Qi Shi (Active 18th Century)
Landscape in Finger Painting
Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Paper

This impressive large-scale hanging scroll is executed in the finger-painting (zhihua) technique and depicts a dramatic river landscape unfolding through towering cliffs, wooded slopes, rustic pavilions, and winding waterways. The composition is inscribed with the celebrated lines from Li Bai's Early Departure from Baidi City:

“The cries of monkeys on both banks do not cease;
the light boat has already passed through ten thousand layers of mountains.”

The poetic imagery of a small vessel swiftly traversing a vast mountain gorge provides the conceptual foundation for the painting. As the viewer's eye ascends through the composition, layers of mountains, rivers, forests, and distant architecture gradually unfold, creating a visual experience that echoes the movement and exhilaration described in the poem.

Particularly remarkable is the artist's mastery of the finger-painting medium. Using fingers and fingernails in place of conventional brushes, Qi Shi achieved bold washes, rugged rock formations, expressive tree trunks, and richly textured surfaces with extraordinary freedom and confidence. The brushwork possesses a vitality and spontaneity difficult to achieve through traditional methods, demonstrating the unique expressive possibilities of finger painting.

Equally noteworthy is the artist's sophisticated use of color and light. Brilliant mineral pigments are applied with unusual boldness, while carefully orchestrated contrasts between illuminated and shaded passages create a convincing sense of atmosphere and spatial depth. The treatment of light suggests an awareness of pictorial effects associated with Western painting, which had become increasingly available to Chinese artists during the Qing dynasty through missionary, commercial, and courtly channels. Rather than merely adopting foreign techniques, the artist successfully integrates these visual effects into a fundamentally Chinese landscape tradition.

A particularly fascinating aspect of the composition is the small boat and its boatman, rendered not with fingers but with a conventional brush. Against the broad, energetic finger-painted passages of mountains and trees, these delicately executed details introduce a striking contrast between monumentality and precision, spontaneity and control. This deliberate juxtaposition highlights the artist's technical versatility while directing the viewer's attention toward the narrative focal point of the painting—the solitary traveler moving through the immense natural world described by Li Bai's poem.

Finger painting occupies a distinctive position within Chinese art history. Although examples can be found in earlier periods, the genre achieved prominence through the innovations of Gao Qipei (1660–1734), who transformed finger painting from an artistic curiosity into a respected mode of scholarly expression. Qi Shi belonged to the artistic lineage inspired by Gao's achievements, and works of this scale, ambition, and technical sophistication are comparatively uncommon in the mid- and late Qing periods. The painting therefore stands as important evidence of the remarkable diversity of Qing artistic culture, when orthodox literati painting coexisted with highly experimental and individual approaches.

The small seal reading “Jie Ci Shuhuai” (“Borrowing This to Express My Feelings”) provides an eloquent summary of the artist's intention. More than a landscape, the work is a vehicle for personal reflection and emotional expression. Through poetry, color, movement, and technical innovation, Qi Shi transformed the traditional landscape into a deeply individual artistic statement. Monumental in scale, daring in execution, and rich in literary resonance, the present scroll may be regarded as an outstanding example of Qing dynasty finger painting.

{Image size: 65 x 19 1/2 inches (165 x 49.5 cm)}.

For condition report, please contact the Asian Art Department.