Pine Spirit by Wu Guanzhong, Modern, 1984

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This painting depicts the Huang Mountains. The mountains seem to be disturbed by a black squiggle in front of them, which we believe demonstrates the concept of yin and yang, a pillar of Taoism.

The yin and yang symbolize the balance between nature and opposing forces. In this painting, the balance between nature (symbolized by the Huang Mountains) and the opposing forces (the black squiggle).

Landscape by Shitao, Qing Dynasty

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This painting is an individualist painting – an expression of the artist’s personal feelings that were made in a very original styles.

Pictured is a monk, sitting in a hut in the center of the picture, looking at the mountains around him. The mountains seem to be roiling around in turmoil. Various colored dots around the picture are meant to be vegetation. The way the vegetation covers him, it makes the viewer think that the monk’s thoughts could be troubled.

This is thought to be a Buddhist painting.

Poet on a Mountain Top, Ming Dynasty

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This artwork has both a painting and a poem involved.

The translation of the poem reads:
White clouds like a scarf enfold the mountain’s waist
Stone steps hang in space — a long narrow path.
Alone, leaning on my cane, I gaze intently at the scene,
And feel like answering the murmuring brook with the music of my flute.

The poem emphasizes how the poem on the mountaintop is becoming one with nature. He (or she) is on a narrow path and gazing intently at the scene before him (or her). When the poem speaks of answering the brook with a flute, the poet is attempted to communicate with nature.

The emphasis on communication with nature makes the artwork an example of Taoist art, because Taoist’s strongly believe in the human relationship with nature.

The Rongxi Studio, Yuan Dynasty

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This artwork uses a dry brush technique, in which the brush has minimal amounts of ink, so the white paper breathes through the ragged strokes. the resulting painting has an appearance of a light touch and a sense of simplicity and purity.

Despite there being no clear religious connection, with analysis it is assumed that “The Rongxi Studio” fits most with the Buddhist aesthetic of Simplicity and Purity.

Travelers Among Mountains and Streams, Song Dynasty

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“Travelers Among Mountains and Streams” is generally considered a Taoist painting because of the way it emphasizes a close relationship between humans and nature.

The composition is laid out in three stages, alluding to the three acts of a drama. In the bottom level is a group of rocks that establishes in a foreground. In the middle ground, a group of travelers and their mules are entering the image from the right. The middle ground takes up twice as much space as the foreground. The background is the largest part of the picture, and the mountain solidifies and bursts as energetic brush strokes describe the scrubby growth on top.

The painting conveys a feeling to the viewer of climbing a mountain and leaving behind the human reality to come face to face with a spiritual reckoning and Great Ultimate in communion.

The Western Paradise of Amitabha Buddha, Tang Dynasty

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“The Western Paradise of Amitabha Buddha” is a cave painting found in Dunhuang, a major stop along the Silk Road.

The painting itself is a Buddhist painting, picturing Amitabha Buddha seated in the center of the work, along with four bodhisattvas (otherwise known as his messengers to the world). There are two other groups of bodhisattvas to his left and right.

The artist seemed to have viewed Western Paradise as one filled with ornate Tang palaces, and the paradise was recorded with great attention to the naturalism in the architecture. This shows the visualization of the splendor of the Tang Civilization.

“Detail of Admonitions”, Six Dynasties Period

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The full title of this image is “Detail of Admonitions of the Imperial Instructress to Court Ladies”.

This image shows an escaped circus bear that rushes to kill the Han Emperor. The female servants are show running away from the bear, while the male figures attempt to fight it off with spears. Lady Feng, calm and ladylike, simply places herself in front of the bear, protecting the emperor in her own way.

This painting illustrates two out of the six ideal painting principles as written by scholar Xie He.

(1) It depicts the belief of the daoist/taoist qui, or the breath that animates all creation and shows life’s movement.
(2) The brush strokes illustrate the bones of the picture, which is a primary structural element.

Painted Banner, from the Han Dynasty

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The “Painted Banner” marks the beginning of a mythocentric age, where people believed in a close relationship between the human and supernatural worlds. The beliefs of Buddhism are closely related to the tie between physical and supernatural world.

The idea of ‘heaven’ is shown in the top and horizontal part of the painting and is represented by dragons that are looping around each other. A deceased woman and her three attendants are pictured standing on a platform, with two of them offering gifts.

This offering distinctly shows the relationship between humans and what they believed they could do to influence the supernatural world.

Below the dragons and the woman is the section of the banner representing the underworld.

Click here for an artists rendition of the banner, in black and white.