Fanghu, an Isle of the Immortals

The fanghu, a large wine contained with a square profile, was among the most important vessels used in the rituals of China's late Bronze Age, more than two thousand years ago. Its shape became associated with immortality. Fanghu, the legendary and much-written-about Taoist paradise named for this vessel, is one of the sacred islands of the immortals and was sought by the fi rst Qin emperor, Yin Zheng (reigned 221–210 BCE). This picture is an example of Chang's movement toward the concept of landscape painting as an intellectual genre rather than as an outlet for the study of nature. Chang chose to represent the island very simply, as nothing more than a rocky structure in water. Chang ignored traditional spatial development and logical perspective in favor of a group of fragments of rock without an apparent sequence. Surviving pictures of this subject generally include a round or elliptical rocky island rising from the ocean; the immortal presence of this form is indicated by architectural elements, sacred vegetation, and creatures associated with longevity, such as cranes.