One-Stroke and Spiritual Encounter in Shitao’s Landscape Practice: A Comparative Visual Interpretation of Landscape of Pure Sounds and Landscape Hanging Scroll

Abstract

Shitao's Treatise on the Philosophy of Painting positions "One-Stroke" (yi hua) as essence (ti) and "Spiritual Encounter" (shen yu) as function (yong), forming a unified ontological and practical framework (ti yong yi ru). Addressing the persistent gap between theoretical interpretation and visual analysis in existing scholarship, this paper conducts a comparative study of two stylistically divergent masterpieces, Landscape of Pure Sounds and Landscape Hanging Scroll, across three key dimensions: compositional governance, brush and ink techniques, and spiritual convergence. The analysis reveals that the relationship between essence and function manifests in two distinct creative modalities. The former utilizes a dense style (fanmi) to demonstrate how "One-Stroke" governs all painterly laws, achieving structural order through compositional tension. Conversely, the latter employs a loose style (shufang), showing how "Spiritual Encounter" guides objects to manifest spontaneously, achieving liberating freedom where both painterly laws and the self are transcended. These complementary works demonstrate a profound structural elasticity within Shitao’s theory where governance and freedom harmonize. "Traces of Transformation" (ji hua), as the physical manifestation of essence and function in brush and ink, serves as the ultimate foundation for their unification, establishing a reciprocal interpretive framework that offers an integrated pathway.