What elements of Song era veneration of the scholar-official can you find in the picture "On a Mountain Path in Spring"( You can find this picture in the Internet) and the attached poetry ""Brushed by his sleeves, wild flowers dance in the wind. / Fleeing from him, hidden birds cut short their songs." In some tension with the neo-Confucian reverence for the scholar are Daoist elements in the painting. See if you can suggest what some of these might be?

 

Answer:

The elements of veneration for the scholar official during the Song era in the picture include;

• the servant's posture of walking shows fear out of respect for the Scholar-official.
• the servant is trailing behind the Scholar official at a distance as a sign of respect.
• the servant carries a board for the Scholar-official.

Daoist elements in the picture include;

Daoist elements included elements of nature which are water, wood, air, earth, fire and metal, the elements cycle and perfect harmony with nature.

In the picture the elements present are;

• Water flowing in the river
• Wood as represented by the willow tree
• Air represented in the wind and
• the Scholar-official posing to appreciate nature.

Tension is indicated by the flying of birds away from the Scholar-official. The birds represent the Conservative Confucianism which seems to give way to Neo-Confucianism of the Song dynasty era represented in the painting by the Scholar-official. The act symbolizes the tension that was caused when Neo-Confucianism which is a deviation from conservative Confucianism was introduced by the Song Dynasty.