Chinese Painting PDF

VJC - Art Readings on Chinese Painting
Chinese
painting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest
paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs
rather than pictures. Stone Age pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals. It
was only during the Warring States Period (403-221 B.C.) that artists began to represent the
world around them.
Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as guó huà 国画, meaning
'national' or 'native painting', as opposed to Western styles of art which became popular in
China in the 20th century. Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as
calligraphy and is done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink; oils are not used. As with
calligraphy, the most popular materials on which paintings are made of are paper and silk.
The finished work is then mounted on scrolls, which can be hung or rolled up. Traditional
painting also is done in albums and on walls, lacquerwork, and other media.
The two main techniques in Chinese painting are:

 Meticulous - Gong-bi (工筆) often referred to as
"court-style" painting
 Freehand - Shui-mo (水墨) loosely termed
watercolour or brush painting. The Chinese character
"mo" means ink and "shui" means water. This style
is also referred to as "xie yi" (寫意) or freehand style.
Artists from the Han (202 BC) to the Tang (618–906) dynasties mainly painted the human
figure. Much of what we know of early Chinese figure painting comes from burial sites,
where paintings were preserved on silk banners, lacquered objects, and tomb walls. Many
early tomb paintings were meant to protect the dead or help their souls get to paradise. Others
illustrated the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius, or showed scenes of daily life.
Many critics consider landscape to be the highest form of Chinese painting. The time from the
Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song period (907–1127) is known as the "Great age of
Chinese landscape". In the north, artists such as Jing Hao, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi painted
pictures of towering mountains, using strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted
brushstrokes to suggest rough stone. In the south, Dong Yuan, Juran, and other artists painted
the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in peaceful scenes done with softer,
rubbed brushwork. These two kinds of scenes and techniques became the classical styles of
Chinese landscape painting.
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Wall scroll painted by Ma Lin in 1246. Ink on silk, 110.5 cm wide.

Loquats and a Mountain Bird, by an anonymous painter of the Southern Song Dynasty
(1127–1279); small album leaf paintings like this were popular amongst the gentry and
scholar-officials of the Southern Song.
Painting from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Animalistic guardian spirits of day and night wearing Chinese robes, Han Dynasty (202 BC –
220 AD) on ceramic tile
Early Imperial China (221 BC–AD 220)

In imperial times (beginning with the Eastern Jin Dynasty), painting and calligraphy in China
were the most highly appreciated arts in court circles and were produced almost exclusively
by amateurs—aristocrats and scholar-officials—who had the leisure time necessary to perfect
the technique and sensibility necessary for great brushwork. Calligraphy was thought to be the
highest and purest form of painting. The implements were the brush pen, made of animal hair,
and black inks made from pine soot and animal glue. In ancient times, writing, as well as
painting, was done on silk. However, after the invention of paper in the 1st century CE, silk
was gradually replaced by the new and cheaper material. Original writings by famous
calligraphers have been greatly valued throughout China's history and are mounted on scrolls
and hung on walls in the same way that paintings are.

Period of division (220–581)
Luoshenfu by Gu Kaizhi (344-406 AD)

During the Six Dynasties period (220–589), people began to appreciate painting for its own
beauty and to write about art. From this time we begin to know about individual artists, such
as Gu Kaizhi. Even when these artists illustrated Confucian moral themes – such as the proper
behavior of a wife to her husband or of children to their parents – they tried to make the
figures graceful.

Six principles
The "Six principles of Chinese painting" were established by
Xie He, a writer, art historian and critic in 5th century China.
He is most famous for his "Six points to consider when
judging a painting" (绘画六法, Pinyin:Huìhuà Liùfǎ), taken
from the preface to his book "The Record of the Classification
of Old Painters" (古画品录; Pinyin: Gǔhuà Pǐnlù). Keep in
mind that this was written circa 550 A.D. and refers to "old"
and "ancient" practices. The six elements that define a painting
are:
1. "Spirit Resonance", or vitality, and seems to translate to
the nervous energy transmitted from the artist into the
work. The overall energy of a work of art. Xie He said
that without Spirit Resonance, there was no need to look
further.
2. "Bone Method", or the way of using the brush. This
refers not only to texture and brush stroke, but to the
close link between handwriting and personality. In his
day, the art of calligraphy was inseparable from painting.
3. "Correspondence to the Object", or the depicting of
form, which would include shape and line.
4. "Suitability to Type", or the application of color,
including layers, value and tone.
5. "Division and Planning", or placing and arrangement,
corresponding to composition, space and depth.
6. "Transmission by Copying", or the copying of models,
not only from life but also the works of antiquity.

