Chapter 256: Second Place, the Thousand-Mile Landscape Painting

Reward for ranking: painter Yan Liben, extended lifespan by ten years!

A green light fell into the Tang dynasty.

Yan Liben, then Minister of Works, was working at the office when he suddenly felt his body and mind lighten, and ailments from years of desk work healed without medicine.

He was first startled, then suddenly clear, straightened his attire, and bowed deeply toward the direction of Taiji Palace (also the heavenly canopy direction):

"I, Yan Liben, thank Your Majesty's great grace, thank the immortal's commendation! I shall exhaust my clumsy efforts to paint more glorious scrolls for the Great Tang and for Your Majesty!"

He was thrilled; this work, once commissioned years ago, could now be so highly valued by Heaven's way!

Han dynasty.

"This one is good!"

Liu Bang slapped his thigh, "Look, how steady the emperor sits, full of bearing!"

"Those few Tubo people look instantly obedient!"

"Is this painting of Emperor Taizong of Tang? Hmm, a figure! This should be placed at the front!"

Xiao He nodded, "The painting's conception is lofty, recording great diplomatic events; its merit lies in the present, its benefit spans millennia. Yan Liben carries history with his brush; his merit is boundless."

Ying Zheng looked at the image of Li Shimin in the painting, was silent for a moment, then said, "Receiving foreign envoys, displaying national power… well painted. This Li Shimin indeed has a certain bearing."

Ying Zheng's tone unusually carried a hint of approval.

Tang dynasty.

Li Shimin saw the "Procession Cart Painting" on the list, placed fifth, and his dragon-like visage beamed with great joy.

"Good! Yan Liben's painting truly wins my heart!"

"You have painted me… hmm, with great dignity! The Tubo envoys are also exceedingly respectful."

"This painting should be passed down to future generations, showcasing the grandeur of our Great Tang!"

"Issue the decree, promote Yan Liben to Right Prime Minister, confer… no, he has just been granted ten more years of life, which is already a great reward. Grant him gold and silk, and his son a subordinate office!"

The ministers offered congratulations one after another.

Li Shimin felt proud and satisfied, thinking this heavenly canopy famous painting list suited his taste perfectly.

Fourth place: "Luo Shen Fu Tu".

(The surviving copy is a Song dynasty reproduction, but represents Gu Kaizhi's original style.)

Dynasty: Eastern Jin.

Artist: Gu Kaizhi.

Type: Long scroll of figure-and-landscape narrative (poetry and painting unified).

The scene suddenly became ethereal, floating, supremely romantic.

A long scroll slowly unfurled, depicting the love myth from Cao Zhi's "Ode to the River Goddess", where mortal and deity meet, entwine passionately, and eventually part.

In the painting, Luo Shen (the River Goddess) floats her sash, steps lightly on the waves, glances back with a timeless elegance.

Cao Zhi appears infatuated, his expression also carrying boundless wistfulness.

The landscape merges mountains and water, clouds swirl, exotic birds and beasts appear, creating a dreamlike, fantastical fairyland atmosphere.

The figure lines are like "spring silkworms spinning silk", fine and continuous, floating and smooth, pioneering a unique line-drawing style in Chinese painting.

The entire painting is filled with Romantic hues and poetic melancholy.

"Luo Shen Fu Tu", created by Eastern Jin painter Gu Kaizhi based on Cao Zhi's famous "Ode to the River Goddess".

Though the original is lost, later copies preserve its spirit and are widely recognized as representing Gu Kaizhi's artistic achievement.

Gu Kaizhi, revered as one of the four ancestral masters of painting, a pioneer of Chinese literati and landscape painting.

This work unites poetry and painting, perfectly transforming literary conception into visual form, establishing the aesthetic tradition of "painting contains poetry, poetry contains painting" in Chinese art.

Its "spring silkworms spinning silk" technique influenced later generations for a thousand years.

This painting is the source of Chinese painting aesthetics, a symbol of the first ever timeless romantic masterpiece.

Within the circles of scholars, poetry, and ancient-style culture, it holds supreme status, its cultural depth unmatched.

Reward for ranking: Gu Kaizhi, extended lifespan by ten years!

The green light traversed vast time and space, falling into the Eastern Jin.

Gu Kaizhi, painting a mural at Waguan Temple, suddenly felt a surge of pure spirit crown his head, the fatigue of many days of work swept away, inspiration gushed like a spring.

"How marvelous! This is a heavenly bestowed opportunity!"

