Emptiness is an artistic conception. Zong Baihua, an aesthete, believes that emptiness refers to the "spiritual space" contained in artistic conception. This space is an organic aesthetic psychological field with aura, which is unique to the painter's mind. This is the poeticization of China people's cosmic consciousness and life perception, which is manifested in artistic conception and is an ethereal beauty. As a kind of "spiritual space", emptiness is three-dimensional and boundless, which is what Zhuangzi described as "infinite realm". This space also has its depth, breadth and height, so it can present a work with superb cosmic consciousness and life perception in a magnificent and profound space, which is ethereal and beautiful. From You Chuntu by Zhan Ziqian, a painter in the Sui Dynasty, to Journey to the Western Hills by Fan Kuan, a painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, and to Beautiful Mountains and Rivers by Shi Tao, a painter in the Qing Dynasty, every classic structure embodies the communication and collision between the creator's mind and nature. The artistic tension of the work transcends time and space. The painter shows a broad mind, a clean soul and endless reverie, leaving the viewer with a fresh and ethereal world.

Another meaning of ethereal is transparency. Ancient literary critics believe that artistic conception should be completely transparent, and its exquisiteness is like a flower in a mirror. China's painting pursues the meaning beyond the image and the feeling beyond the painting, all in order to achieve infinite artistic conception through limited artistic image. In Su Shi's poems, there is a saying, "There is nothing in this pavilion, just sit and watch the scenery and never see it"; Every time Ni Yunlin painted a landscape painting in Yuan Dynasty, he always left an empty pavilion. The so-called "no one meets under the pavilion, and the setting sun shines in autumn" is always revealed from this pavilion. The blank of China's landscape painting is not a background to be filled, but a meaningful spatial organization. Therefore, what we call "ethereal" is not empty, but there are endless scenes and endless meanings flashing in it, which form a "transparent meaning". It is a kind of exquisite beauty that does not stick to facts, but is implicit and meaningful, which makes the artistic conception unique and pleasing to the eye.