MIKE HEARN: The rebellions accompanying the disintegration of the Mongol Dynasty forced artist Lu Guang to flee his home in Suzhou. This painting celebrates his return and reunion with an old friend after years of exile and isolation. The painting and the accompanying poem evoke optimism and hope for a more peaceful age at the dawn of the new Ming Dynasty. The painting’s Taoist imagery—like the temple nestled in the mountains and the altarlike terrace on the plateau above the temple—carry auspicious associations that presage an era of longevity and peace. During the Mongol period, many scholars sought refuge in Buddhist or Taoist churches that offered a place for sympathetic lay people to hang their hats. Lu Guang uses religious imagery as a way to reference his political hopes without being explicit. The founder of the new Ming Dynasty was a humble Buddhist monk turned rebel, and in the early years there was no telling whether his dynasty would survive. The composition’s receding river valley and tall peaks hark back to the monumental landscape paintings of the tenth century, another period wracked by political turmoil and dynastic collapse. If you’d like to hear a translation of the poem that accompanies this painting, press play now.