Following the conquest of the Northern Sung, Ma Yuan fled from north to south China where he settled at Hangchow's West Lake. He was soon confronted by many obstacles as he tried to use the techniques he had garnered from observing and painting the arid northern mountainscapes to portray the warm scenery of the south.
北宋亡國後，馬遠一路由北方奔向南方，抵達西湖，察覺到以原來畫北方乾燥、雄渾山水的技法，來畫南方水融融的景物，有了很大的障礙。