Greatness Won’t Come Solely from Imitation单靠模仿无法成就伟大

陈繁昌

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.

最近坐飛机的时候，我看了一部电影，叫《中国凡·高》。这部中国与荷兰的合拍片讲述了深圳大芬村一位以临摹伟大画家凡·高作品为生的画工赵小勇的故事。

我很久以前去过大芬。大芬油画村由香港画商黄江创建，被誉为“中国油画第一村”。这里销售高仿世界名画，年营业额高达6500万美元（折合5.07亿港元）。

那是我第一次得知有临摹名画的生意，当时还想找人画一张全家福，但最后不了了之。《中国凡·高》不仅仅是一部纪录片。它很感人，但绝非“催泪弹”。

赵小勇20年前从家乡湖南来到大芬时一贫如洗，与家人开始临摹凡·高作品，至今已临摹了10万余幅。

他临摹凡·高画作多年，非常热爱凡·高，对员工的作品也严格把关。但他从未去过荷兰，甚至没有见过凡·高的真迹。

赵小勇一直想去一趟荷兰，但高昂的费用让他一再望而却步。

几经努力，他最终说服了妻子，得偿所愿。

抵达阿姆斯特丹之后，赵小勇很快发现大街上有些高仿的凡·高油画都出自其手。

但他也发现，自己的高仿画作在阿姆斯特丹卖到一幅500欧元（相当于4600港元），而在中国国内只能卖100元人民币（相当于580港元），当中巨大的差价让他五味杂陈。

参观凡·高博物馆的时候，赵小勇的情绪异常激动。

他被原作的美丽折服，同时意识到自己缺乏凡·高的创意灵感，自己的临摹作品从未能捕捉到原作的精髓。他质疑自己的存在价值，质疑自己能否继续画画。

后来到了法国普罗旺斯，赵小勇在凡·高创作《夜晚露天咖啡座》的地点作画，引来途人拍手称赞，这终于让他重拾自信。

回到中国后，赵小勇开始在大芬和家乡湖南创作原创作品。赵小勇的新事业能否成功，让我们拭目以待，但他的故事与中国近年来的经济发展之间有着惊人的相似之处。

生产高仿名画如今已成为一门庞大的生意，赵小勇也靠此发财致富，正如中国在过去20年间凭借“世界工厂”的模式迅速发展一样。

但模仿别人始终有局限性。正如赵小勇最终意识到，自己需要有原创灵感和原创精神才能达到更高的层次，才能实现自我满足。

同样，今天的中国是否已经找到自己的创新引擎，以摆脱单纯“世界工厂”的标签呢？

中国在技术和商业领域已逐渐有所创新，大疆无人机、腾讯微信，以及阿里巴巴的“双十一”网购节都是很好的例子（西方国家甚至开始仿效举办类似网购促销活动）。

不过品牌知名度则是另一回事。有人可能会说百度相当于谷歌，小米相当于苹果，但我们还没有看到具有突破性的中国品牌，还没有看到“中国的凡·高”。

单靠模仿无法成就伟大。我期待看到中国在创新和技术方面也能有自己的“凡·高”，越快越好。