Maple Leaves Falling on Wu River

As a classic landscape painting by Ni Zan that expresses autumn sentiment, this work fully embodies his typical literati painting style and spiritual pursuit. It follows his famous "one river, two banks" composition, with clear layers of foreground, middle ground and distant mountains. The picture shows a quiet riverside scene in late autumn, with sparse trees on the bank and faint mountains in the distance. The extremely restrained layout and large blank space create a kind of calm, distant and slightly desolate artistic atmosphere.

In brush and ink techniques, the rocks are depicted with the typical folded-band texture stroke (zhe dai cun), using dry and light ink with concise and powerful brushstrokes. The tree branches are drawn simply and elegantly, matching the theme of autumn with a light and elegant ink tone. Every stroke is restrained and meaningful, showing Ni Zan’s superb control over brush and ink and his consistent artistic view of expressing the inner spirit with free and casual strokes.

The painting carries strong literati emotional connotation and symbolic meaning. The autumn scene of maple leaves falling on the river conveys a sense of seclusion and detachment from the secular world, reflecting Ni Zan’s yearning for a quiet and pure life away from worldly troubles. With its unique minimalist style and profound artistic conception, this painting has become an important model of Ni Zan’s landscape art and has a far-reaching influence on the history of Chinese literati painting.