Water Album - The Waving Surface of the Autumn Flood 

"The Waving Surface of the Autumn Flood" was painted with ink on silk by Ma Yuan during the Southern Song dynasty. Considered one of China's greatest landscape painters, Ma Yuan lived during a time of political division and upheaval, when the Song court had retreated south due to invasions from the north. This painting, part of an album dedicated to water, shows the artist’s engagement with the natural world but can also be interpreted as a reflection of the anxieties of the court at this time. The waves, rendered with delicate brushstrokes, evoke a sense of constant motion and instability. The sparseness and asymmetry of the composition can be seen to reflect the minimalist philosophy of Chan Buddhism, which was popular among the educated elite. But it also reflects the historical situation of the Southern Song dynasty, which was but a fragment of the unified empire that had existed before. To better understand this work, we can look to historical and philosophical texts, as well as the biographies and writings of court artists and officials."