Xishan Qingyuan: The Historical and Aesthetic Transformation of Landscape Painting During the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties

Author: Lü Peng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: The basic descriptive structure of this book is that landscape painting did not truly take shape before the Five Dynasties. The perfect interpretation of nature was limited to the heart and words—it was a long period of "spiritual landscape." During the Five Dynasties and the early Northern Song Dynasty, painters adopted methods as close to visual reality as possible in their portrayal of nature. They believed that whether it was nature or its spiritual essence could be depicted. The extraordinary ability of the painters led to the emergence of "true depiction" in "realistic landscape." However, the "true depiction" of nature lacked methodological support. The traditional materials and the knowledge system behind them could not guide painters to observe the physical appearance of nature. Painters regarded the ancient views and expressions of nature as doctrines to be followed. At the same time, the knowledge system of the entire era shifted from external to internal, with no intellectual influence guiding painters in their empirical understanding of the physical world. As a result, they gradually developed a set of brushwork and ink techniques to express nature, especially those painters who lived in imperial or noble environments were influenced by the power and system, leading to the creation of "formulaic landscape." On the other hand, the inseparable fusion of Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist thought, under political pressure, continuously drew the thoughts and feelings of painters inward. The cultivation of character and the pursuit of the highest spiritual realm required abandoning the material appearance of "form." Whether painting depicted "form" or the "meaning" beyond it became a criterion for taste, status, and education. Scholar-officials, who controlled the interpretation of classical thought, confidently regarded themselves as authorities in evaluating painting quality. The practice and concept of "expressive landscape" gradually emerged and formed the standard Chinese painting style as painters faced nature. This deeply influenced the history of landscape painting for generations—afterward, traditional Chinese landscape painting evolved based on the spiritual content, style, and brushwork forms established by the painters of the Song Dynasty, until the perfection and eventual decline of these brushwork forms. This is precisely the prerequisite that any reader must understand before reading Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasty landscape paintings, and it is undoubtedly the key feature that researchers point out to distinguish Chinese landscape painting from Western landscape painting.