The Height of the Lushan Mountain， a Ming Dynasty（1368.1644） hanging scroll by Shen Zhou， ink and slight color on paper， 193.8cm× 98.1cm， in the collection of the Palace Museum， Taipei.
Shen Zhou（1427.1509）， a famous calligrapher and painter in the Ming Dynasty， was proficent in drawing landscapes in ink and wash， and concurrently in drawing flowers， birds and animals. He was the pioneer of “Wumen school of painting.” Wen Zhengming， Tang Yin， Qiu Ying and Shen Zhou were acclaimed as “Four Great Painters in the Ming Dynasty.” Shen Zhou has produced far-reaching impacts on traditional Chinese painting of later ages. His representative works include An Imitation of Dong Ju’s Landscape Painting， Funny Scenes in Cangzhou， Flower Bud of Lily Magnolia， Eclipta Prostrata and Dream Journey.
This painting is drawn meticulously to celebrate the 70th birthday of his teacher Chen Kuan. Shen Zhou uses the height of the Lushan Mountain to symbolize his honor for teacher， and uses high mountain and long river to wish for healthiness and longevity. He unveils a new approach that uses landscape painting to symbolize personalities. The composition and layout of this painting is magnificent and Wang Meng’s line drawing style is imitated. It depicts a scene with an unusual ingenuity： never-ending mountain ranges， luxuriant vegetations， hanging waterfalls and floating clouds and mists.
