West Lake in Spring, High Tide at Qiantang

The picture to your right depicts Xihu in spring, while the picture on your left shows high tide in Qiantang. Xihu is a lake to the west of Hangzhou city in China's Zhejiang Province. It has long been regarded as a beauty spot and was featured in many paintings down the ages. Qiantang, meanwhile, is a river also located in Zhejiang Province. During high tide in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, sea water surges up the river against the current. The picture shows people watching this phenomenon, known as a tidal bore. Can you see how color has been added to the trees, rocks, buildings, and people? Light yellow, indigo, green, and reddish hues are splashed across the screen to create the impression of water or verdant nature gleaming in the sun. The paper was a lot whiter when the painting was first created. This probably lent the colors a more translucent quality that conveyed the sense of light more vividly.

— Museum description: Tokyo National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.