The Sakyamuni Buddha, by Zhang Shengwen, 1173-1176 AD, Song Dynasty.
A mural painting of Li Xian's tomb at the Qianling Mausoleum, dated 706 AD, Tang Dynasty

Sui and Tang dynasties (581–960)

Further information: Tang Dynasty painting
During the Tang Dynasty, figure painting flourished at the royal court. Artists such as Zhou
Fang showed the splendor of court life in paintings of emperors, palace ladies, and imperial
horses. Figure painting reached the height of elegant realism in the art of the court of Southern
Tang (937-975).
Most of the Tang artists outlined figures with fine black lines and used brilliant color and
elaborate detail. However, one Tang artist, the master Wu Daozi, used only black ink and
freely painted brushstrokes to create ink paintings that were so exciting that crowds gathered
to watch him work. From his time on, ink paintings were no longer thought to be preliminary
sketches or outlines to be filled in with color. Instead they were valued as finished works of
art.
Beginning in the Tang Dynasty, many paintings were landscapes, often shanshui (山水,
"mountain water") paintings. In these landscapes, monochromatic and sparse (a style that is
collectively called shuimohua), the purpose was not to reproduce exactly the appearance of
nature (realism) but rather to grasp an emotion or atmosphere so as to catch the "rhythm" of
nature.
Song and Yuan dynasties (960–1368)
Buddhist Temple in the Mountains, 11th century, ink on silk, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,
Kansas City (Missouri).

Zhao Mengfu (Zi'ang), an outstanding calligrapher and painter, advocated the mixture of old
tradition into calligraphy and painting to create the Yuan style.
Guo Xi, a representative painter of landscape painting in

the Northern Song dynasty, has been well known for
depicting mountains, rivers and forests in winter. This
piece shows a scene of deep and serene mountain valley
covered with snow and several old trees struggling to
survive on precipitous cliffs. It is a masterpiece of Guo
Xi by using light ink and magnificent composition to
express his open and high artistic conception.
In the Song Dynasty period (960–1279), landscapes of
more subtle expression appeared; immeasurable
distances were conveyed through the use of blurred
outlines, mountain contours disappearing into the mist,
and impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena.
Emphasis was placed on the spiritual qualities of the
painting and on the ability of the artist to reveal the
inner harmony of man and nature, as perceived
according to Taoist and Buddhist concepts. One of the
most famous artists of the period was Zhang Zeduan,
painter of Along the River During the Qingming
Festival. Yi Yuanji achieved a high degree of realism
painting animals, in particular monkeys and gibbons.[1]
During the Southern Song period (1127-1279), court
painters such as Ma Yuan and Xia Gui used strong
black brushstrokes to sketch trees and rocks and pale
washes to suggest misty space.
While many Chinese artists were attempting to
represent three-dimensional objects and to master the
illusion of space, another group of painters pursued very
different goals. At the end of Northern Song period, the
poet Su Shi and the scholar-officials in his circle
became serious amateur painters. They created a new
kind of art in which they used their skills in calligraphy
(the art of beautiful writing) to make ink paintings.
From their time onward, many painters strove to freely
express their feelings and to capture the inner spirit of
their subject instead of describing its outward
appearance.

