g e n e r a l a r t i c l e
A Computational Study of Empty Space
Ratios in Chinese Landscape Painting,
618–2011
G u o yA n W A n G , J i A f E i S h E n , M E n G M E n G y u E ,
y E n A M A a n d S h u y A n G W u
T
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UN
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The use of empty space (ES) is ubiquitous in Asian art. The authors
use a computational method to quantitatively assess the amount of ES
in Chinese landscape painting (CLP). The data show that 56.8% de
ancient CLPs contain mostly ES, while only 9.4% from modern times
do. ES reached its peak during the Yuan dynasty (1271–-1368) and its
lowest point in the 1960s. Chan culture, literati ink play, the “exhibition
hall effect,” and Maoist politics, as well as other social factors, may
have had an impact on this shift. This empirical study indicates that art
keeps abreast of current developments: The philosophy, culture, politique
and general education of a specific era influence artists’ perception,
aesthetics and creative output.
ChinESE LAndSCAPE PAinTinG And EMPTy SPACES
Chinese landscape paintings (CLPs), which are “one of the
most typical types in Chinese painting” [1], constitute “one of
the oldest traditional arts in the world” [2]. CLPs consist of
two elements: ink and blank, or empty, espace (ES). Si
black or colored, ink of different shades is used to depict
different sceneries. ES is not disregarded space; rather these
spaces are left deliberately by the artist and increase the ap-
peal of the composition.
The style of landscape painting has gradually changed over
temps. Broadly, periods of CLP can be characterized by picto-
Guoyan Wang (researcher) (corresponding author),* Department of Digital Com-
munication, Room 5146, Building 5, Dushu Lake Campus of Soochow University,
Suzhou, Jiangsu, Chine. E-mail: gywang@ustc.edu.cn. ORCID: 0000-0002-3175
-6025.
Jiafei Shen (doctoral candidate),* Department of Science and Technology Com-
munication and Policy, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui,
Chine. E-mail: jeff116@mail.ustc.edu.cn. ORCID: 000-0002-8819-4430.
Mengmeng Yue (media manager), Suning e-buy Group Co., Ltd., Building 2, Su –
ning Zijin Jiayue, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu, Chine. E-mail: ymmdj@qq.com
.ORCID: 0000-0002-6831-1468.
Yena Ma (researcher), Anhui Renhe Data Technology Co., Ltd., Guangming Beibu
Gulf, Hefei, Anhui, Chine. E-mail: 1092036764@qq.com. ORCID: 0000-0002-
6927-2624.
Shuyang Wu (researcher), Department of Science and Technology Communication
and Policy, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, Chine.
E-mail: wshuyang@mail.ustc.edu.cn. ORCID: 0000-0002-0319-3050.
*Guoyan Wang and Jiafei Shen contributed equally to this article.
See https://direct.mit.edu/leon/issue/55/1 for supplemental files associated with
ce problème.
rial representation (from the Han to the Song dynasty), cal-
ligraphic self-expression (Yuan dynasty), revivalism (early and
middle Ming dynasty) and synthesis (late Ming to mid-Qing
dynasty) [3]. In order to explore the statistical progression of
Chinese arts, we conducted a quantitative analysis of ES in
landscape paintings from ancient China to modern times.
The computational method is based on pixel identification
in artworks, as measured by computers. We comprehensively
analyzed all the recognizable samples in the collection of the
Palace Museum and the National Art Museum of China, comme
well as in the monograph The History of Chinese Landscape
Painting [4], for a total of 933 CLPs. The Palace Museum is the
most influential museum of ancient art and culture in China;
the National Art Museum of China is the largest gallery of
modern art in China; and the book is an influential, classic
monograph that gathers a large number of ancient CLPs. Le
author, Chen Chuanxi, has conducted highly significant art
history research in China.
