不是这般的轻巧。艺术虽说是负有表现、批评、领导社会的使命，但，过去艺术在宗教及资本主义社会的权威下始终未能负起自己的使命，更反而做了它们的奴隶。
我们知道艺术如果做了唱资本主义大戏的配角，它决不能成为一般共同的精神寄托：如果不完全摆布开被宗教的利用则终于不能确立它的使命。所谓资本主义大戏的配角—艺术，可以分两方面来说：一种是专供资产者享乐的艺术，一种是被资本家用来做商品战先锋的诱惑性艺术：前者固然很明显的是艺术的歧途，就是后者又何尝不更明显的失去艺术本来面目而变成科学罪恶的帮凶，无异意的是人类走向黑暗的向导。那么艺术怎样才能跳出这样的火坑更负起它应负的伟大使命呢？这很明白的，只期待着现在艺术家本身的觉醒！
所谓觉醒并不是艺术家要以艺术为至高无上的东西，更应当醒悟到怎样使艺术的情绪随时的普及的播到大众之前，以充实一般人类的形而上的生活而挽救人们于专为物质而生活的无限痛苦中。再爽直的说就是我们要觉醒现在所需要的艺术是：不为宗教做宣传，不专供少数资产者的享乐，更不做物质的奴隶！而以实用为手段或媒介以便达到普播艺术情绪到大众之前的目地而促进现在搁浅着的超于物质的生活。
这样的不但是艺术今后的新价值，而且是艺术家正当的新出路。
5，16，1935. 北平
A Modest Essay on a Grand Topic: The New Valuation of Art and the Awakening of Artists
By Wang Yuanqi
The author has recently been occupied with writing The Sources of Patterns and Other Topics. Amid frequent requests for contributions, I often ponder the future of art and the challenges facing artists themselves. Here, I pen a few lines to spark discussion, sincerely hoping the art community will rise to debate these ideas. —Author’s Note
Is art for life’s sake, or for art’s own sake? This question once sparked heated debate and likely still lingers in people’s minds. We need not delve too deeply into its conclusion for now; instead, we can glimpse art’s new value through the lens of societal change.
First, let us trace art’s historical status. In its earliest forms, art was a product of humanity’s surplus energy, created simply without any specific purpose. As human desires grew, and as a result of increasingly complex and tangible outcomes, private property flourished. The wealthy, with their abundance of resources, gradually turned art into a pleasure exclusive to a privileged class with surplus means. Meanwhile, artists themselves often struggled to achieve material security. Thus, art became a commodity, floating between artists and the affluent. In this state, art was inevitably exploited for purposes beyond its essence.
This reality persists today.
Clothing, food, and shelter are essentials for human survival, but spiritual pursuits like religion and art are equally vital. In the past, religion was the primary spiritual anchor for most people, who were unaware that entrusting their spirit to religion was a superstitious practice.
In recent years, faith in superstitious religions has waned with the rise of science. While scientific progress has undeniably brought benefits to humanity, it has also increasingly fueled human vice and darkness. To elaborate: laws can only govern a few tangible wrongs, not the countless intangible moral failings. As a result, humanity’s spiritual life, far from flourishing, has become stranded in a trackless void due to science’s rapid advance.
Can art, which holds a status equal to religion, offer a remedy for this problem or even replace religion? This is the precondition for revaluing art’s future role.
With science shattering religious superstition, people’s bewildered hearts urgently seek a new central belief—or, in other words, a shared spiritual anchor. Art, like religion, is a spiritual endeavor, but it does not breed superstition. It subtly shapes human character and quietly guides metaphysical actions. Viewed this way, art seems the natural successor to religion in an age of scientific enlightenment. Yet reality is not so simple. Though art is tasked with expressing, critiquing, and leading society, it has historically failed to fulfill this mission under the dominance of religion and capitalist society, instead becoming their servant.
We know that if art plays a supporting role in the grand drama of capitalism, it cannot serve as a universal spiritual anchor. Likewise, if it does not fully break free from religious exploitation, it cannot establish its true mission. Art as a capitalist sidekick can be divided into two types: one is art made solely for the enjoyment of the wealthy; the other is seductive art used by capitalists as a vanguard in commercial battles. The former is clearly a misstep for art, but the latter is even more blatantly a betrayal of art’s true nature, turning it into an accomplice to science’s sins and a guide leading humanity toward darkness. How, then, can art escape this pit of fire and take up its great mission? The answer is clear: it depends on the awakening of artists themselves!
This awakening does not mean artists should treat art as the supreme ideal. Rather, they must realize how to spread art’s emotional resonance widely and constantly to the masses, enriching humanity’s spiritual life and rescuing people from the endless pain of living solely for material gain. To put it bluntly, the art we need now is one that does not propagandize for religion, does not cater to the pleasure of a wealthy few, and does not enslave itself to material pursuits. Instead, it should use practicality as a means or medium to bring art’s emotional depth to the masses, revitalizing the now-stranded spiritual life.
This is not only the new value of art moving forward but also the rightful path for artists.
May 16, 1935, Beiping