Linquan gaozhi ji 林泉高致集

Linquan gaozhi ji 林泉高致集 or Linquan gaozhi 林泉高致, is a book on painting written during the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) by Guo Si 郭思, courtesy name Dezhi 得之, from Wenxian 溫縣, Henan. He was academician awaiting instructions (daizhi 待制) in the Huiyou Hall 徽猷閣 and later regulatory-pacification commissioner (jinglüe anfushi 經略安撫使) of the circuit of Qinfeng 秦鳳路. Guo Si's father Guo Xi 郭熙 (c. 1000-c. 1087) had been a renowned painter and highly influenced the interests of his son, who was celebrated for his paintings of horses and "miscellaneous objects" (zahua 雜畫). Of Guo Xi's paintings, some survive, namely Zaochun tu 早春圖 "Early Spring", Guanshan chunxue tu 關山春雪圖 "Spring snow on Mt. Guanshan", Keshi pingyuan tu 窠石平遠圖 "Quiet dwellings in the distance", Yougu tu 幽谷圖 "Deep vales" and Gumu yaoshan tu 古木遙山圖 "Old trees and distant mountain ranges".

In the preface of his book, Guo Si remembers how he noted down the recommendations given by his father. Some bibliographers like Chen Zhensi 陳振孫, author of the book catalogue Zhizhai shulu jieti 直齋書錄解題, therefore attributed the content of the book to the author's father, Guo Xi, even if Guo Si added further remarks and commentaries.

The Linquan gaozhi is divided in to six chapters, the first four of which can be led back to the instructions of Guo Xi. They are "Instructions for landscape painting" (Shanshui xun 山水訓), the aim of painting (Huayi 畫意), formulas for painting (Huajue 畫訣), and notes on paintings (Huati 畫題). The chapter Shuge shiyi 畫格拾遺 is a kind of biography of Guo Xi, and the last part, Huaji 畫記, talks about fame and reputation of the author's father.

For the techniques of painting, the first part on landscape painting, attracted the greatest attention. It explains how to visualise the three modes of distance (sanyuan 三遠), namely "high distance" (gaoyuan 高遠), "deep distance" (shenyuan 深遠), and "even distance" (pingyuan 平遠). Guo Xi said, landscape painting was always a kind of reflection of the five famous mountains (wuyue 五嶽), but each of them had different characteristics, with the eastern and southern mountains stressing the beauty and distinctiveness of Heaven and Earth (qixiu tiandi 奇秀天地), while the western and northern mountains were expressing the simplicity and dignity of Heaven and Earth (hunhou tiandi 渾厚天地). Mt. Songshan 嵩山 (centre) was marked by many streams, Mt. Huashan 華山 (west) by its grand summits, Mt. Hengshan 衡山 (south) by its many separate peaks and crevices, Mt. Changshan 常山 (Hengshan 恆山, north) by its rows of cliffs, and Mt. Taishan 泰山 (east) by is three distinct tops. Guo father and son also gave recommendations on expressing distance, depth, wind, clouds, and mist, and the phenomena of the four seasons. The mountains of spring were light and graceful like a smile, in summer verdant like water drops, in autumn bright and clean like females' makeup, and in winter bleak and as if they were sleeping.

Various editions of the book include prefaces and appendixes that were not part of Guo Si's original book. The edition in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, for instance, attached an afterword of Xu Guangning 許光凝, "landscape [painting] formulas" (Shanhui jue 山水訣) by Wang Wei 王維 and Li Chengzhi 李成之, Jing Hao's 荊浩 "Rhapsody of landscape [painting]" (Shanshui fu 山水賦) and Dong Yu's 董羽 Hualong jiyi 畫龍輯議 "Collected discourses on painting the dragon [embedded in the landscape]".

The text of Guo Si's Linquan gaozhi is included in the series Wangshi shuhua yuan 王氏書畫苑, Baichuan xuehai 百川學海, Shuofu 說郛 (only parts), Hualun congkan 畫論叢刊, Siku quanshu and Meishu congshu 美術叢書.