An ES does not necessarily mean nothingness. An ES of-
ten represents clouds, mist and waterfalls in harmony with
the inked parts of the painting. As an important element in
Asian art, ESs play a vital role in spatial relationships. CLP
is a dynamic reflection of objective reality in the manifesta-
tion of “spaces,” not an absolute copy of real spaces [5]. Dans
autres mots, it “doesn’t organize or establish precise spatial
relationships by developing mathematical laws” [6]. The “ar-
tistic conception” formed is “one of the important standards
in judging whether a Chinese traditional painting is good or
not” [7]. As to what ES should show, painters’ philosophi-
cal positions differ slightly. Cependant, on the whole, sky is
the most important ES, followed by water and then smoke
and clouds. There are also painters who believe that ES may
appear in a part of the painting that does not need to be
expressed but can nevertheless produce painterly concep-
tion, c'est, “the technique of painting is not perfect, mais le
expressed artistic conception is satisfactory” [8]. In modern
recherche, ES is explained as “the original white of the materi-
als of paintings and calligraphy works such as paper, namely,
©2022 ISAST
Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC PAR 4.0) Licence.
https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02105
LEONARDO, Vol. 55, Non. 1, pp. 43–47, 2022 43
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tAble 1. time distribution According to Creation
times/
dynasty tang
Five
Song
yuan ming Qing
modern era
618–
907
907–
960
960–
1279
1271–
1368
1368–
1644
1636–
1912
1915–
1920s
1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
total
618–
2011
2000–
2011
6
24
60
61
151
198
22
55
56
104
75
34
37
29
21
933
Year
Sample
number
the place without ink” [9]. For the purposes of this study,
we define ES as areas without ink or paint, based on current
studies and the identification ability of computers.
SAmple pRoCeSSing And AnAlySiS
We selected samples between 2017 et 2019. A collection
de 1,140 CLPs with a rectangular shape was collected, avec
342 from the Palace Museum, 446 from the National Art
Museum and 352 from the book. After we screened out paint-
ings that were severely damaged or whose date could not be
verified, 500 ancient and 433 modern paintings remained.
The time distribution is shown in Table 1.
The ratio of empty spaces can be obtained by calculating
the pixels occupied by empty space compared to the paint-
ing’s total pixels. All samples were analyzed and processed
using Photoshop. The magic wand tool was used to select
pixels of ES. The inked area differs substantially in tone, alors que
the area without ink remains the original color of the paper
or canvas. Donc, we selected the blank area instead of
the inked parts.
Chiffre 1, Rooftop of Jiuhua Mountain, shown with a section
in detail (droite), exemplifies how we selected areas of ES in
ink paintings. Considering that the edges of the brushstrokes
are often soft and gradated, we endeavored to select blank
areas matching the recognition of the naked eye at a normal
distance for a full screen reading.
Chiffre 2 demonstrates the changing trends of ES in CLPs.
The darker histogram represents the average of the ratio of ES
in each painting, while the lighter represents the proportion
of paintings dominated by ES (in which the amount of ES is
over half). The upper right linear figure shows the changes on
the uniform timeline. The results show that the composition
style of CLPs has undergone significant changes.
Generally, ES is a typical feature of CLPs and has been
used from ancient times to the present. Both average ES
and dominant ES show significant differences between the
compositions of ancient and modern CLPs. Ancient paint-
ings feature large amounts of ES, while modern ones largely
consist of ink. The average amount of ES in all ancient paint-
ings is 53.4%, and in modern paintings 32.6%. En plus,
56.8% of ancient paintings contain dominant amounts of
ES, in sharp contrast to modern landscape paintings, avec
only 9.4% ES. The use of ES progressed from a lower ratio
in earlier times to a higher ratio, reaching its peak during
the Yuan dynasty, with an average of 61.7% ES in paintings,
avec 80.3% of all paintings of this period being dominated
figue. 1. Lai Shaoqi, Rooftop of Jiuhua Mountain, 1985. (© Xiaofeng Lai)
44 Wang et al., A Computational Study of Empty Space Ratios in Chinese Landscape Painting, 618–2011
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by ES. There occurs a clear downward
trend after the Yuan dynasty, reaching a
low point around 1960, with an average
ES rate of 27.1%. Only two paintings out
de 75 in this decade are dominated by ES.
En outre, the standard deviation of
each time period can be seen to be rela-
tively stable, at around 15%, indicating
the consistent reliability of the data.
diSCuSSion And limit AtionS
Changes in philosophy, politique, educa-
tion, culture and other factors enter into
artistic aesthetics and painting outputs.
