On the Mountains

The confucian and Daoist intellectual background of the shanshui artists of the five dynasties and Northern Song caused the shanshui tradition that they established to become a model for the shanshui paintings of later generations. An ink painting does not display the result of a single journey amongst hills and water, it is a recollection of an experience amongst nature itself. This beautiful painting adopts a perspective known as upper distance (gao yuan), meaning some standing at the bottom of the mountain and looking up towards the top of the mountain. A singular hut is finely painted in the middle ground with a wooden bridge connecting two rocks. This sign of living is connected right to the upper areas of the mountain where another cluster of huts can be observed. Overall, this is a peaceful and serene painting. Born in 1954, Wen Cheng Yi graduated from the Southwest University College of Fine Arts. He has been a professional artist for 42 years.