Exploring Cosmic Consciousness in Fan Kuan’s ‘Travelling amid Mountains and Streams’
Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies December 31, 2024 Sitong Wu
Northern Song Dynasty landscape painting, unlike Western landscape painting, was shaped by Chinese philosophical thought, particularly Zhuangzi's cosmic consciousness. This paper argues that the 'great landscape' phenomenon in Northern Song art reflects a worldview where humans are small within vast nature, aiming for 'the unity of heaven and man.' Analyzing Fan Kuan's work, the paper shows how his deliberate contrast between tiny human figures and enormous mountains embodies this cosmic perspective, influenced by the era's intellectual trends and Zhuangzi's ideas.