This essay by Lu Mei introduces Pagoda (Futu 浮图), a recent series of ink paintings by the artist and curator Fu Xiaodong. The title refers to the Buddhist pagoda, a sacred structure housing relics, and the series asks how the inherent sacredness of human experience might be restored in an age of rational, scientific disenchantment. Drawing on the Chinese tradition in which landscape is both a hermit’s retreat and a setting for legends of sacred places, Fu seeks to combine natural scenery with an inner understanding of sacred space and to express the supernatural forces embedded in nature. A graduate in Chinese painting from the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, she builds a personal mythological universe from ink painting, Daoism, astrology and shamanic traditions. The author describes a vibrant pantheon of hybrid, half-plant beings, glowing planets, suns and moons, rendered with humorous colour and intricate yet natural structures, which evoke both utopian hope and a warning of human decline. By combining surrealist, romantic and literati sensibilities, Fu is presented as a “ferryman” who extends the expressive range of Chinese ink art and opens a liminal space for imagination.