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Scrolls
There is special attitude to painting on the Far East. As they consider when a picture hangs on a wall constantly, it ceases to give pleasure. Therefore their works of painting have form of scrolls painted on fabric or paper, which are usually rolled up and stored in a special box. They are hung out only temporarily in connection with some occasion. It can be holidays, beginning of a new season, other events and even changes in the weather. Frequently composition of the scrolls contains hieroglyphs, which do not serve as an explanatory inscription only. They are integral parts of an image and form a single art whole together. Thus the art of calligraphy is valued as highly as the art of drawing. It is compared to dance of a brush on a paper.
The scrolls from the museum collection represent painting plots that are traditional for the Far East: playing animals, dragon breathing fire, birds sitting on trees branches, mountain landscapes stretching high into the air that convey infinite of the world, sages admiring spray of wild tree blossomed in mountains. Besides art merits, all the images have symbolical meanings. These are wishes of various spiritual and material benefits or, more often, illustrations of parables, which should put a spectator in long philosophical reflections.
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