The Landscape of The Soul

1. (i) Contrast the Chinese view of art with the European view with examples.
Or
Contrast the Chinese view of art with the European view. AHSEC 2017
Or
Describe and contrast the features of the Chinese and the European art landscape. AHSEC
2011
Or
What does the author say on western painting?
Answer:
A classical Chinese landscape is not meant to reproduce an actual view, as would a Western
figurative painting.
The Chinese painter does not choose a single viewpoint Whereas the European painter
wants you to borrow his eyes and look at a particular landscape exactly as he saw it, from a
specific angle. European art tries to achieve a perfect, illusionistic likeness. Asian art tries to
capture the essence of inner life and spirit.
The paintings of Wu Daozi and master painters from Europe demonstrate the disparity
between the perspectives of two distinct arts.
(ii) Explain the concept of shanshui.

Or
What do 'mountain' and 'water' represent in 'Shanshui' ? AHSEC 2014
Or
What is yin and Yang?
Answer:
Shanshui literally means 'mountain-water that represents landscape. Mountain is Yang, that
is stable, warm, dry and reaches vertically towards the heaven. While the water is Yin that
is fluid, moist, cool and horizontally resting on earth. The interaction of Yin, the receptive,
feminine aspect of universal energy, and its counterpart Yang, active and masculine, is of
course a fundamental notion of Daoism.
2. (i) What do you understand by the terms ‘outsider art’ and ‘art brut’ or ‘raw art’?
Answer:
Outsider art is art created by an artist who has no formal training but still has talent and an
artistic point of view in life. The term ‘art brut’ or ‘raw art’ refers to art in its most basic
form or state.
(ii) Who was the “untutored genius who created a paradise” and what is the nature of his
contribution to art?
Answer:
Nek Chand was the ‘untutored genius’ who created ‘paradise.’ He was the 80-year-old
designer of Chandigarh’s world-famous Rock Garden. It is an example of outsider art in
which raw materials and stones are combined to create an artistic work. Anything and
everything can be used to create an artwork, and all that is required is a critical eye. One of
his most well-known works is ‘Women by the Waterfall.’
Thinking about language
1. Find out the correlates of Yin and Yang in other cultures.
Answer:
Yang and yin are two complementary poles that can be correlated in various cultures and
styles.
Nature and God are central to Indian culture. Nature is yin, and God is yang. To create the
world and all of its worldly things and creatures, a combination of the two is required.
2. What is the language spoken in Flanders?
Answer:
The French language is spoken in Flanders.
Additional Questions
Q1. “The Emperor may rule over the territory he has conquered, but only the artist knows
the way within.”
Ans: This sentence explains the fact that even though an Emperor might rule an entire
kingdom and have power over his conquered territory, only an artist would be able to go
beyond any material appearance. He knows both the path and the method of the
mysterious work of the universe. True meaning of his work can be seen only by means
known to him, irrespective of how powerful an emperor is.
Q2. What did Emperor Xuangzong Commission Wu Daozi to do ? AHSEC 2011
Ans: The Tang emperor Xuangzong commissioned the chinese famous painter Wu Daozi to
decorate a wall of his palace with a landscape painting. Wu Daozi was a famous Chinese
painter of the Tang dynasty.
Q3. Who was Wu Daozi ? What was his last painting? AHSEC 2013
Ans: Wu Daozi was a famous Chinese painter of the Tang dynasty. who lived in the 8th
century. His last painting was a landscape commissioned by the Tang emperor Xuanzong to
decorate his palace wall.
Q4. What did Wu Daozi paint for the Emperor ? AHSEC 2016
Ans: For the emperor, Wu-Daozi painted a landscape to decorate the place wall. In the
painting he painted the forests, waterfalls, mountains, clouds and the immense sky along
with a cave where dwelt a spirit.
Q5. What happened when Wu Daozi clapped his hands?
Ans:- The painter entered the cave and the entrance closed behind him. As soon as the
painter clapped his hand, the painting on the wall was gone and so was the painter.
Q6. The landscape is an inner one, a spiritual and conceptual space.

Or
Describe the features of Chinese painting.
Ans:- The sentence symbolises the Chinese art that Chinese artists wants his viewers to see
the painting for every point so that they can understand the meaning of their painting not
from the eyes but from their minds and can understand the inner life and spirit of that
painting.It is a landscape created by the artist to travel up and down, and back again,
through the viewer’s eyes. The landscape is not `real’ and can be reached from any point.
Q7.How Quinten Metsys was able to impress the painter and achieve his goal?
Or
Was Quinten Metsys able to marry his love of life? Explain how.
Ans:- Quinten Metsys, the master blacksmith, fell in love with a painters daughter. However
The father didn’t approve of him because of his profession. The blacksmith sneaked into his
painting studio and painted a fly on the painter’s latest panel. The fly seemed so real that
the painter tried to hit it first before realising it was in the painting. The painter accepted
him as a trainee in his studio. The blacksmith married the painter’s daughter and later
became one of the famous painters of his time.
Q8.Describe the tale of Wu Daozi.
Answer: The tale of the old painter Wu Daozi is about a famous Chinese artist who lived in
the 8th century. He painted a mural on a palace wall for Emperor Xuanzong, and he
covered it so only the emperor could see it. The emperor admired the painting's detail, but
one day, Daozi pointed to a cave in the painting and said a spirit lived inside. He clapped his
hands, and the cave opened. Daozi invited the emperor to follow him, saying there was a
beautiful world inside. Then Daozi stepped into the cave, and it closed behind him. The
painting disappeared, and Wu Daozi was never seen again.

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1. (i) Contrast the Chinese view of art with the European view with examples.

(ii) Explain the concept of shanshui.

Thinking about language

1. Find out the correlates of Yin and Yang in other cultures.

2. What is the language spoken in Flanders?

Q2. What did Emperor Xuangzong Commission Wu Daozi to do ? AHSEC 2011

Q5. What happened when Wu Daozi clapped his hands?

Q6. The landscape is an inner one, a spiritual and conceptual space.

Q8.Describe the tale of Wu Daozi.

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