The "Four Generals of Zhongxing" painted by Liu Songnian during the Southern Song
Dynasty. Yue Fei is the second person from the left. It is believed to be the "truest portrait of
Yue in all extant materials."[2]
During the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368), painters joined the arts of painting, poetry,
and calligraphy by inscribing poems on their paintings. These three arts worked together to
express the artist’s feelings more completely than one art could do alone. Even so, Mongol
Khagan Tugh Temur (r.1328,1329–1332) was very fond of this culture.
Late imperial China (1368–1895)

Beginning in the 13th century, the tradition of painting simple subjects—a branch with fruit, a
few flowers, or one or two horses—developed. Narrative painting, with a wider color range
and a much busier composition than Song paintings, was immensely popular during the Ming
period (1368–1644).
The first books illustrated with colored woodcuts appeared around this time; as color-printing
techniques were perfected, illustrated manuals on the art of painting began to be published.
Jieziyuan Huazhuan (Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden), a five-volume work first
published in 1679, has been in use as a technical textbook for artists and students ever since.
Some painters of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) continued the traditions of the Yuan scholar-
painters. This group of painters, known as the Wu School, was led by the artist Shen Zhou.
Another group of painters, known as the Zhe School, revived and transformed the styles of
the Song court.
Shen Zhou of the Wu School depicted the scene when the painter was making his farewell to
Wu Kuan, a good friend of his, at Jingkou.
During the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), painters known as Individualists rebelled against
many of the traditional rules of painting and found ways to express themselves more directly
through free brushwork. In the 1700s and 1800s, great commercial cities such as Yangzhou
and Shanghai became art centers where wealthy merchant-patrons encouraged artists to
produce bold new works.
In the late 1800s and 1900s, Chinese painters were increasingly exposed to Western art. Some
artists who studied in Europe rejected Chinese painting; others tried to combine the best of
both traditions. Perhaps the most beloved modern painter was Qi Baishi, who began life as a

poor peasant and became a great master. His best known works depict flowers and small
animals.
Modern painting
Beginning with the New Culture Movement, Chinese artists started to adopt using Western
techniques.
In the early years of the People's Republic of China, artists were encouraged to employ
socialist realism. Some Soviet Union socialist realism was imported without modification,
and painters were assigned subjects and expected to mass-produce paintings. This regimen
was considerably relaxed in 1953, and after the Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956-57,
traditional Chinese painting experienced a significant revival. Along with these developments
in professional art circles, there was a proliferation of peasant art depicting everyday life in
the rural areas on wall murals and in open-air painting exhibitions.
During the Cultural Revolution, art schools were closed, and publication of art journals and
major art exhibitions ceased. Major destruction was also carried out as part of the elimination
of Four Olds campaign.
Since 1978
Following the Cultural Revolution, art schools and professional organizations were reinstated.
Exchanges were set up with groups of foreign artists, and Chinese artists began to experiment
with new subjects and techniques. One particular case of freehand style (xieyi hua) may be
noted in the work of the child prodigy Wang Yani -born 1975- who started painting at age 3
and has since considerably contributed to the exercise of the style in contemporary artwork.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paintings from China
 Bird-and-flower painting
 Chinese art
 Chinese Piling paintings
 Eastern art history
 History of Chinese art
 History of painting
 Ink and wash painting
 Lin Tinggui
 List of Chinese painters
 Ming Dynasty painting
 Qiu Ying
 Shan Shui painting
 Mu Qi
References
1. ^ Robert van Gulik, "Gibbon in China. An essay in Chinese Animal Lore". The Hague, 1967.
2. ^ Shao Xiaoyi. "Yue Fei's facelift sparks debate". China Daily. http://zjxz.gov.cn/gb/node2/node138665/node139012/node139015/userobject15ai2978830.html. Retrieved
2007-08-09.
Further reading
 Siren, O., A History of Later Chinese Painting - 2 vols. (Medici Society, London, 1937).
External links
 Chinese Painting and Galleries at China Online Museum
 Famous Chinese Painters and their Galleries at China Online Museum
 Chinese Paintings and Arts Gallery with Classifieds and Auction features
 Gallery featuring ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy from Eastern Chin dynasty (AD 317) to the 20th Century
 A Gallery of Classical Chinese Paintings
 Chinese Painting Articles
 Chinese Sumi-e by Artist Sheng Kuan Chung
 Chinese painting Description of the techniques. Learn Chinese traditional painting.
 Gallery of Chinese Painting
 Famous Chinese Painting Reproductions, famous Chinese gongbi paintings reproduced by Chinese artist Cao Xiaohui.
 Traditional Chinese Paintings
 Chinese paintings with cats throughout the centuries at the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
 Gallery of China Traditional Chinese Art

