The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, Volume 3

The Style of Ni Zan (Yunlin)

On the autumn lake, night falls over the empty sandbars.

At dawn, sparse trees are heavy with a dark, glistening rain.

The creak and clatter original: 伊軋 (yiyia), an onomatopoeia for the sound of a wooden oar or scull against the boat. of a scull sounds from mid-stream;

Reclining, I listen to the fisherman’s

words drifting across the mist.

Ni Zan original: 雲林 (Yunlin), the literary name of Ni Zan (1301–1374). He was a wealthy scholar who gave away his possessions to live a wandering life on a houseboat. His style is the epitome of "literati" painting: minimalist, cool, and intentionally amateurish to show "lofty detachment." inscribed this landscape himself,

presenting it to the Summoned Gentleman, Wu Guang A "Summoned Gentleman" (zhengjun) refers to a scholar who was called to imperial service but chose to live in recluse instead..

The air of profound tranquility and lofty detachment original: 逸 (yi), often translated as "untrammeled" or "eccentric," this is the highest aesthetic category in literati art, signifying a spirit that has transcended the material world. within the poem

and the painting alike mirror the character

of the man himself.

The "Untrammeled" Spirit of Ni Zan

The circular format here mimics a fan painting, a popular medium for the literati—the scholar-officials of imperial China. In this lesson, the Mustard Seed Garden Manual illustrates the "Yunlin" style, named after Ni Zan.

Unlike the previous lessons that featured "hemp-fiber" strokes and dense forests, this style uses "folded-band" strokes original: 折帶皴 (zhedai cun)—sharp, horizontal lines that look like a ribbon being folded—to depict the layered rock of the lake shores. The composition is famously "one river, two banks," leaving the middle of the circle entirely empty to represent the vast, quiet surface of the water. This emptiness is not "nothingness" but a vital part of the painting's breath and spirit.