Chinese Literati Painting

My Chinese Art History teacher in college claimed that Chinese art history reached its zenith of design and visual sophistication some six hundred years before Manet, Degas and Picasso began transforming the world's view of fine art from traditional to modern.

artist: Zhao Mengfu

Wang Shuen-Hao
"In the spirit of Hermitude"

Literati is a term that implies intellectual or well read. The Chinese literati painting tradition began with emperors who dismissed their trusted advisors into exile (technically this was illegal but when you're emperor I guess you make the rules). Wandering the vast and remote mountains, contemplating the futile meaning of life when released from service these intellectuals would complete paintings as meditations on the landscape and the true nature of things or Qi (chi). Sometimes these paintings were seen as indirect criticisms of society, the mountains being representative of the ruler and his separation from the people being evidenced by great distance and fog. Often these paintings were given as gifts to friends or kind strangers who offered shelter to the haggard, wandering intellectual. 

The main distinction of Literati paintings from other art work of the times ( 600 - 1600 A.D.) was an exploration of imagery that went beyond decorative. Calligraphy theory was an important part of such a work and the first brush stroke of any painting was considered the most vital. The lines of these paintings explore how to 'truly' represent nature, how to capture the essence of what is being depicted rather than a realistic portrayal. The landscape formations play numerous visual tricks on the viewer. Utilizing scale, perspective, and thickness of line the literati painter created a world of infinite contemplation on his scroll. Generally these paintings were black and white and were accompanied by a meditative poem. The red seals are stamps from each of the owners the painting belonged to.