http://home.flash.net/~cameron/painting/style/painting_styles.htm
Styles of
Chinese Painting
While there are many schools and styles of traditional Chinese painting (guo hua 国画), many
contemporary artists in this genre use either fine brush technique (gong bi 工筆) or freehand
style (xie yi 寫意). These two broad poles in style can, and often do, shade into one another.
Detailed observation and spontaneous expression are not mutually exclusive. A fusion of
Chinese and Western painting techniques (xi hua 西画) is another style frequently found. The
first three examples below illustrate a common subject matter--lotus flowers--but each
portrayal is rendered in a very different manner that ranges from realistic, meticulous
brushwork and coloring to the highly abstract, where patches of shaded ink suggest the
withered lotus flowers in the pond.
See Selected Bibliography for more information.
Back
Fine brush Freehand or "sketching Mixed Western and

(gong bi 工筆) idea" Traditional Chinese
(xie yi 寫意) Techniques
Xiao Meng Wu Guanzhong

[Lotuses] [Lotuses]
Jia Shan
[Lotuses]
 This style tends to be  This style emphasizes  Wu Guanzhong's work

visually complex and the interpretive aspect offers an excellent
more descriptive than of brushwork and the example of an artist who
interpretive of the shading of ink-- has studied Western
subject matter. seeking to express the painting and successfully
essence of the subject, married some of its
 It generally displays
not the details of techniques to Chinese ink
meticulous
realism. painting styles. His works
brushwork and

shading in the use of  Xie yi style displays a display some of the
color and ink. freer, unrestrained qualities of abstract
look that has an expressionism combined
 Note the detail in
expressionistic aspect with the freehand (xie yi)
Shen Mei's
rather than the approach to subject matter;
foreground rendering
elaborate and finely namely, a concern with
of the cactus flowers
detailed work of the form, line, color, and ink
below, which then
gong bi approach. tone rather than realistic
fades off into the
representations.
background lending  The examples below
depth to the painting. convey a mood  Liu Ce's landscape below
through few brush shows more of a typical
strokes and the use of Western perspective than
ink wash to create the traditional Chinese
space for the style.
imagination in the
paintings.
More gong bi examples More xie yi examples More examples
Li Tongyuan Unidentified artist

Lotus Pond, Autumn [Bird on a Lotus Stem]
Harmony
Wu Guanzhong
[Landscape]
Shen Mei (b. 1947)

[Cactus Flowers]

Zhao Bin
[Landscape] Liu Ce
[Landscape]
Selected Bibliography
China's Ancient Theory of Painting (viewed 4/22/2004)
Chinese Landscape Painting (viewed 4/22/2004)
Different Genres of Chinese Painting (viewed 4/22/2004)
Eberhard, Wolfram. A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and
Thought. London and New York: Routedge, 1986.
Fong, Wen C. Between Two Cultures: Late-Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Chinese
Paintings from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven and London: Yale University
Press,c2001.
Innovations in Chinese Painting (1850-1950) (viewed 1/24/2004)
Kwo Da-Wei. Chinese Brushwork in Calligraphy and Painting: Its History, Aesthetics, and
Techniques. New York: Dover, 1981.
Made in China: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy (viewed 1/24/2004)
Modern Chinese Art: The Khoan and Michael Sullivan Collection. Oxford: Ashmolean
Museum, 2001.
Sullivan, Michael. The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry, and Calligraphy. Rev.
ed. New York: G. Braziller, 1999.
Timeline of Chinese Art History from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (viewed 3/7/2004)
Timeline of Chinese Painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (viewed 3/7/2004)
Traditional Chinese Painting (viewed 1/24/2004)

Guo Xi (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Guo Xi (Traditional Chinese: 郭熙; Simplified Chinese: 郭熙; Hanyu Pinyin: Guō Xī; Wade-
Giles: Kuo Hsi) (c.1020 – c.1090) Chinese landscape painter who lived during the Northern
Song dynasty. He wrote a book about how to paint landscapes. He was a court professional, a
literati, well-educated painter who developed an incredibly detailed system of idiomatic
brushstrokes which became important for later painters. His most famous work is Early
Spring, dated 1072. The work demonstrates his innovative techniques for producing multiple
perspectives which he called "the angle of totality."
Guo Xi’s Early Spring
Early Spring, done in

