· Topic Popularity: Traditional Zen Chinese Landscape painting involves essentially the same techniques as Chinese calligraphy. Many critics consider Zen landscape to be the highest form of Chinese painting. The Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song period (907-1127) is known as the "Great age of Chinese landscape". In the north, artists such as Jing Hao, Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi painted pictures of towering mountains, using strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted brushstrokes to suggest rough rocks. In the south, Dong Yuan, Juran, and other artists painted the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in peaceful scenes done with softer, rubbed brushwork. These two kinds of scenes and techniques became the classical styles of Chinese landscape painting affirming the oneness of self. · Book Relevance: Wei Xiong 'Unaltered Landscapes' is following a technique and tradition dated more than 2,000 years. For thousands of years landscape paintings, or shan shui hua have been a major part of Chinese art.

Zen Landscape art is one of the most familiar types of Chinese painting around the world and are familiar to almost everyone who considers themselves a lover of Chinese art. · Current Cultural Conversation: Zen Landscape Art images of nature have remained a potent source of inspiration for artists down to the present day. While the Chinese landscape has been transformed by millennia of human occupation, Chinese artistic expression has also been deeply imprinted with images of the natural world. Viewing Chinese landscape paintings, it is clear that Chinese depictions of nature are seldom mere representations of the external world. Rather, they are expressions of the mind and heart of the individual artists--cultivated landscapes that embody the culture and cultivation of their masters. · Appeal to an Audience: Wei Xiong 'Unaltered Landscapes' has a great potential International audience. For persons who love Chinese and Japanese Zen Landscape Art, Wei Xiong's book celebrates tradition and its connection to the natural world. Meditative, mysterious, and perplexing, Chinese landscape paintings has captivated the imagination of the West.

Zen Landscape art is known for its elegant simplicity, embodied in the many paintings in this wondrous book.