Dong Qichang, born in Shanghai, was a famous literati artist in the late Ming dynasty and one of the most influential art theorists in Chinese art history. His interpretation of Chinese painting went beyond listing and grading the artists. He determined that there were two styles of Chinese painting, which he called the Southern school and Northern school, terms based on Buddhist theories and not geography. Dong advocated the Southern style and cited Huang Gongwang as a master.



Dong acquired the 13th century masterpiece by Huang Gongwang, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, in the winter of 1596 and then obtained a 15th-century copy by a leading Suzhou painting master, Shen Zhou, in the autumn of 1626. Having the original work and an extraordinary copy, Dong studied both renditions and then produced his own version of this scroll. Huang evoked texture on rocks with short parallel lines, called “hemp-fiber” brush strokes. He also frequently laid down layers of horizontal ink dots. This painting clearly shows Dong imitating these characteristics.

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