Lots of Chinese paintings contain a great deal of empty space, emanating a certain calm, tranquility, serenity.
This peculiar æsthetical choice could at least be unconsciously rooted in a fundamental Eastern philosophical concept: emptiness
Here are a few examples of such paintings, all created by Zhang Lu (1464–1538, 張路), and compiled in an Album of Daoist Paintings, by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Daoist immortal Zhang Guolao, 張果老 by Zhang Lu (1464–1538) 張路 through flickr.com lacma.org wikimedia.org – Public domain

God of Good Fortune (Caishen?, 財神) and his attendants, standing among the heavens by Zhang Lu (1464–1538) 張路 through flickr.com lacma.org wikimedia.org – Public domain

Daoist immortal Zhongli Quan, 鍾離權, also known as Han Zhongli by Zhang Lu (1464–1538) 張路 through flickr.com lacma.org wikimedia.org – Public domain
The notion of emptiness (空, kōng; 空性 kōng xìng), or Śūnyatā in Sanskrit, is quite central in Taoism and Buddhism, two major historical Chinese religions/spiritual systems.
Also note on those previous paintings, the incrusted flecks of gold, not only intrinsically rich in symbolism, but also here “transcending” the bodies.

Panorama, Songzanlin monastery, Yunnan, China 2018
by
Chensiyuan
Those ideas (emptiness and transcendence) are also expressed in the following “impressionist” piece, where the textures recall typical Chinese landscape paintings, providing along the way the immortal with a great sense of height:

Immortal, ink, Song dynastie, 潑墨仙人 13th century by Liang Kai (1140-1210) 梁楷 through wikimedia.org – Public domain
Note: That appreciation of emptiness isn’t strictly specific to the East. Claude Debussy (1862-1918) once said:
Music is the space between the notes.
Traditional Western music, such as Gregorian chants, tends to emphasize those silences, by contrast with contemporary music; and so does traditional Chinese music:
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