Landscape of Yangshuo by Zou Diguang, handscroll; ink and color on silk; Ming Dynasty

Mi Fu, a great calligrapher and artist, came to Guilin that was still known as  Jingjiang Prefecture and worked as County Magistrate in the Northern Song Dynasty. Mi Fu painted this handscroll with his yearning for the landscapes of Guilin. This is the first well-documented landscape painting of Guilin in history, but lost unfortunately. We can merely find its copies. 

Zou Diguang, an artist from Wuxi, also painted a picture scroll of Landscape of Yangshuo based on imagination after viewing the copy of Mi Fu's original piece, and inscribed two characters "Romantic Mood" to indicate his state of mind in composing this painting. Lofty mountains can be seen everywhere in this painting scroll, which presents the beauty of fluency as a whole and incisively depicts the " uniqueness and fascination" of Guilin. 

Zou Diguang's Landscape of Yangshuo is the earliest masterpiece depicting landscapes of Guilin that has been handed down, which is also honored as the ground-breaking work of Lijiang Painting School. It is of great referential value for the research on ancient architecture of Guilin.