“It has been one of the most influential paintings in China, copied and imitated by countless artists.... [Huang Kung-wang’s] pictures [are] likely to seem unimpressive on first acquaintance.... The ‘mountains’ appear as earthy, unimposing hills.... He was content with everyday scenery.... Cool and reserved, his paintings represent for the Chinese the perfect expression of an ideal scholarly temperament.”(James Cahill, Chinese Painting, ch. 10)