Chen Hengke"s knowledge of the modern period, gained during his studies in Japan between 1902 and 1909, gave him a distance from his own tradition. Yet he was able, from this vantage, to reaffirm his belief in the enduring vitality of Chinese calligraphy and painting. An influential historian of the literati tradition and a leader among painters and calligraphers in Beijing, Chen died before he reached fifty, but the many artists who were his friends and students, among them Qi Baishi (1863–1957), advanced his ideals.Chen"s approach to landscape painting demonstrates the shift in the modern period away from pictorial to graphic principles. While working with traditional media and subject matter, Chen employed an assertive brushwork that is virtually independent of the painting"s representational function.