museishi 無声詩

Lit. "an unvoiced poem." Painting as a medium which conveys meaning without sound. The Chinese believed that although poetry is savored by giving voice to written characters, painting conveys the same message without a word. On the other hand, painting has tangible form and a poem does not. This mysterious interaction between painting, calligraphy and poetry is an age-old concept, although it was not introduced in writing until the 11th century by Guo Xi (Jp: Kaku Ki 郭熙, ca.1001- 90). Museishi came to be seen as an essential underlying concept in painting by literati artists.