The Eight Views of Xiaoxiang () are scenes of the Xiaoxiang region, in what is now modern Hunan Province, China, that were the subject of the poems and depicted in well-known drawings and paintings from the time of the Song Dynasty. The Eight Views of Xiaoxiang can refer either to various sets of paintings which have been done on this theme, the various verse series on the same theme, or to combinations of both. The Xiaoxiang theme is part of a long poetic and artistic legacy. One of the earliest extant artistic depictions of the Xiaoxiang region can be found in the renowned painter Dong Yuan's masterpiece Xiao and Xiang Rivers. The original set of eight painting titles were done by painter, poet, and government official Song Di (c. 1067 – c. 1080), during the reign of Shenzong, in the Song dynasty. A complete version of Song Di's Eight Views of Xiaoxiang has not survived. After its creation in the 11th century, the "Eight Views" theme became a popular subject for artistry and landscape poetry across the Sinosphere. One Japanese variation, Eight Views of Ōmi, became popular in its own right and was a major subject in ukiyo-e artwork. The eight scenes "Night rain on the Xiaoxiang" ( ), in the south (Xiang River area) "Returning wild geese" ( ), in Yongzhou "Evening gong at Qingliang Temple" ( ), in Hengyang "Storm clearing over a temple in the mountain" ( ), in Xiangtan "Evening snow" ( ), on the Xiang River in Changsha "Fishing village in the evening glow" ( ), in Taoyuan County "Autumn moon over Lake Dongting" ( ) "Returning sails" ( ), in Xiangyin, in the north (of Hunan) Symbolism The Eight Views of Xiaoxiang is thematically part of a greater tradition. Generally, it is a theme that as artistically rendered in painting and poetry tends towards the expression of an underlying deep symbolism, such as exile and enlightenment. Furthermore, each scene generally expresses certain, sometimes subtle references. For instance Level Sand: Wild Geese Descend may refer to the historical exile of Qu Yuan in this region and to the poetry which he wrote about it. "Level Sand" may be seen as a reference to Qu Yuan because the Chinese character for level, Píng, was his given name (Yuan was a courtesy name). Furthermore, due to his having drowned himself in one of the often sandy rivers