Beijing

Zong Bing, painter and art theorist made important contributions to Chinese art theory especially in developing Gu Kaizhi's theory of spirit and form and clarifying and tackling issues of perspective and composition. In the field of theory Zong Bing promoted a view that saw landscape painting as a spiritual domain which inables humans to dwell in. This means that looking at a well executed painting will enable the viewer to escape the reality of everyday life and reach a state of "wondering at ease" through a spiritual nature. I a sense Zong Bing is speaking of an imaginative space which a talented artist can leave "open" for the viewer to dwell in. At the same time Zong Bing spoke of perspective and the interplay between distance in reality and distance inside a painting. In this field Zong stressed the ability of a painter to create vast distances in his landscapes while in reality these endless mountains only really cover a few inches on the surface of the silk or paper.

Zong Bing was a devout Buddhist and a talented Qin player. Much of his sayings deal with his love for music and art. He consoles himself with the idea that when he will grow old and too weak to travel in nature he will still be able to sit in his room play the qin and enter the landscapes on his walls. For Zong Bing this was more than just a trick of the mind it was a spiritual experience which became an ideal Chinese painters still look up to today.  

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