En particulier, the Chan culture, literati
ink play, the exhibition hall effect, Mao-
ist politics, and other factors may have
had an impact on the shift away from ES.
CLP originates from the profound im-
pact on artistic aesthetics of Confucian-
ism, Daoism and Chan Chinese ideology, which tend to hold
that the part exists in the whole, thus placing emphasis on
the part’s relationship with the whole [10]. De plus, ancient
artists stress spiritual literacy in their paintings, as well as the
ability to reveal the inner harmony between humanity and
nature [11,12]. It is held that the “heart” is the basic organ of
aesthetic appreciation [13]. Ainsi, aesthetic appreciation goes
beyond the physical boundary of objects and encourages free
will and emotion. In this way, the unification of subjective
perception and objective appearance in the process of land-
scape painting creation is realized. Before the Tang dynasty,
painters paid more attention to neat, realistic paintings and
preferred to use bright color. From the middle of the Tang
dynasty, the development of Chinese literature and art, dans-
cluding painting, has had an indissoluble bond with Chan
Buddhism.
Under Chan influence, literati ink painting was conceived.
“Literati ink play” was an improvisation created by scholar-
bureaucrat literati in communication with friends, empha-
sizing “playfulness” and “subjective expression” with simple
strokes. For literati, painting was not a means of making a
living or obtaining official positions but an artistic activity
through which they freely expressed their inner interests
and personalities. Literati painting originated in the Tang
and Song dynasties, was refined during the Song and Yuan
dynasties and reached its peak during the Yuan dynasty. Su
Shi (1037–1101) of the Song dynasty was the most power-
ful advocate of literati painting [14], promoting the notion
of “painting in poetry, poetry in painting” [15]. Such works
gradually achieved the blending of painting with poetry and
even calligraphy. The imperial examination system of se-
lecting officials through countrywide assessments enabled
talented literati from lower classes to enter the government
arena. The literati thus gained the rights to evaluate paintings,
and paintings that did not conform to the creative interests
of the literati were considered to be inferior [16]. The literati
thus wielded power over social discourse, and their aesthetic
figue. 2. The changing trends of empty space in Chinese landscape paintings (618–2011). (© Guoyan
Wang and Jiafei Shen)
tastes deeply influenced the painting style of that time. As a
result, their painting became part of the mainstream dur-
ing the Song dynasty. Literati paintings reached the peak of
their influence during the Yuan dynasty, when Zhao Mengfu
(1271–1368) made an indispensable contribution [17].
The exhibition hall effect may also have affected the quan-
tity of ES and modern painting styles. The modern landscape
painting is generally hung in a magnificent exhibition hall
in which one observes the work from a distance. The works
that boasted a majestic style became preferred in exhibition
halls. These works included such features as lofty mountains,
steep hills and billowy waves. To increase the sense of a far-
sighted exhibition hall setting, the pictures inevitably began
to pre sent the impression of being full, dense, complicated
and complex [18]. Paintings in the Five Dynasties period
and the early Song dynasty contained less ES; imperial court
decorative painting, with ornate and delicate features, was the
dominant style. Imperial court decorative paintings were ini-
tially used to decorate the palace and later became a popular
painting style during the Song dynasty. With the prosperity
of literati painting during the Song dynasty and afterward,
the typical method of observing a painting became a close
observation performed by opening the scroll little by little
out of one’s sleeve, in front of friends. Donc, a style in-
corporating simplicity with elegant details may have been
seen as more suitable for close observation. After 1935, quand
the National Art Museum was built in Nanjing, where the
National Art Exhibition was held, art exhibitions gradually
became the primary way to display and propagate Chinese
paintings. This has fundamentally changed the function and
style of Chinese paintings originating from the literati tradi-
tion [19]. The different modes of observation may also have
affected the ratio of empty space in different periods.
A reference to European elements also promoted change
in the style of modern landscape paintings. With the arrival
of Western missionaries in the Ming dynasty, the skills of
Western painters were also introduced to China. Il y avait
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Wang et al., A Computational Study of Empty Space Ratios in Chinese Landscape Painting, 618–2011 45
also foreign painters in the imperial court in the Qing dy-
nasty [20]. The incorporation of Western realistic painting
theory was first implemented by Xu Beihong (1895–1953)
in the early twentieth century. He introduced the Western
academic teaching model and built up a realistic style of
art education in China [21]. Afterward, Western art appre-
ciation became a common course in Chinese art education.