1072, is considered one of
the great masterpieces of
the Northern Song
monumental landscape
tradition. It is a rare
example of an early
painting executed by a
court professional who
signed and dated his
work.
How do man and nature

relate to each other within
the landscape?
Guo Xi developed a
strategy of depicting
multiple perspectives
called "the angle of
totality." Because a
painting is not a window,
there is no need to imitate
the mechanics of vision
and view a scene from
only one spot.
Guo Xi (ca. 1020-1090), Early Spring, dated

1072 source

Early Spring is characterized by ease and
surety of strokes, executed quickly and having
a tensile quality and structure. There are seven
to eight layers of ink in softer areas, and the
tonal range throughout is subtle. Broad
outlines of boulders merge with background,
showing a preference for integration.
Guo Xi made his reputation on his landscapes

and pictures of dried trees, which are
recognizable for their "crab-claw"
branches. He painted "tall pines, lofty trees,
winding streams, craggy cliffs, deep gorges,
high peaks, and mountain ranges, at times cut
off by clouds and mist, sometimes hidden in
haze, representing them with a thousand
variations and ten thousand forms."
Guo Xi is known to have prepared large-scale

paintings for the decoration of several halls at
court. Nevertheless, appreciation of his work
at court varied greatly over time; it was said
that after his death, his painting style had so
fallen out of favor that a visitor to the court
Like most Song landscapists, Guo Xi used texture strokes found someone using his old paintings as
to build up credible, three-dimensional forms. Strokes rags.
particular to his style include those on "cloud-
resembling" rocks, and the "devil's face texture stroke,"
which is seen in the somewhat pock-marked surface of
the larger rock forms.
Guo Xi's paintings often contained

three types of trees. The lesser, bending
trees Guo Xi described
anthropomorphically as holding one's
creeds within oneself; the crouching,
gnarled trees were seen analogous to an
individual clinging to his own virtues;
and the vertical trees were compared to
those individuals who remain abreast of
their environmental conditions
(politics) and flourish.

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nsong/hod_1981.276.htm
Old Trees, Level Distance, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127)

Guo Xi (Chinese, ca. 1000–ca. 1090)
China
Handscroll; ink and color on silk; 13 3/4 x 41 1/4 in. (34.9 x 104.8 cm)
Gift of John M. Crawford Jr., in honor of Douglas Dillon, 1981(1981.276)
Guo Xi was the preeminent landscape painter of the late eleventh century. Although he continued the
Li Cheng (919–967) idiom of "crab-claw" trees and "devil-face" rocks, Guo Xi's innovative brushwork
and use of ink are rich, almost extravagant, in contrast to the earlier master's severe, spare style.
Old Trees, Level Distance compares closely in brushwork and forms to Early Spring, Guo Xi's
masterpiece dated 1072 (National Palace Museum, Taipei). In both paintings, landscape forms
simultaneously emerge from and recede into a dense moisture-laden atmosphere: rocks and distant
mountains are suggested by outlines, texture strokes, and ink washes that run into one another to
create an impression of wet blurry surfaces. Guo Xi describes his technique in his painting treatise
Linquan gaozhi (Lofty Ambitions in Forests and Streams): "After the outlines are made clear by dark
ink strokes, use ink wash mixed with blue to retrace these outlines repeatedly so that, even if the ink
outlines are clear, they appear always as if they had just come out of the mist and dew."

