| Chapter : | Introduction |
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Just as huaming and huazan are both related to painting, so is fu, a literary form of rhymed prose that took shape during the later part of the Warring States period and evolved into an established genre during the Han period. As the Six Dynasties scholar Liu Xie (ca. 465-ca. 532) pointed out in his treatise Wenxin diaolong (The literary mind: dragon-carving), or The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, fu resembles carving and painting in describing and portraying things, which is characteristic of an ornate, decorative style.14 A case in point is “Fu on Lingguang Palace in the Lu Kingdom,” written in approximately the year 150 by Wang Yi's son Wang Yanshou. This work contains a passage describing the murals in that palace:
creatures of all kinds,
miscellaneous things and things strange and supernatural,
and mountain and sea deities and spirits.
Describing and recording their appearances;
Painting them with colors.
Things each have their own forms.
Portraying the different kinds of things according to their visible
forms;
Rendering their manners by various means.
[The portrayal of] good is meant to be a model for posterity.
