The pictured tiehua is a decent example of artistic citation. Clearly, the artist had a stronger preference for realistic representation, with this being a detailed landscape. In fact, this closely resembles Song landscapes—perhaps the artist preferred a return to simpler, Han-led times. Nonetheless, some spirituality makes its way into this painting—maybe the artist even wanted to be secluded in nature. Contradictory to this, though, is the fact that the landscape is quite advanced and not as expressive. At any rate, there’s still a clear line between the trees in the bottom of the painting and the mountains in the top—they are separated by empty space, a body of water. Again, this could signify the transition between real and cosmic matters. In this depiction, there is even less evidence of humanity than other examples, suggesting that the artist preferred a higher level of seclusion.