http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=257&catid=7&subcatid=40#07
CHINESE PAINTING:
STYLES, TOOLS, CALLIGRAPHY, TAOSIM AND GHOSTS
1. CHINESE PAINTING
2. Websites and Resources
3. Difference Between Chinese and Western Painting
4. Chinese Artists and Forms
5. Calligraphy and Painting Tools
6. Chinese Handscroll Painting
7. Chinese Painting, Calligraphy and Poetry
8. Chinese Painting Styles and Goals
9. Color, Shading and Perspective in Chinese Painting
10. Copying, Forgeries and Fakes
11. Subjects of Chinese Painting
12. Chinese Landscape Painting
13. Taoist Painting
14. Taoism and Painting Quickly From Memory
15. History of Taoist Art
16. Luo Ping, the Ghost Painter
17. Life of Luo Ping
18. Luo Ping and His Patron
CHINESE PAINTING
Autumn Wind by Ni Zan When people think of Chinese painting they think of
graceful, harmonious, images of flowers, birds, water, mountains, trees and other
natural objects. "There is no art in the world more passionate than Chinese painting,"
wrote New York Times art critic Holland Carter. "Beneath its fine-boned brush strokes,
ethereal ink washes and subtle mineral tints flow feeling and ideas as turbulent as
those in any Courbet nude or Baroque Crucifixion."
The oldest paint brush found in China—made with animal hair glued on a piece of
bamboo—was dated to 400 B.C. Silk was used as a painting surface as early as the

3rd century B.C. Paper was used after it was invented I the A.D. 1st century. The
oldest existing Chinese paintings are Buddhist works painted in caves and temples.
Painting has generally fallen into two major traditions: 1) the court tradition,
depicting urban and rural scenes often in great detail; and 2) the literary tradition,
with evocative landscapes and still lives.
Many Chinese paintings are covered with stamps. These are from artists and
scholars who liked what they saw and left their seals as testimony of their approval.
They are kind of like artistic applause.
Websites and Resources

Good Websites and Sources on Chinese Painting: China
Page chinapage.org ;University of Washingtondepts.washington.edu ; Chinese
Painting Collection Blog chinesepaintingcollection.blogspot.com ; China Vista
chinavista.com ;Books: Chinese Painting by James Cahill (Rizzoli 1985). Possessing
the Past: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei by Wen C. Fong, and
James C. Y. Watt (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996). Wen C. Fong, Professor of Art
and Archeology at Princeton, is the consultive chairman of the Asian Art Department
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Calligraphy :China
Page chinapage.org ; University of Washington depts.washington.edu ; China
Vista chinavista.com Brushes China Vista ; Calligraphy Masters on China Online
Museum chinaonlinemuseum.com
Good Websites and Sources on Chinese Art: China --Art History Resources art-
and-archaeology.com ; Art History Resources on the Web witcombe.sbc.edu ; Art of
China Consortium nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart ;Modern Chinese Literature and Culture
(MCLC) Visual Arts/mclc.osu.edu ; Asian Art.com asianart.com ; China Online
Museum chinaonlinemuseum.com ; Huntington Archive of Asian
Artkaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu ; Qing Art learn.columbia.edu Museums with
First Rate Collections of Chinese Art National Palace Museum, Taipei npm.gov.tw ;
Beijing Palace Museum dpm.org.cn ; Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org ;
Sackler Museum in Washington asia.si.edu/collections ; China Page Museum
list chinapage.com
Chinese Culture: Cultural China (site with nice photos cultural-china.com ; China
Culture.org chinaculture.org ; China Culture
Online chinesecultureonline.com ;Chinatown Connection chinatownconnection.com ;
Transnational China Culture Projectruf.rice.edu China Research Paper Search china-
research-papers.com ; Book: The Culture and Civilization, a massive multi-volume
series on Chinese culture (Yale University Press).
Links in this Website: CHINESE ART FROM THE GREAT
DYNASTIES Factsanddetails.com/China ; TANG DYNASTY (A.D. 690-
907) Factsanddetails.com/China ; SONG DYNASTY (960-
1279) Factsanddetails.com/China ;YUAN (MONGOL) DYNASTY (1215-1368) MING
DYNASTY (1368-1644) Factsanddetails.com/China ; QING (MANCHU) DYNASTY
(1644-1911)Factsanddetails.com/China ; CHINESE
JADE Factsanddetails.com/China ; CHINESE CERAMICS AND
PORCELAINFactsanddetails.com/China ; CHINESE
PAINTING Factsanddetails.com/China ;CHINESE
CALLIGRAPHY Factsanddetails.com/China ; CHINESE
CRAFTS Factsanddetails.com/China ; COLLECTING, LOOTING AND COPYING
ART IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China
Difference Between Chinese and Western Painting

