The Asian Influence In Drawing I-XV, 2002, HTML & text, dimensions variable

Text from From Early Chinese Texts on Painting, Compiled and Edited by Susan Bush and Hsio-yen Shih, Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1985

Brushwork Kuo Jo-hsü (ca. 1080)

Generally in painting, as spirit consonance originates from pleasing the mind, so spiritual character (shen-ts'ai) is produced by applying the brush. The problems of using the brush [properly] may be readily appreciated. Hence Chang Yen-yüan could only commend Wang Hsien-chih's ability to do single-stroke calligraphy and Lu T'an-wei's grasp of single-stroke painting. It was not merely that the writing on a page or the depiction of an object might be executed with a single stroke, but rather that from beginning to end the brush was responsive, that connecting links were interdependent and the flow of energy uninterrupted. Thus, "if the concept is formulated before the brushwork," when brushwork is complete the concept will be within, then "when the painting is finished, the concept will be present," its images will correspond and its spirit be whole. Only when what is within is satisfied in itself will the spirit be tranquil and the concept settled. When the spirit is tranquil and the concept settled, the imagination will not flag, nor the brush labor...

From Early Chinese Texts on Painting, Compiled and Edited by Susan Bush and Hsio-yen Shih, Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1985, p. 97.

Su Shih (1037-1101) Writing about a painter and one of his paintings:

Bamboos chilled but preeminent,
Trees lean but enduring,
Rocks homely but distinctive,
These are "the three beneficial friends."
Their brilliance makes us befriend them;
Their independence forbids their being constrained.
I think of this man-
Alas, can I ever meet him again?

From Early Chinese Texts on Painting, Compiled and Edited by Susan Bush and Hsio-yen Shih, Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1985, p. 201.

Wang Ch'in-chen (11th century)

We know, indeed, that spiritual excellence is not easy to describe.
But if one's heart is in accord with the Tao, one can know how to do it.
Ther is surely a single principle in literacture, callibraphy, and painting.
Have we not heard of Wang Wei's "In a former life I must have been a Painting Master.

From Early Chinese Texts on Painting, Compiled and Edited by Susan Bush and Hsio-yen Shih, Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1985, p. 209.

Chang Tun-li (activbe ca. 1068-ca. 1102)

Although painting's role in the arts is small, its effects of causing people to examine the good and warning against the evil, and of exhorting people to see and hear [such precepts], have benefits. How can it be relegated to the masses of common artisans?

From Early Chinese Texts on Painting, Compiled and Edited by Susan Bush and Hsio-yen Shih, Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1985, p. 197.

Excerpt from Shan-shui lun

Midpoints [waists] of mountains are cloud-filled,
Walls of rock are spring-filled,
Towers and terraces are tree-filled,
Roads and paths are people-filled.
In stones, one sees three faces,
In paths, one sees two ends,
In trees, one sees the crowning tops,
In water, one sees the wind's footprints.
These are the methods...

From Early Chinese Texts on Painting, Compiled and edited by Susan Bush and Hsio-yen Shih, Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1985, p. 173.

Excerpt from Shan-shui lun

Midpoints [waists] of mountains are cloud-filled,
Walls of rock are spring-filled,
Towers and terraces are tree-filled,
Roads and paths are people-filled.
In stones, one sees three faces,
In paths, one sees two ends,
In trees, one sees the crowning tops,
In water, one sees the wind's footprints.
These are the methods...

From Early Chinese Texts on Painting, Compiled and edited by Susan Bush and Hsio-yen Shih, Harvard- Yenching Institute, 1985, p. 173.