JIAQING FOUR-CHARACTER IRON-RED SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD, 1796-1820

The depiction of a solitary scholar in a landscape has a long tradition. See Wen Fong, Images of the Mind, Princeton, 1984, pp. 238-239, where the author notes, "The idea of remaining a recluse while serving at court had already had a long tradition in Chinese history.... Traditionally the recluse was a literati who renounced civil service, the career of the educated, withdrawing to devote himself entirely to self-cultivation, especially artistic and scholarly pursuits. Although the decision to diverge from the norm always entailed giving up the unchallenged social status and secure livelihood enjoyed by most literati, the recluse's seemingly untrammeled way of life had a genuine attraction of its own. It not only provided the possibility of escape from the political dangers inherent in public life, especially in time of social and political turmoil, but it also came to be regarded as an ideal, a practice thought to further communion between the human spirit and nature."