Dong Qichang’s Water Step Axis

[Dong Qichang’s Water Steps in the Forest]

The Water Steps in the Forest axis, painted by Dong Qichang in the Ming Dynasty, paper version, ink pen, 115.8 cm vertically and 45.3 cm horizontally
In the picture, there are sparse forests, steep slopes, gentle rivers, deep valleys and lush mountains. The title “The woods are indistinguishable, and the water steps are indistinguishable. The Xuanzai painting” is sealed with the seal of “Zongbo Bachelor” and “Dongshi Xuanzai”. The other seals are: “Xiyi” white text square seal, “Xuzhai Approval” white text square seal, “Pangleichen Treasure Seal” Zhu text rectangular seal, and “Sun Yufeng Treasure Seal” Zhu text rectangular seal. On the right side, there are “Yun Hui Zhai Seal”, “Bai Wenfang Seal” and “Zhu Wenfang Seal”
The sentence “The end of the forest is inseparable, and the water step is indistinguishable” comes from the five-character quatrain “Wangyuan Village” written by the Sun Monk Jiao Ran of the tenth generation of Xie Lingyun in the Southern Dynasty between Dali and Zhenyuan of the Tang Dynasty. The whole poem is as follows: “The end of the forest is inseparable, and the water step is indistinguishable. A piece of green edge of the mountain can vaguely see the distance of the village.” (See Volume 820 of the Whole Tang Poetry). The second volume of Pang Laichen’s “Xu Zhai Famous Paintings Continuation” describes this picture as the axis of “Dong Wenmin’s Picturesque and Beautiful Forest Range”
Dong Qichang’s landscape is more dizzy than chapped, and has a beautiful and moist appearance. The layout is not complicated, simple and crisp, and the artistic conception is quiet and elegant, which makes people feel relaxed and happy.