2024 Academic Year Short Course Review「Shanshui Landscape and Geomancy」

From 25 July to 2 August 2024, students from the China Centre of the King's Foundation School of Traditional Arts completed a 8-day course in Chinese traditional art, “The Constitution of Shanshui Landscape and Geomancy”. The course was taught by Prof. Ding Xiyuan, and Prof. Lin Haizhong of the China Academy of Art with the assistance of tutor Wang Suliu.

The course was divided into two one-week modules. In the first week, Prof. Ding Xiyuan analyzed the development of landscape painting, explained the concept of the five elements in landscape art, and introduced the concept of fengshui (geomancy) as reflected in landscape. This module also introduced famous Chinese landscape masterpieces of the past, analyzing the techniques and styles of the artists with a view to understanding the conceptual and technical evolution and transmission of landscape art through history.

In the second week of the course, Prof. Lin Haizhong and tutor Wang Suliu focused on the technical aspects of creating landscape forms as a pathway to establishing a foundational understanding of landscape painting. Specifically, emphasis was first placed on brushwork, using The Collected Paintings of Dong Qichang as copy models for the correct painting of rocks and trees, instructing students in the essential brush techniques of mountain painting, Prof. Lin focused on brushwork, including cun painting technique (wrinkle painting). Students applied these techniques in copying from masterworks and in their own sketches.