Comparing Bifa ji and Linquan gaozhi: shifts in art writings about landscape in the five dynasties and Northern Song periods

This is a study of differences between Bifa ji and Linquan gaozhi, two Chinese art texts written in the tenth and eleventh century, respectively. The comparison of these two writings opens the window on the way that shifts in art writings took place during late Northern Song period. I analyze how descriptions of the object of representation, ways of seeing the landscape, and the craft of painting in Bifa ji and Linquan gaozhi differ from each other. As a result, I argue that the author of Linquan gaozhi valued pictorial representation in landscape painting. This shift was affected by cultural trends reflected in contemporary paintings and philosophical, literary, and art texts