A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains Reproduction

The “A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains” scroll is attributed to Northern Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng

A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains Reproduction :As identified by Cai Jing’s colophon on the scroll’s reverse. The artwork divides the scenery into six sections, each dominated by a mountain formation. The painting is renowned for its delicate and vibrant use of color, blending green and ochre to create decorative and varied effects.

Its majestic and expansive composition showcases the splendor and beauty of natural landscapes. Painted on silk in mineral pigments, the scroll is preserved in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

This work is the only surviving piece by Wang Ximeng and depicts the magnificent rivers and mountains of China.

The composition includes rolling peaks, expansive rivers, and dynamic scenery, featuring waterfalls, pathways, pavilions, and lush vegetation like willows, flowers, pines, and bamboo. Human elements, such as villages, watermills, bridges, and cottages, harmoniously integrate with the natural setting.

The painting’s detailed craftsmanship, vibrant palette, and sweeping vision make it a masterpiece of green-and-blue landscape painting from the Song Dynasty.

The scroll employs traditional multipoint perspective and divides its vast ten-meter length into six connected sections, linked by bridges or waterways.

This technique creates a unified yet varied visual journey, showcasing dynamic changes in perspective with “lofty distance,” “deep distance,” and “level distance” methods.

The intricate composition adds rhythm and an immersive effect.

Although the painting lacks the artist’s seal, early Qing scholar Liang Qingbiao attributed it to Wang Ximeng.

The scroll bears colophons from Cai Jing of the Song Dynasty and Monk Puguang of the Yuan Dynasty, along with 28 seals, including those of the Qianlong Emperor.

It has been documented in historical records like Shiqu Baoji and has passed through significant collections, including the Song and Qing imperial courts.

Today, it remains housed in Beijing’s Palace Museum.