Chinese painters developed a complex system to look at the world that surround us, totally different from the anthropocentric way of experiencing the world carried on by the Albertian linear perspective. During the Song dynasty, perspective techniques were standardized, which lead to the general descriptions of the expressive possibilities of the artist in approaching the mountain and water painting, and formalizing the scattered perspective system. The first to do so was Guo Xi, with his three distances rule: the hight distance rule (gaoyuan 高远), observes and reproduces the subject as if it was looked at in all its height, from top to bottom and from bottom to the top, used in particular to represent large mountainous bodies in order to express all their grandeur and magnificence. The second is the deep distance rule (shenyuan 深远), that is, to describe the depth 'of the environment, therefore valleys, rivers, or other natural elements that develop in depth, which moves away from the observer. The third is the level distance (pingyuan 平远), which describes landscapes in the distance, with mountains that develop more horizontally than vertically, often characterized by large empty spaces that increase the feeling of distance and the vastness of spaces. Subsequently to Guo Xi, three other distances were added by another artist called Han Zhou 韩拙 (twelfth century), his perspective rules have a more atmospheric characterization than those from Guo Xi. The first is called broad distance (kuoyuan 阔远) which is characterized by large expanses of water that separate the observer from the mountains that rise in the distance, in this case increasing the feeling of emptiness and the perception of large spaces . The second is called shrouded distance (miyuan 迷远), where mists and fogs almost hides the landscape, creating a feeling of mystery and quiet. The final one is remote distance (youyuan 幽远), which indicates those natural elements that are located at a great distance, creating a scenario that the observer cannot reach. In addition to the formalization of the six distances, which had a lot of influence in the generations of successive painters, it is possible to find in theoretical or poetic texts, or through the observation of the paintings, other methodologies of visual approach by artists towards the subject to represent. In two poetic texts by Su Dongpo 苏东坡 (1037-1101) a dynamic and non-static approach is proposed in the observation of the natural environment. The first two verses of the poem On the walls of Xilin 《题西林壁》 quote: “looking from the side, a mountain range appears, in front you can see the peaks; highs, lows, near, distant, all are different ","横看成岭侧成峰，远近 高低各不同", he refers to the fact that for each point of view the scenery of Mount Lu 庐山 changes. The same concept expressed by another poem entitled Looking at the mountains from the river《上江看山》, where the author describes how the mountains changes the appearance of his journey as his boat runs along the river. This concept is indicated by the idiomatic phrase “bubu youjing” 步步有景, that is that the landscape is formed step by step, and not just by standing in front of it. It is the same concept expressed by Guo Xi when he says "Its shape [of the mountain] changes with each step". In these terms, the landscape can only be seen through movement, that is, by walking through it, inside and outside, as with each step a change is created in the observer's mind through an accumulation of images. This observation methodology is particularly suitable for mountain scenarios, where rocks, trees and rocky masses cover the view of what is behind them. However, if you are in a larger space, for instance lakes, large rivers or plains, the methodology of observation and representation will be different. In this case it is the spatial vastness that makes it impossible to embrace everything with a single glance, therefore the only way is to collect different spatial portions and join them together to fully represent the subject. The same way of viewing and applying on painting can be used to represent areas very distant from each other, through a process of omission. In this sense, it is possible to take a nearby environmental portion and, through a "space jump", place it alongside a very distant one, omitting everything in between.
Through these two visual methodologies we go against a large amount of material since the natural world is extremely rich and varied, but not all its elements are necessary for the artistic realization of a work. This is also because the presence of excessive quantities of subjects would make the painting confusing and unpleasant, which would make it impossible to communicate the spirit of the natural environment the painter intends to portray to the observer. For this reason, those who observe the subject must make a selection of the necessary and aesthetically relevant elements, following the principle expressed in the last two verses of the poem Plum blossom 《梅花》 by Li Fangying 李方膺 (1695-1755) which quote: "the eyes they see countless flowers, but only two or three branches are really pleasant ","触目横斜千万朵，赏心只有两三枝". In this case the author refers to the plum branches, which when they bloom are loaded with flowers, but only a few follow our aesthetic taste and therefore it is worth painting. Another aspect is that it is expressed by the phrase "a thousand mountains can be painted, but only one has a green top", "千山多入画, 只取一青峰", that is to say that if we paint a large amount of mountains or others subjects, not all of them must be represented in a rich and detailed way so that all attract the observer's attention in the same way, but only one, or some, depending on the needs of the work, must be richly depicted, otherwise the work becomes heavy and draining for those who are preparing to observe it, depriving them of the pleasure of an aesthetic experience. Another method of observation of the natural environment, and in particular the mountainous ones, is what is called "observing the big through the small" "以大观小", formalized by Shen Kuo 沈括 (1031-1095), in his Brush Talks from a Dream Brook《梦溪笔谈》, where he suggests that a mountain scenario can only be understood if viewed from above and from afar, that is, by climbing a hill, inside or outside the area, so that it is possible to embrace it by observing the whole environment that we propose to observe or paint. In this way we will be able to understand its structure and development methods, which is impossible if we were immersed in its vegetation, rocks or at the foot of some mountain. This concept is also expressed by Guo Xi when he says: "Mountains and rivers are large objects. The people who look at mountains and rivers should look at them from a distance, in this way is possible to grasp the form, the spirit, image and position of the mountains and rivers "," 山水大物也，人之看者须远而观之, 方见得一障山川之形势气象". Nevertheless, this concept was already formulized by Zong Bing when he says: “Kunlun Mountain is big and the eyes are small, if it’s too close to our eyes, we can't see its shape, If it is a few miles away, it will be easy to contain for the eyes”, “且夫崑崙山之大 ，瞳子之小，迫目以寸，则其形莫睹，迥以数里，则可围于寸眸”, in this passage the author suggests the necessity of having a distance view of the subject. The one from a distance is a rather wide and often a quite static view, in fact our eyes embrace a very large area, so even if we move the scenario that stretches in our sight, it would change little, for this reason this view must be compensated with what we previously learned. When we move inside or climb to the very top of a hill, we can then use it as a lookout. In this case the elements we observe are many, but also distant and small, so we will not be able to perceive a whole series of details, and all those minute elements that need proximity to be perceived, such as the texture of the rocks, the branches, trees and leaves, the human presence in the distance or any other subject. A factor that is compensated by observing these elements closely, and then integrated with the distant view. Similarly, looking closely at trees or rocks lead us to assimilate information on how the natural environment in which they are immersed develops. This method of observation is called "looking at the big through the small", "以小观大". A final element that confirms the absence of a unifocal perspective in mountain and water paintings are given to those subjects where the modes of representation have strong perspective characteristics, such as certain types of stones, rocks and buildings in particular. In fact, we see how in mountain and water paintings, buildings can follow different perspectives in the same portion of space, which are then combined in order to meet the artistic needs of the artist and do not in any way respect the laws of a static subjective vision.
Mountains and Streams, ink and colors on Xuan paper, 2020
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