Chongwei huashan tu xu 重爲華山圖序

Chongwei huashan tu xu 重爲華山圖序 is the preface of an album of landscape paintings of Mount Huashan produced by Wang Lü 王履 (b. 1332), courtesy name Dao'an 安道, style Jisou 畸叟 or Baodu Laoren 抱獨老人, from Kunshan 崑山, Jiangsu. He was a physician and painter. In 1383, he travelled to the region of Mt. Huashan. Deeply impressed by the majestic landscape, he compiled an album of 65 paintings, Huashan tuce 華山圖册. He also wrote two medical books, Baibing mingxuan 百病銘玄, and Yi yuntong 醫韻統. His collected writings are called Shuohui ji 朔洄集.

Wang's "Preface" is an important treatise on painting from the early Ming period 明 (1368-1644). Wang Lü begins by analysing the relationship between idea (yi 意) and form (xing 形) in painting. In response to certain painters from the Song 宋 (960-1279) and Yuan 元 (1279-1368) period who tended to neglect the concrete depiction and shaping of artistic images, he emphasises that although painting represents form, it is governed by idea. Yet to lack idea does not mean that form alone suffices. Even so, idea resides within form. Therefore, those who capture the form allow idea to overflow through form, while those who miss the form will also lack the expression of any idea.

Next, Wang Lü presents his view on the method of "copying and tracing" (zhuanmo 轉摹). He affirms the fundamental role and function of form in painting. The essence of this treatise lies in Wang Lü's personal insights on painting theory and technique. Faced with the natural landscape and inspired by the spiritual essence of creation, he realized that conventional rules and methods were inadequate for capturing nature or conveying personal feeling. This profound experience, born of his own artistic practice, led Wang Lü to reexamine and critically assess the formulas, norms, and brushwork principles inherited from earlier painters. Wang's artistic individuality stemmed not only from personal temperament, but more importantly from his deep understanding of nature (zaohua 造化) and of painting’s relation to form and color—especially the spiritual insight awakened when one directly faces the natural world.

Evidently, Wang Lü's view of painting is neither purely expressive freehand (xieyiy 寫意) nor strictly realistic representation (xieshi 寫實). As such, his inheritance of artistic rules from predecessors is selective. His criterion for selection follows the principle that the forms created by brush and ink must accord with the transformations of nature. Wang's innovation begins with the understanding that natural mountains do not conform to one single form, but he also recognises that painting is not a mere replication of nature’s physical appearance. Hence, meaning must be embedded within form, and while the legacy of past masters can still serve as valuable reference, the key lies in originality and personal insight.

The "Preface" can be found in Yu Jianhua's 俞劍華 (1895-1979) collection Zhongguo hualun leibian 中國畫論類編 and the series Zhongguo meixue shi ziliao xuanbian 中國美學史資料選編.