Gu Kaizhi laughed heartily, lifted his brush, and the lines under his hand became ever more lively and vivid, as if about to break through the wall.

Monks and incense‑offering visitors in the temple were all astonished, thinking it a divine miracle.

"This painting… has celestial aura!"

Liu Bang stared, a bit dazed.

"That lady is truly beautiful! Like a fairy!"

"The line he draws seems to float! Gu Kaizhi… this name must be remembered, impressive!"

Ying Zheng was also slightly moved: "Figure and landscape merge as one, the artistic conception is ethereal, truly an extraordinary brush. Gu Kaizhi paints with celestial aura."

Third place: "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains".

Dynasty: Yuan.

Artist: Huang Gongwang.

Type: Ink wash landscape long scroll.

The scene became vast, sparse, with a remote artistic conception.

A long scroll of mountains and water, lightly rendered with ink wash, gradually unfolded.

It depicts the early autumn scenery along the Fuchun River: rolling peaks, sparse woods, pavilions and small bridges, fishing boats and wild ferries, dotted throughout.

The ink is sometimes dry, sometimes wet, sometimes thick, sometimes light, used at will; though appearing simple, it vividly expresses the plain innocence and deep tranquility of Jiangnan's scenery.

This painting does not pursue likeness, but seeks to express mood and the artistic interest of brush and ink, reaching the pinnacle of ink‑wash expressive landscape painting.

【'Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains', the late masterpiece of Yuan‑dynasty painter Huang Gongwang, is praised as 'the Lanting of paintings' and 'the supreme masterpiece of Chinese landscape art'.】

【Huang Gongwang, the foremost of the 'Four Masters of the Yuan', elevated literati painting to a new height.】

This painting is the product of his devotion to mountains and rivers and his purified contemplation of the Dao, a crystallization of his lifelong art and life insights.

His brush‑and‑ink language has reached a transcendent state, where simplicity reveals strange, lofty forms, and spaciousness hides valleys and ridges.

【The painting's provenance is legendary and tortuous; it once perished in fire, was split into two parts ('Remaining Mountain Painting' and 'Useless Master Scroll'), and is now housed on opposite banks, further enhancing its mythic aura.】

It serves as the ultimate model that later landscape painters copy and emulate, its status in the realm of landscape art unshakable.

【Reward for ranking: Huang Gongwang, ten years of extended longevity!】

A blue light fell into the Yuan dynasty, at the bank of the Fuchun River.

While fishing, Huang Gongwang suddenly felt his ears sharpen and his eyes clear; his rod sank, and a golden carp leapt out of the water!

He laughed heartily, released the fish, and bowed toward the sky,

"Thank you, immortal! In this life I have no regrets!"

"These Fuchun landscapes seem to require me to paint them for decades more!"

He only felt the blockades in his chest dissolve completely, his Dao‑heart becoming ever clearer.

"This painting… looks soothing."

Liu Bang smacked his lips, "It's not like those flashy ones before; just water and ink, a few light strokes—this mountain, this water, they instantly calm the mind."

"Huang Gongwang must be a transcendent master, right?"

Zhang Liang stared at the painting, sighing after a long while, "This work has entered the Dao realm; brush and ink are secondary, the artistic conception is fundamental."

"Viewing this painting is like facing a forest; it can cleanse worldly worries and nurture the heart. Huang Gongwang truly is an idle scholar."

Ying Zheng also nodded slightly, "Return to simplicity, the great elephant is formless."

"The realm of this painting is beyond technical discussion."

"The third place is truly well‑deserved."

【Second place: 'A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains'】

【Era: Northern Song】

【Artist: Wang Ximeng】

【Work type: Blue‑Green Landscape Handscroll】

The scene instantly became dazzlingly brilliant, its momentum grand and majestic!

A massive blue‑green landscape handscroll painted with mineral pigments such as stone blue and stone green spreads across the entire sky in an incomparably shocking manner.

In the painting, thousands of cliffs and myriad valleys vie for prominence, rivers stretch vast and endless, extending for a thousand miles.

Scattered throughout are rustic fishing villages, water pavilions, thatched huts, long bridges and mills, as well as dynamic scenes of fishing, sailing, travelers, and flying birds.

The colors are rich and vivid, layered upon layer, radiant and brilliant, as if the entire splendid landscape of the Great Song has been condensed into a single scroll.

Its composition is grand, its coloration magnificent, its spirit mighty, causing viewers to instantly feel boundless pride and awe, as if thinking "How splendid the rivers and mountains are!"