This body of work grew out of Wang Mansheng’s daily practice of Shufa, forming the foundation for his long and deliberate preparation of the exhibition Without Us. Each poem functions as a meditative allusion, guiding his reflection on the central question: how might we imagine a landscape without people? For Wang, the modern eye is saturated with the noise of industrial landscapes and artifacts. In contrast, he seeks tranquility in nature—a mental state that opens the possibility of transcendental engagement with the world around him. Written on handmade bark paper, these daily accumulations embody a contemplative process: each character flows across the page like wind and waves, carrying his pursuit of Wuren (无人, “without us”).

Wang interprets Wuren as the active forgetting of human desire through the cultivation of tranquility, allowing the self to dissolve into nature. For him, Shufa is the ideal medium for reaching this state of mind. Beneath his writings lies a structure grounded in ancient scripts. Each character sits solidly in place, every stroke landing with weight, evoking the stonelike strength of seal and clerical scripts.

At the same time, his strokes extend beyond their boundaries, merging into the next, breaking free from formal constraints with the unrestrained movement of nature. Yet his brushwork remains consistent, imbued with “tendons and bones” that give strength to the body of each stroke. Through this writing, one can picture the seated writer, channeling his energy and spirit into the bare paper—maximizing his presence while at the same time intentionally dissolving it.

本辑作品来自王满晟的日常书法习作，因创作于其个展《无人》准备阶段，遂成为展览之基石。他所写的每篇诗文都是在用典中寄情沉思，叩问展览的主题：我们该如何设想无人的世界？在王满晟的觉察中，当代的感官已被工业造物的喧嚣填满，而他渴求于自然中找到娴静的心境，使他与周遭的世界超然相处。他书于朴素皮纸上的日常感悟汇集成一段冥想，其中字句流经纸面如风如澜，载着他对无人的求索。

“静坐在忘求”是王满晟对“无人”境界的阐释。在对沉静心态的练习中，他渴求主动忘却人之欲求，终将自我融于自然之中。书法便是他修炼这种心境的理想媒介。他字句下暗藏的章法来自对古典的研习，使每个字和其中笔画泰然稳坐，显现金石之气。

王满晟的笔画于其止处延展，汇入下一画，挣脱出章法而拥抱自然精气。同时他的运笔始终如一，存筋骨于所到之处，支撑重墨下的饱满肉身，映出那个静坐于案前的写者。此刻，他的全部精力汇集于笔端，他的自我也于无中生有。

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Inscription:

掛長纓於朱闕，反素褐於丘園，
On the vermilion gate I hanglong tassel of my lance, to my homeward garden I returnwith plain clothes of the common,
靡閑風於林下，鏡洋流之清闊，
sweeping awayidle winds beneath the woods, mirroring to theethe clear and vast waves,
仰濁酒以箕踞，間絲竹而晤言。
with murky wine I sit,legs stretched at ease, among strings and flutes we chat, words tranquil in peace.
  
湛方生“七歡”"Seven Joys" by Zhan Fangsheng
壬寅半升書 Bansheng wrote in 2022 (trans. James Xue)