Such Is the Beauty of Our Rivers and Mountains

By Fu Yiyao

In the early summer of 1959, my father,Fu Baoshi, received a notice from the preparatory office of the Jiangsu Traditional Chinese Painting Institute. He was invited to Beijing to draw a gigantic painting for the Great Hall of the People, for the purpose of celebrating the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In order to focus all his attention to this task, he and Guan Shanyue, another famous painter, stayed in Dongfang Hotel in Beijing. The hotel today still offers a dish called the “Baoshi Cup” to commemorate thismemorable occasion.

At that time, Wan Li was the mayor of Beijing, who was in charge of the construction of ten landmark buildings in the capital city, including the Great Hall of the People. Although the giant landscape painting entitledSuch Is the Beauty of Our Rivers and Mountainswas created for the newly built Great Hall of the People in Beijing, it was actually under the supervision of Premier Zhou Enlai.

It took more than four months to compose the painting. Finally,when it was time to paint the red sun, Premier Zhou came to Dongfang Hotel. He walked up the stairs facing the painting, trying to imagine the “slowly rising” sun.He walked up and down many times, saying that only in this way could he know the exact position of the sun.

Dad later said that such a large painting was actually like a challenging climb in the Himalayas. Much larger than ordinary Chinese paintings, it is 9 meters long and 5.5 meters high. When my father and Guan Shanyue were painting, more than 20 female attendants ground ink for them. Later, after they finished grinding, everyone knew how dark the ink should be and then poured it into a large enamel basin. The picture was so big that a basin of ink was used up after only a few strokes. The weather was hot, and my father who easily broke into sweat perspired all over while painting. Even the towel he put under his arm could be dripping after he took it out.

傅抱石（1904—1965），祖籍江西新余，现代画家。他擅画山水，尤擅作泉瀑雨雾之景。人物画多作仕女、高士，形象高古。Fu Baoshi (1904-1965), or Fu Pao-Shih, was a Chinese painter from Xinyu, Jiangxi Province. As a renowned landscapist, Fu was particularly good at painting springs, waterfalls, rain, and fog.His figure painting features ladies and reclusive scholars.

Premier Zhou cared about the painters. When my father and Guan Shanyue arrived in Beijing,he asked about their needs. My father said, “I have to present my residence booklet and coupon if I want to buy wine in Beijing.How should I deal with it?” The premier laughed, “Baoshi, you are known as a drunken winebibber.That is true. How about two cases of Maotai specially supplied for you?” “Thank you so much,Premier,” said Dad with a fistand-palm salute.

During work, my father often left the drawing room after painting for a while. Guan Shanyue wondered where he went because he couldn't have gone to the toilet so frequently.Guan followed my father and found him drinking in a small room. Afterwards, when they went to Changbai Mountain to sketch from nature, there was a jeep in front of them and a trailer behind them carrying Maotai and sausages.

Guan Shanyue told me all these stories after I went to Japan. The first time he saw me in Tokyo, he took me as his own daughter. He told me frankly that he especially admired the way my father handled the transition between the white snow and vast land in the painting. The gradation of strokes is a difficult art. The painting includes the close view of the green mountains, clear rivers,verdant pines, and turquoise stones in the south, the distant view of the snowy scenery in the north, and the middle view of the land connecting the south and north, with the Yangtze River and the Yellow River running through the whole picture. On the east side of the painting, a red sun shines over the splendid country. The whole picture is a magnificent symbol of China as a strong country with a glorious land.

Finally, at the request of Premier Zhou, the sun in the picture was enlarged until it felt as if it was spurting out. Later, whenI was creating a large painting entitledOde to the Dragon Boat Festival, I climbed up and down to look at the picture just like Premier Zhou used to do, because the distance in the picture was completely different from that in reality.

Visiting a Friend with a Qin by Fu Baoshi 傅抱石画作 《携琴访友图》

Chairman Mao's inscription on the picture was written in his letter during a trip: “Such Is the Beauty of Our Rivers and Mountains,” which was photographed and turned into a slide by Shen Zuoyao. The slide was then reflected by a light on the picture and painted red. Finally it took shape. Chairman Mao spoke highly of the painting and wrote the line “Such Is the Beauty of Our Rivers and Mountains” in regularrunning script for my father,which was hung on the wall of our house. My father often took my hand and said, “Look, Chairman Mao's regular script is so wellwritten! That's how he became a master of running script. Basic training is essential in the whole process.”

I think a main reason why my father did a good job in painting large pictures was that his small samples were well done. The two samples now in Nanjing Museum are without inscriptions. The final version of such a massive size actually feels the same as the samples. His success is owed to his accumulation of painting techniques.