Orchids, Bamboo and Rock, before 1740, by Zheng Xie (1693—1765). Hanging scroll, ink on paper. The Palace Museum, Beijing.
The Literati
The Qing period saw a well-developed tradition of literati painting continuing earlier interests in monochrome painting of landscapes, mountains, rivers, birds and flowers. The traditional school is represented by exceptionally good paintings by the four Wangs from the Palace collection. Opponents to literati painting undertook more iconoclastic approaches to their subject matter. The paintings of fish and birds by Bada Shanren are a fine example of this approach. A jade mountain presents in solid, physical form, the Chinese use of mountains as places of contemplation, of imagination and of metaphor.
