Page 403 - Chinese Art, Vol II By Stephen W. Bushell

—

PICTORIAL ART. 139

a storm of rain (l<'ng yil si'ng), and the like. A supplement is
reserved at the end for portrait painters (hsieh chen).
3. Kung Shih, " Palaces and buildings," Book 8.—Devoted to
architectural subjects. Among the titles of pictures we find the
vast palace A-fang Kung, built b.c. 212 by Shih Huang, the maker
of the Great Wall ; the luxurious palaces of the Han dynasty at
their two capitals of Si-ngan and Lo-yang ; many famous Buddhist
monasteries with temples, cloisters and pagodas ; the fabled realms
A
of Hsi Wang Mu and the celestial paradise of the Taoists, etc.
section in this class is reserved for the painters of ships, of chariots,
palanquins, and the like.
4. Fan Tsu, " Barbarian Tribes," last section of the 8th Book.
Pictures of nomad life beyond the frontier, Turkish, Tibetan, and
other types foreign to China horsemen in foreign costume, caravans
;
and hunting scenes, tribute- ijearing missions, and Chinese princesses
going abroad with their escorts ; strange customs, unknown
animals and other remarkable productions of alien lands.
5. Lung Yi/, " Dragons and Fish," Book 9.—Together with other
water animals affected by the Chinese artist, such as alligators,
crabs, crayfish, and the like. The dragon in Chinese folk-lore is
a transformed fish, it is figured riding the storm half-hidden in
rolling clouds, in opposition often to the tiger, the king of land
animals, which is represented roaring its defiance to the unseen
power of the spirit.
6. Shan Shiii, literally " Hills and Water," i.e., landscape, Books
10-12.—There were no landscapes in the collection anterior to the
T'ang dynasty (61S-906). The list opens with Li SsH-hsiin, the great-
grandson of the founder of the T'ang dynasty, the first landscape
painter of his time, who is celebrated as the founder of the Northern
School, one of the chief characteristics of which was its brilliant
colouring. Wang-Wei (699-759), the founder of the literary or
idealist school, some of the most famous productions of which were in
black and wliite, was represented in the Emperor Hui Tsung's gallery
8941. 2 A 2