Page 10 - Art First: Simon Morley: Lost Horizon

Japanese, creating gardens where there are bridges and streams, paths running
through cultivated beds of exotic plants and flowers, even gazebos and pavilions
for people to sit in and ponder the beauty of nature or the full moon, and to

recollect for a while perfection in the mind.

Countless versions of Mount Penglai were brought to life through the magic
of pen and ink. Scholars, poets, artists created poems and pictures inviting people

to escape from the chaos of the outside world and to temporarily inhabit a virtual
space where they could enjoy beauty, peace and security. e vision of the perfect
land became a favorite theme of East Asian art, and its iconography is usually
signaled by depictions of dramatically breath-taking views of mountains and

deep ravines swathed in milky mist and illuminated by the rising sun. Cranes —
symbols of good fortune and longevity—perch on a pine tree, which is itself also
a symbol of longevity—and are accompanied by two other symbols, the plum
tree, representing youthful spirit, and the bamboo, symbol of hardiness, flexibility

and strength.

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Since moving to Korea, I’ve become fascinated by one particular example—
the painting Mongyu dowondo (A Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Paradise
(or land)), which was created in 1447 by the artist Ahn Gyeon (or An Gyeon).
It is a handscroll in ink and light colour on silk, and is very long, measuring 438

x 106 cm. Handscroll painting is an intimate form of visual art that can be view ed