This small handscroll is a classic example of literati values. Affixed colophons and collector's seals add to the value of the original work and establish its pedigree. The small painting, in fact, is almost incidental to the whole. The artist notes in a short inscription that he modeled his landscape after two ancient masters by combining the "wet" style of Mi Fei (1051-1107) and the "dry" style of Ni Tsan (1301-1374). The early nineteenth-century landscape painter Chou Kao provided the title. It is preceded by a short frontispiece by the late Ch'ing writer and stone engraver Li Lan. Appearing immediately before the painting is the large official seal, written in both Manchu and Chinese, of the well-known patron, collector, and high official Sung Lo (1634-1713). Two of his seals also appear in the cluster of impressions at the end of the painting, as does one of the calligrapher Wang Shu.
The "wet" and "dry" styles originated by Mi Fei and Ni Tsan were standard avenues of study for most literati artists. In this case, the combination of the two in a single work would have intrigued Tung Ch'i-Ch'ang who was arguably the most influential literati artist, calligrapher and critic of the seventeenth century.