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Travelers on the Road to Shu
Four groups of springtime travelers negotiate a mountainous track in Shu, in modern Sichuan province. At right, several women riders wearing red hoods emerge from the mountains, accompanied by a male escort in front and another man wearing a tall hat at rear. In the middle, travelers rest as one of their horses rolls happily in the grass. At left, another contingent ascends one of the famous hanging roadways of Shu, which hugs the sheer cliff ahead. The painting's "blue-and-green" style originated during the Tang dynasty (618–907), considered China's golden age, and was often employed in later periods to evoke an era of peace and prosperity. |