The Space-Time Painter

Police detective Zhou Ning is assigned to investigate a mysterious case at the Palace Museum, where a security guard reported seeing a skull-shaped shadow moving within the palace. Zhou initially concludes that the phenomenon is simply the result of light refraction during a rainstorm. However, Chen Wen, a museum curator, reveals that she also witnessed the same shadow while repairing a painting in the laboratory. She describes the shadow as capable of growing and moving unnaturally, which intrigues Zhou.

Obsessed with the case, Zhou spends months at the museum, encountering the shadow multiple times during rainstorms. He theorizes that the shadow might be an artificial projection originating from the underground storage; however, security camera footage shows nothing unusual. Frustrated by the lack of leads, Zhou attempts to capture the shadow during another rainstorm. Although he seemingly fails, he later discovers a black shadow attached to his back. This shadow distracts him, leading to a car accident that puts him into a coma.

While in the coma, Zhou enters an astral plane and meets the shadow, who identifies himself as Zhao Ximeng, a painter from the Song Dynasty. Zhao shares his story: he was a talented protege of a Grand Preceptor^[a] seeking to restore his power through the Emperor. Zhao possessed the ability to project his soul into a multi-dimensional space, allowing him to experience different times and places. He painted the A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains with this ability, which impressed the Emperor and earned him a position as the Emperor's protege. However, when ordered to create a painting that foretold the future of the Song Dynasty, Zhao boldly depicted its downfall. During a meeting with the Emperor and a messenger from Jin, he tried to warn them of impending threats and the corruption of the Grand Preceptor, but the Emperor ordered his execution instead. Shortly after, the Jingkang Incident occurred, confirming Zhao's painting. Choosing to remain in the multi-dimensional space, Zhao invites Li Song, another talented painter from the Southern Song, to join him, and he extends an invitation to Zhou, who declines, preferring to embrace life fully before facing death.

Six months later, Zhou awakens from his coma and reunites with his wife. He gains insight into their future, as well as that of Chen, and is reassigned to the Abnormal Incident Bureau to confront new challenges.^[b]

In 2019, sci-fi writer Hai Ya watched an episode of the CCTV historical documentary series National Treasure, which introduced the Northern Song Dynasty painting A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains (Chinese: 千里江山图).^[3] He was impressed by the talent of the painter Wang Ximeng and found his accomplished but brief life resonant with the qualities he sought for the protagonist of a historical science fiction story.^[3][4] He began researching Wang's life and drafting the narrative in 2020.^[3][4] He envisioned the story as a blend of historical and science fiction, motivated by his passion for history.^[1] Although Wang Ximeng is commonly known by the surname Wang, Hai Ya noted that the inscription on A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains only includes "Ximeng", and that his surname Wang was derived from the Qing Dynasty antiques collector Liang Qingbiao [zh].^[5][6] Therefore, he chose to refer to Ximeng as Zhao Ximeng in the story, giving him a backstory as a distant noble of the House of Zhao, including a familial connection to the shan shui painter Zhao Boju.^[5] Hai Ya cited Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life (1998) as an inspiration for the final act of the novelette, where Zhou Ning discusses Fermat's Last Theorem with Zhao.^[6] He also included the Abnormal Incident Bureau in the story's conclusion, a fictional organization that first appeared in his novelette Blood Plague (2019; Chinese: 血灾), planning to establish it within a fictional universe where each novelette serves as a standalone story but features crossover settings and characters, similar to Ni Kuang's Wisely Series.^[2][5] Hai Ya completed The Space-Time Painter in early 2021, but it was only released in 2022 due to a change in publisher for Galaxy's Edge, the anthology he submitted to.^[5] He explained that the three years he spent on this short story were due to his busy full-time job, allowing him to write only casually.^[1]

The novelette was featured in Galaxy's Edge 009: The Space-Time Painter (Chinese: 银河边缘009：时空画师), published in April 2022.^[7] Hong Kong publisher Open Page acquired the traditional Chinese translation rights for the novelette shortly after it won the Hugo Award and published it in the short story collection The Space-Time Painter: A Selection of Hai Ya's Novellas and Novelettes (Chinese: 時空畫師：海漄中短篇科幻小說選) in February 2024, which includes a total of ten works by Hai Ya, also featuring the Galaxy Award-nominated novelette The Wrath of River (2021; Chinese: 江之怒).^[8][9]