Greatness Won’t Come Solely from Imitation單靠模仿無法成就偉大

陳繁昌

I had the opportunity to catch a movie on a recent flight， China’s van Gogh， a China/Netherlands co-production about a painter/craftsman， Zhao Xiaoyong， who made a living drawing replicas of the work of the great Vincent van Gogh1， in Shenzhen’s Dafen village.

I had visited Dafen a long time ago. Founded by Hong Kong painter/trader Huang Jiang， Dafen is now dubbed the “No 1 village in painting” in China， and generates an annual turnover of US$65 million （HK$507 million） selling replicas of famous paintings worldwide.

The visit made me realize the existence of such a business， and I was tempted back then to order a family portrait but I never did. But China’s van Gogh is more than just a documentary. It is moving， but is in no way a “tear-jerker.”

Zhao is originally from Hunan. Impoverished when he arrived in Dafen 20 years ago， he started a family business by making replicas of van Gogh， and has finished over 100，000 copies.

A veteran now， Zhao has developed a passion for van Gogh and has strict requirements on the quality of his staff’s work， but he had never visited the Netherlands before， nor had he seen the real drawing by van Gogh himself.

Zhao had always wanted to make the trip， but prohibitive travel expenses put him off and off again.

After a long struggle with convincing his wife， Zhao eventually made the trip.

Upon arriving at Amsterdam， he soon recognized that a few van Gogh replicas on the streets were works of his own.

But he was also dismayed that his replicas were sold at a much higher price compared to what he was paid for them （Zhao sold his replicas at 100 yuan2 or HK$580， while in Amsterdam they were being sold at 500 euros or HK$4，600）.

Zhao had an emotional breakdown when he visited the van Gogh museum.

Awed by the beauty of the real work， he questioned his own raison d’etre： none of his replicas came close to capturing the elements in the originals， and he wondered whether he could continue painting at all knowing that he had none of the originality and creativity of the Dutch master.

Ultimately， Zhao recouped some of his confidence when he went to Provence， France， and drew a painting at the same spot where van Gogh drew his The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum3， to the delight of spectators.

Upon returning to China， Zhao began to produce original work in both Dafen and his home， Hunan. How Zhao would fare in his new quest is anybody’s guess， but I am struck by the parallels between Zhao’s story and China’s recent economic development.

Producing replicas of venerated paintings is a vast business in today’s world and， with it， Zhao made his fortune， just as China’s rapid growth in the past 20 years was fueled by becoming the “world’s factory.”

But mimicking others has its limits and， as Zhao realized eventually， he needed originality and creativity to rise to a higher level and to find satisfaction.

Similarly， has China today found its own creative engine to shred the tag of just being the factory of the world？

Gradually， we are seeing some innovative ideas originating from China in the tech and business scene， such as DJI’s drones， Tencent’s WeChat， and Alibaba’s November 11 online sales drive （in which the West has begun to copy）.

But when it comes to brand recognition， despite how some may claim that Baidu is the answer to Google and Xiaomi to Apple， we have yet to see a transformative force， i.e. China’s van Gogh.

The quest to true greatness cannot be done solely on imitation. I am looking forward to seeing China’s van Gogh in innovation and technology， the sooner the merrier.

最近坐飛機(jī)的時候，我看了一部電影，叫《中國凡·高》。這部中國與荷蘭的合拍片講述了深圳大芬村一位以臨摹偉大畫家凡·高作品為生的畫工趙小勇的故事。

我很久以前去過大芬。大芬油畫村由香港畫商黃江創(chuàng)建，被譽(yù)為“中國油畫第一村”。這里銷售高仿世界名畫，年營業(yè)額高達(dá)6500萬美元（折合5.07億港元）。

那是我第一次得知有臨摹名畫的生意，當(dāng)時還想找人畫一張全家福，但最后不了了之。《中國凡·高》不僅僅是一部紀(jì)錄片。它很感人，但絕非“催淚彈”。

趙小勇20年前從家鄉(xiāng)湖南來到大芬時一貧如洗，與家人開始臨摹凡·高作品，至今已臨摹了10萬余幅。

他臨摹凡·高畫作多年，非常熱愛凡·高，對員工的作品也嚴(yán)格把關(guān)。但他從未去過荷蘭，甚至沒有見過凡·高的真跡。

趙小勇一直想去一趟荷蘭，但高昂的費用讓他一再望而卻步。

幾經(jīng)努力，他最終說服了妻子，得償所愿。

抵達(dá)阿姆斯特丹之后，趙小勇很快發(fā)現(xiàn)大街上有些高仿的凡·高油畫都出自其手。

但他也發(fā)現(xiàn)，自己的高仿畫作在阿姆斯特丹賣到一幅500歐元（相當(dāng)于4600港元），而在中國國內(nèi)只能賣100元人民幣（相當(dāng)于580港元），當(dāng)中巨大的差價讓他五味雜陳。

參觀凡·高博物館的時候，趙小勇的情緒異常激動。

他被原作的美麗折服，同時意識到自己缺乏凡·高的創(chuàng)意靈感，自己的臨摹作品從未能捕捉到原作的精髓。他質(zhì)疑自己的存在價值，質(zhì)疑自己能否繼續(xù)畫畫。

后來到了法國普羅旺斯，趙小勇在凡·高創(chuàng)作《夜晚露天咖啡座》的地點作畫，引來途人拍手稱贊，這終于讓他重拾自信。

回到中國后，趙小勇開始在大芬和家鄉(xiāng)湖南創(chuàng)作原創(chuàng)作品。趙小勇的新事業(yè)能否成功，讓我們拭目以待，但他的故事與中國近年來的經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展之間有著驚人的相似之處。

生產(chǎn)高仿名畫如今已成為一門龐大的生意，趙小勇也靠此發(fā)財致富，正如中國在過去20年間憑借“世界工廠”的模式迅速發(fā)展一樣。

但模仿別人始終有局限性。正如趙小勇最終意識到，自己需要有原創(chuàng)靈感和原創(chuàng)精神才能達(dá)到更高的層次，才能實現(xiàn)自我滿足。

同樣，今天的中國是否已經(jīng)找到自己的創(chuàng)新引擎，以擺脫單純“世界工廠”的標(biāo)簽?zāi)兀?/p>

中國在技術(shù)和商業(yè)領(lǐng)域已逐漸有所創(chuàng)新，大疆無人機(jī)、騰訊微信，以及阿里巴巴的“雙十一”網(wǎng)購節(jié)都是很好的例子（西方國家甚至開始仿效舉辦類似網(wǎng)購促銷活動）。

不過品牌知名度則是另一回事。有人可能會說百度相當(dāng)于谷歌，小米相當(dāng)于蘋果，但我們還沒有看到具有突破性的中國品牌，還沒有看到“中國的凡·高”。

單靠模仿無法成就偉大。我期待看到中國在創(chuàng)新和技術(shù)方面也能有自己的“凡·高”，越快越好。