En plus, due to frequent international exchanges, le
exposure to worldwide art brought new elements to Chi-
nese paintings; the lively integration of Chinese and Western
art and culture contributed to the development of Chinese
paintings in modern China [22].
The landscape paintings of the 1960s had the least amount
of ES, which might be due to the political power dynam-
ics at the time. Chinese political circles witnessed fluctua-
tions in the twentieth century, particularly during the 17
years that followed the founding of the People’s Republic of
Chine (1949–1966), when paintings tended to revolution-
ary themes. The works of modern landscape painters such
as Li Keran (1907–1989) and Fu Baoshi (1904–1965) mainly
focused on depicting the holy land of the Chinese people’s
war of resistance, as well as the changing appearance of the
mountains and rivers of the new China [23]. Since the 1950s,
the poetry and lyrics of previous Chinese chairman Mao
Zedong gradually became important themes in Chinese
painting circles [24]. Mao’s poetry and lyrics were famously
bold and joyful, full of fighting spirit. During this period, le
amount of ink used peaked. Of 179 paintings from the 1950s
and 1960s, up to 170 belong to the category of paintings using
a large amount of ink.
After China’s Cultural Revolution (1966–1978), people’s
ideas and concepts developed diversely. From the late 1970s,
the style of painting is characterized by a transformation
from a political theme to describing ordinary peoples’ reali-
liens. After the 1980s, with the advent of social openness and
compatibility of multiple cultures, landscape painters tried
various forms such as local paintings and experimental ink
paintings. In the 1990s, “new literati paintings” appeared with
a return to the traditional antique landscape. By the early 21st
siècle, new abstract ink paintings had joined the category
of contemporary ink paintings. The promotion of new media
technology has taken Chinese ink art from statis to a state
of animation and interaction. The development of landscape
painting inherited the traditional style of ink painting but
also is infused with modern elements.
With regard to computational studies on ES, by using eye
tracker analysis, Fan [25] found that people’s attention is in-
deed attracted by ES in ink paintings. Li Shijia [26] selected
60 paintings from the Illustrated Handbook of Chinese Paint-
ings and tentatively analyzed the pixels of empty space using
the same technology used for this study. Bien sûr, là
are other kinds of Chinese art than landscape paintings, et
nature, figure and other paintings also play a role in Chinese
painting. En plus, the small number of early samples
and the specific data selected from the mentioned two mu-
seums and book may have exerted a bias on the results.
To sum up, the historical trend of ES in CLPs is revealed
through relatively systematic and credible data, which tell us
that artists and their paintings correspond to the influences
of the time, which impact their creation, aesthetics and per-
ception. The injection of new elements continuously sparks
new life into art. The vitality of the art of CLPs is reflected not
only in classic inherited forms but also in the time it takes to
realize continuous innovation and development.
Remerciements
This study was supported by the Key project of China National Social
Science Fund (Grant 20FXWA003). We thank Keyong Chen, president
of the Chinese Academy of Landscape Painting, for his valuable views
on the analysis of changes in empty space. We thank the Palace Museum
and the National Art Museum of China for their help in providing the
sample catalog and the China Treasure Museum for providing part of the
sample data. Thanks also to the editor and anonymous peer reviewers
for their valuable comments.
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Manuscript received 4 Juin 2020.
guoyan wang is a full professor in the Department of
Digital Communication, Soochow University. Her research
interests include visual art, science communication and com-
putational methods. Her recent research has been published
in Public Understanding of Science, Journal of Informetrics,
Science Communication, Science as Culture and other lead-
ing journals.
jiafei shen is a doctoral candidate in the Department of
Science and Technology Communication, University of Sci-
ence and Technology of China (USTC). His research interests
include art design, aesthetics and technology communication.
mengmeng yue, yena ma and shuyang wu are
former master’s students in the Department of Science and
Technology Communication, USTC. Their research interest is
technology communication.
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Wang et al., A Computational Study of Empty Space Ratios in Chinese Landscape Painting, 618–2011 47
