Throughout the history of imperial China, the educated elite used various means to criticize government policies and actions. During the Song dynasty (960-1278), some members of this elite found an elegant and subtle means of dissent: landscape painting.

By examining literary archetypes, the titles of paintings, contemporary inscriptions, and the historical context, Alfreda Murck shows that certain paintings expressed strong political opinions--some transparent, others deliberately concealed. She argues that the coding of messages in seemingly innocuous paintings was an important factor in the growing respect for painting among the educated elite and that the capacity of painting's systems of reference to allow scholars to express dissent with impunity contributed to the art's vitality and longevity.

薑斐德（Alfreda、Murck），在香港新亞書院留學期間開始領略中國繪畫的奧妙。後於普林斯頓大學獲得中國藝術與考古學博士學位，主攻中國繪畫史。曾在紐約大都會博物館任亞洲部業務主管十二年6其著述有《宋代的詩與畫——持異議的微妙藝術》（哈佛大學齣版社2000年）。從1991年她與丈夫盂剋文（ChrisMurck）在颱北居住六年，1997年起在北京居住至今。先後在北京大學曆史係和巾央美術學院人文研究所任主講教師。現任故宮博物院資料信息中心顧問、古代書畫研究巾心研究員。

另外，還著有《畫可以怨否?瀟湘八景與北宋謫遷詩畫》，颱灣大學：美術史研究，四期(1997)；《蘇軾用杜甫韻字題王晉卿(煙江疊嶂圖)》，中國第十屆蘇軾研討會論文集．濟南：齊魯書社，1999；《以蒿苣、白菜和野草為畫一一杜甫菜園的隱喻》《清華美術》，2005-12(中譯Archivesof Asian Arf，48，1995)；《盛世華章》中的《無聲的對應：中國士大夫的繪畫與書法》，《對清朝徵服的反應：吳宏與孔尚任》北京：紫禁城齣版社，2008。