The Inheritance and Innovation of the "Calligraphy and Painting Share the Same Origin" Theory: Taking Guo Xi's Lofty Ambitions in Forest and Spring as an Example

Abstract

The theory that "calligraphy and painting share the same origin" first emerged from Zhang Yanyuan's Tang Dynasty concept of "calligraphy and painting sharing the same essence" . This idea was later reaffirmed by Guo Xi in his Northern Song Dynasty masterpiece Lofty Ambitions in Forest and Spring, which emphasizes that throughout Chinese painting's evolution, its core essence—pursuing the "figural representation of objects"—has remained unchanged.The act of nature's forms concurrently gave birth to another great art form: the origins of calligraphy. As a foundational text of Northern Song landscape painting theory, Lofty Ambitions begins with an Original Preface that explores the relationship between calligraphy and painting. It not only inherits the "shared origin" tradition but also enriches it through four new dimensions: "shared ontological origin," "shared formal source," "shared spiritual source," and "shared inner mind source".