A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains

A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains is a landscape scroll by Wang Ximeng, a renowned painter during the Northern Song Dynasty. It is regarded as a masterpiece of Song-dynasty blue-green landscape paintings. Wang completed the painting at the age of 18, and it is his only work to be preserved to present day.

The painting mainly uses pigments made of minerals such as azurite and malachite, and the colors are exaggerated, gorgeous, and long-lasting. Nearly 12 meters long, it is roughly divided into six parts, each with mountains as the mainstay, connected by bridges and flowing rivers. The mountains in the painting are either towering into the clouds or rolling and undulating.

One can appreciate the vastness of forested mountains and meandering rivers. Looking closely, one will see waterfalls hanging high on the cliffs, lush forests and bamboos on the mountains, and blooming flowers on the riverside as well as villages, temples, pavilions, and tiled or thatched houses scattered around. Fishermen and farmers are busy working, and scholars and hermits are either socializing in groups or enjoying the scenery alone. Each figure, though tiny, is vividly portrayed.

With refined techniques, bright colors, and meticulous depictions, A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains presents a scene of people enjoying their lives with contentment in lush mountains and lucid waters. It not only reflects the painter's superb skills, but also presents an ideal world of beauty and harmony in his mind.

《千里江山圖》局部

Part of A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains.

《千里江山圖》

《千里江山圖》是北宋畫家王希孟繪制的山水長卷，堪稱宋代青綠山水畫中的鴻篇巨制。王希孟作畫時年僅18歲，這也是他唯一傳世的作品。

《千里江山圖》以石青、石綠等礦物質為主要顏料繪成，用色夸張艷麗，色澤持久。畫卷僅畫心即近12米，大致分為六個部分，每部分以山為主體，用橋和流水銜接過渡。圖中所繪山巒，或高聳入云，或綿延起伏，層巒疊翠間，亦可領略江河之煙波浩渺。細看山水之中，有瀑布高掛山崖，有山間茂林修竹，有水邊岸芷汀蘭，村落、寺廟、亭臺水榭、瓦屋茅舍等，隱于其中。漁人農夫忙于生計，書生隱士或群聚社交，或獨自賞景，形象雖細小如豆，行態卻生動鮮明。

《千里江山圖》以精煉的手法、絢麗的色彩和細致的描繪，呈現出人們在青山綠水中安居樂業、各得其所的景象，不僅是畫家高超技法的反映，更是時代英才胸中的錦繡山河。