24.2 cm (vertical) × 25.3 cm (horizontal)

 

Set by a lakeside shaded with verdant pines and bamboo, a scholar with a walking stick emerges from a path, pausing to listen attentively to the natural melody of the wind through the pines. His headscarf and sash are depicted gently swaying in the breeze. This attempt to convey the auditory imagery associated with the poetic theme of “listening to pines” through the visual medium was a challenging artistic endeavor during the Southern Song. Apart from this small work, Walking with a Staff Under Pines, Ma Lin’s (c. 1180–post 1256) monumental vertical scroll Listening to the Rustling of Pines is another prominent example. Since Northern Song scholars such as Su Shi’s (1037–1101) emphases on the fusion of poetry and painting (i.e., viewing paintings as “silent poetry” and poetry as “formless painting” or even “audible painting”), Southern Song artists had been innovatively exploring new ways to depict the auditory elements of poetry within their artworks.