About 1,600 years ago, Zong Bing (375–443), devout Buddhist, artist, and author of Preface on Landscape Painting, wrote “... even the form of [a vast mountain] may be contained within a square inch of space.” This small jade brush rest is densely decorated with motifs associated with longevity and immortality. The God of Longevity, along with his attendant, soars on a cloud above a pavilion set in a grotto surrounded by cresting waves. Peaches of Immortality grow on a tree nearby while cranes and pine trees appear on the opposite side. Scholars using - and artists creating - objects such as this balanced a Daoist desire for immortality and Confucian respect for longevity.