From Wang Wei to Fan Kuan: The Evolution of Zhongnan Mountain and Landscape Painting in the Tang and Song Dynasties

Around the transition from the Tang to the Song dynasty, landscape painting developed into two distinct northern and southern styles, each depicting familiar scenery with lifelike realism. As the source that gave rise to both schools, Zhongnan Mountain laid the historical groundwork for the evolution of Chinese painting's form and substance. It is the spiritual home of landscape painting. Taking surviving landscape works by Wang Wei of the Tang and Fan Kuan of the Northern Song, along with works documented in historical records, as its starting point, this book examines Zhongnan Mountain's natural terrain and environmental changes firsthand. It discusses the innovations and transformations in landscape painting during the Tang and Song dynasties, and explores the close relationship between Zhongnan Mountain and the genre.