Contextualizing Art I-Confucianism and Daoism in Chinese Landscape Painting

Rachel Ejem

ARH 206
Pofessor Wallinder-Pierini
October 29, 2014

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This essay analyzes the landscape painting entitled Buddhist Temple and Clearing
Mountain Peaks. This is an ink painting on silk and it is 111.8 cm long and 56 cm. wide The
artist of this painting is unknown because it was undated and unsigned, however this painting is
claimed to be that of the artist Li Cheng. He is considered to be the originator of this kind way
of painting. This painting was created during the reign of the five dynasties in China.1
There are three elements that closely work together in this landscape. The first element is
the tall dark mountains in the background, second is the mist in the middle ground, finally the
water in the foreground. In the middle ground there are two waterfalls; both of these waterfall lie
close to the left edge. The one furthest away is painted with a softer brush stroke and the paint is
lighter. This gives an illusion of depth by using atmospheric perspective. This waterfall ends as a
mist that can be seen in the center of the painting. The other waterfall is closer to the view as its
strokes are sharper than the other waterfall. This waterfall does not end as a mist, but it becomes
a stream of water. The water then travels down a stream and widens out at the foreground. A
pathway begins on the bottom left side in the foreground, and it ends in the center of the painting
(in the middle ground). Along this pathway, there are people walking the path. There are also
buildings with people inside along the mountain on both side of the path. The path ultimately
leads to a Buddhist temple at the top of the mountain. During this time in China, it was common
that foreigners introduced Buddhism to the natives.2 There are also many trees painted in this
landscape, and they are painted as silhouettes. The branches have a claw-like shape.
There is a clear distinction between the top half and bottom half of this landscape. In the
upper half there are very tall mountains. This is common with Northern Chinese paintings.3
These mountains are in the far distance, and are painted with grayer tones than the lower region

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that was described in the previous paragraph. The bottom area of the mountains suddenly
vanishes as the mist covers it.
During this time in Chinese history, paintings were done on silk using black ink.
According to Fong, Chinese painting is the art of the brush, so it is important to identify the
artists ideas of a formal structure through their brush strokes.4 While this painting lacks color, it
has great detail. For Li Cheng, he painted tree branches to look claw-like.5 In China, nobles
would place a stamp of approval over paintings that they liked, and this painting has one.6
In early Chinese history, calligraphy and poetry were the dominant means of creativity.
Painting of this kind evolved from the ideas written in poetry. At first, landscape paintings were
rarely done. Most art created were figurative pieces, with landscapes was used mostly as a
background.7 It was not a stand-alone piece until Buddhism came into China during the Tang
period.8 The rise of landscape painting developed from Daoist ideas.9 The
Daoist believed in harmony with nature, as well as human communication with nature.
Many Confucian scholars would go up to the mountains and aim to capture liveliness in what
they observed. They wanted to capture the spirit through form, by mimicking representation.
10

During the reign of the five dynasties, foreigners controlled the empire.11 A lot of war
occurred during this time as well. The original images of landscape paintings were lost because
of this reason, so the paintings that are studied in Chinese are often replicas rather than the
original.12 It was an honor for them to learn from the original artist. Some Confucian scholars
fled into the mountains to avoid the chaos of having new rulers, and became Buddhist monks.13
They would paint the mountains and trees.

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Chinese landscape paintings can be analyzed on two different levels. The basic level is a
literal description of the painting. The higher level requires interpreting what cannot be inferred
from what is seen. It requires a person to know and understand the symbols in the painting.
There is a hierarchical symbol in this piece.14 As stated previously, the mountains represent a
dominant figure. The mountains are the largest in scale in comparison to any other element. It
could possibly symbolize the emperor who ruled of China at this time. The long pathway
symbolizes the journey one must endure to reach their enlightenment. 15 At the end of the
pathway a person reaches the Buddhists temple, and thus reaches enlightenment.
Li Chengs style of painting has influenced many Chinese artists to succeed him. This
painting is a prototype of Chinese landscape paintings because many people duplicated his style
of painting. As Fong states, Every Chinese painting is at once representation, decoration and
abstraction.16 Each painting represents nature in an appealing way, but each painting is symbolic
to the history of China during the time of its creation.

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Notes

1 Sherman E. Lee, A History of Far Eastern Art. Fifth edition, Prentice-Hall, andHarry N. Abrams,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and New York, 1993, 465.
2 Sherman E. Lee, A History of Far Eastern Art. Fifth edition, Prentice-Hall, andHarry N. Abrams,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and New York, 1993, 151.
3 Sherman E. Lee, A History of Far Eastern Art. Fifth edition, Prentice-Hall, andHarry N. Abrams,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and New York, 1993, 477.
4 Wen C. Fong, Why Chinese Painting Is History, Art Bulletin, Vol. 85, No. 2 (2003): 260.
5 Sherman E. Lee, A History of Far Eastern Art. Fifth edition, Prentice-Hall, andHarry N. Abrams,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and New York, 1993, 467.
6 Sherman E. Lee, A History of Far Eastern Art. Fifth edition, Prentice-Hall, andHarry N. Abrams,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and New York, 1993, 467.
7 Alexander C. Soper, Early Chinese Landscape Painting, Art Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 2 (1941): 151.
8 Alexander C. Soper, Early Chinese Landscape Painting, Art Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 2 (1941): 156.
9 Alexander C. Soper, Early Chinese Landscape Painting, Art Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 2 (1941): 152.
10 Alexander C. Soper, Early Chinese Landscape Painting, Art Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 2 (1941): 152.
11 Sherman E. Lee, A History of Far Eastern Art. Fifth edition, Prentice-Hall, andHarry N. Abrams,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and New York, 1993, 487.

12 Wen C. Fong, Why Chinese Painting Is History, Art Bulletin, Vol. 85, No. 2 (2003): 271.
13 Sherman E. Lee, A History of Far Eastern Art. Fifth edition, Prentice-Hall, andHarry N. Abrams,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and New York, 1993, 487.
14 Wen C. Fong, Why Chinese Painting Is History, Art Bulletin, Vol. 85, No. 2 (2003): 262.

15 Alexander C. Soper, Early Chinese Landscape Painting, Art Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 2 (1941): 158.
16 Wen C. Fong, Toward a Structural Analysis of Chinese Landscape Painting, Art Journal, Vol. 28,
No. 4 (1969): 393.

Bibliography

Fong, Wen C., Toward a Structural Analysis of Chinese Landscape Painting, Art
Journal, Vol. 28, No. 4 (1969): 388-397.
Fong, Wen C., Why Chinese Painting Is History, Art Bulletin, Vol. 85, No. 2
(2003): 258-280.
Lee, Sherman E., A History of Far Eastern Art. Fifth edition, Prentice-Hall, and Harry N.
Abrams, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and New York, 1993.
Soper, Alexander C., Early Chinese Landscape Painting, Art Bulletin, Vol. 23,
No. 2 (1941): 141-164.