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Li used "Wu Zhuang" to leverage its lightness; this ancient "misprint" was intentionally cultivated as an independent painting style, where less is more, responding to Su Dongpo's literati painting theory of "seeking rhyme beyond the painting." Mi Nangong called Li's paintings "self-mutilation in a classroom thesis." From then on, the canvas shrank, serving only personal delight, no longer fulfilling grand and profound missions for others. It marked a major advancement in Chinese painting history—from traditional political and religious painting to self-entertaining literati ink painting.
In the colophon of the "Five Horses Scroll," Huang Tingjian praised Li's lofty aspirations but sweetly implied his obsession with painting had affected his career. In stark contrast, Su Dongpo's attitude toward his beloved calligraphy and painting was: "Be careful, don't send out your messages"—meaning purely for amusement, never with serious intent. Su Dongpo's concern resembled Li's "plaything." Su Dongpo's depictions of withered trees, bamboos, and rocks featured a free, eccentric style, created purely for entertainment. He was the first to propose the theory of literati painting and later became the progenitor of amateur literati painters. In comparison, Li had no ambition for officialdom and devoted himself entirely to painting, practicing the literati painting theory advocated by Su Dongpo and others. Yet his paintings became the very masterpieces Su Dongpo and Huang Tingjian aspired to, establishing Li as the progenitor of professional literati painters, later headed by Zhao Mengfu. The colophons of the "Five Horses Scroll" also reveal the differences between Li's painting and Su's in both theory and practice.
Li's painting inherited the legacy of the Tang Dynasty and inspired Zhao Mengfu's new style of Yuan dynasty literati painting, holding significant importance.
Zhao Mengfu emerged abruptly, trained in Li's tradition of painting horses. Perhaps it can be said that Chinese painters devoted to literati art ceased focusing on figures and turned instead to landscape representation. If we compare the works of Qiao Zhongchang of the Northern Song and Ma Yuan of the Southern Song—two important painters who followed Li and excelled in figure painting but remained overlooked—with Yuan dynasty landscape paintings, we can clearly observe the evolution of landscape style from dense to sparse, from depiction to calligraphic expression, and recognize Li's influence on later literati landscape painting. Another major advancement lies in the transition from "Wu Zhuang" to "Qianjiang." In the Yuan dynasty's "Wu Ma Tu," the standard light hues of "Wu Zhuang" were replaced with pale ochre and cinnabar tones of "Qianjiang," establishing the foundational tone of the orthodox literati landscape school for over six centuries, initially defined by Li before Zhao Mengfu. Put plainly, "Wu Zhuang" was a light-color technique for figure painting, while "Qianjiang" was a light-color technique for landscape painting, emphasizing the lightness and ethereality Li pursued. In essence, it was Li's "light and ethereal" style in depicting figures and horses that opened the door to later literati landscape painting.