以「瀟湘」為題材的山水畫大約始於唐代，至宋代成熟興盛。宋代以來的「瀟湘」山水畫不一定全部描繪湖南的風景，而是受到「瀟湘」文學的影響，運用「瀟湘」的文化典故，呈現超越地域限制的抽象化情形。 本文從孕育「瀟湘」山水畫的角度出發，探討「瀟湘」文學的文化脈絡，以得知畫家所可能依憑的思想端緒，從而做為理解「瀟湘」山水畫及其題詩的基礎。文中首先考察「瀟湘」的語義文化系譜，得知雖然先秦時已經有「瀟湘」文學創作，「瀟」、「湘」二字約在魏晉時代才結合為一個詞彙，而且到唐代，「瀟」字才從形容詞意義的「水清深貌」轉為「瀟水」的簡稱，逐漸取代「沅湘」和「三湘」，成為湖南的代名詞。文學上如此，繪畫方面亦然，「瀟湘圖」隨著「瀟湘」語詞的定型而取代了「三湘圖」，這也可以解釋為何題名為「瀟湘」的山水畫興起於唐代。 其次整理歸納出「瀟湘」文學的意象情境有「恨別思歸」與「和美自得」兩種典型，前者源於瀟湘神靈神話、屈原作品以及左遷流寓文學；後者則因「瀟湘」的意象與桃花源傳說合流，染上「漁隱」的色彩，唐人歌詠瀟湘山水之美的詩文，以及追求身心清淨逍遙的思想，都使得「瀟湘」宛如出世之境。這一悲一樂，相反對立的兩種意象情境，提供了「瀟湘」山水畫迥然的創作空間與解讀趨向。

　　　　　Hsiao-Hsiang landscape paintings first appeared in the T'ang dynasty and reached maturity in the Sung. However, not all the Hsiao-Hsiang landscape paintings from the Sung depict the scenery of Hunan (the Hsiao and Hsiang areas). Influenced by Hsiao-Hsiang literature, they instead make many allusions to the Hsiao-Hsiang culture, transcending geographical references and presenting abstractly the schemas of Hsiao-Hsiang. This paper discusses the cultural context of Hsiao-Hsiang literature that fostered Hsiao-Hsiang landscape paintings. It tries to understand the painters' way of thinking, its source, and how it became a dynamic behind the artistic expression. This is a basis for understanding Hsiao-Hsiang landscape paintings and their colophons. First, I survey the meaning of the words Hsiao and Hsiang. Although literary works invoking Hsiao and Hsiang appeared as early as in pre-Ch'in eras, Hsiao and Hsiang were not used together as a term until the Wei and Chin periods. Hsiao referred to the Hsiao River, and Hsiao-Hsiang stood for Hunan in T'ang times. ""Hsiao-Hsiang T'u'' (Hsiao-Hsiang painting) appeared also in the Tang dynasty. Beginning in the T'ang, the term Hsiao gradually changed from meaning "clear, deep water'' to invoking the Hsiao River. It eventually replaced the expressions Yuan-Hsiang and San-Hsiang to become a name for Hunan. This happened in literature and in painting. The term ""Hsiao-Hsiang painting'' was established as the term Hsiao-Hsiang came in currency, and replaced the term "San-Hsiang painting.'' In this way we can understand why paintings with colophons about Hsiao-Hsiang arose during T'ang times. Next I analyse two types of imagery in Hsiao-Hsiang literature. One represents "sorrow for departure, urge to return,'' associated with the myth of the Hsiao-Hsiang River, Ch'u Yuan, and other works of exile. Another gives the impression of the "peaceful and beautiful,'' originating from the story of T'ao-Hua Yuan and the hermit tradition. These two kinds of feelings－one sad and one happy－are the basis of Hsiao-Hsiang landscape paintings, and must be considered in any interpretation of this type of paintings.