Art in the East developed very differently from art in the West. In China, calligraphy
(the art of making letters) and painting evolved together and thus painting, the
graphic arts, poetry and literature became linked together in way they never did in
Europe.
The expressive and philosophic aspirations of Chinese painters were much higher
than their counterparts in the West. Historian Daniel Boorstin wrote in The Creators,
"their works were less varied in subject matter, color and materials. Their hopes and
their triumphs offered nothing like the Western temptations to novelty, and their
legacy is not easy for Western minds to understand." [Source: "The Creators" by
Daniel Boorstin]
Linear perspective was introduced by Europeans. The Italian Jesuit priest Matteo
Ricci criticized Chinese art in the 16th century for its lack of perspective and shading,
saying it looked "dead" and didn't have "no life at all." The Chinese for their part
criticized oil painting brought by the Jesuits as being too lifelike and lacking
expression.
Chinese Artists and Forms
Painting of a painter Unlike artists in the West who were either skilled craftsmen paid
by the hour or professional artists who were commissioned to produce unique works
of art, Chinese artists were amateur scholar gentlemen "following revered ancients in
harmony with forces of nature."
Calligraphy and painting were seen as scholarly pursuits of the educated classes,
and in most cases the great masters of Chinese art distinguished themselves first as
government officials, scholars and poets and were usually skilled calligraphers.
Sculpture, which involved physical labor and was not a task performed by gentlemen,
never was considered a fine art in China.
Works of calligraphy and paintings were generally not painted on canvas like
Western painting. They appear as murals, wall paintings, album leaf paintings,
hanging scrolls and handscrolls. Hanging scrolls are hung on walls as interior
adornments; handscrolls are unrolled on table tops; and album leaf paintings are
small paintings of various shapes collected in book-like albums with "butterfly
mounting," "thatched window mounting" and “accordion mounting."

Calligraphy and Painting Tools
The tools and brush techniques

for painting and calligraphy are virtually the same and calligraphy and painting are
often considered sister arts. The traditional tools of the calligrapher and the painter
are a brush, ink and an inkstone (used to mix the ink). Chinese calligraphers and
painters both used brushes whose unique versatility was the result of a tapered tip,
composed of careful groupings of animal hairs. Chinese calligraphers prized bamboo
brushes tipped with hair from the thick autumn coats of martens.
Many brushstrokes depict things found in nature such as a "rolling wave," "leaping
dragon," "playful butterfly," "dewdrop about to fall," or "startled snake slithering
through the grass." Natural terms such as "flesh," "muscle" and "blood" are used to
describe the art of calligraphy itself. Blood, for example, is a term used to describe
the quality of the ink.
Calligrapher’s paper is still made by hand in some places by smoothing oatmeal-like

pulp made of inner tree bark and rice and pressing and drying it.
Chinese Handscroll Painting

The first handscrolls, dating back to the Spring and Autumn period (770-481 B.C.),
appeared in ancient books and documents and were made mostly from bamboo or
wood strips bound together with chord. Beginning in the Eastern Han Period (25-220
A.D.) silk and paper were commonly used.
Until the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 690-906), most books and documents were kept as
handscrolls that were around a foot and half wide and varied in length from a few
inches to several hundred feet. The proper way to look at a book-style handscroll is
to hold it vertically, unroll it from the left and roll it from the right, examining a section
at a time.
Handscroll paintings were generally much longer than they were wide.
Compositions were focused from left to right and most scrolls contained one painting
although some had several short paintings mounted together. One 85-foot-long silk
handscroll from 1550 contained 1,000 figures and 785 horses.
Many masterpieces are painted on scrolls, which are not intended to be hung or
mounted on walls, but rather are meant to be stored in boxes and periodically taken
out to be looked at. This helps preserve the frail paint which breaks down when
exposed to humidity and air. Collectors have traditionally unrolled their scrolls after

the rainy season in the summer, savored them with some tea and returned them their
boxes.
Scrolls unfortunately are one of the world's most fragile art forms. Careless handling,
exposure to bright light and humidity, inept restoration, insects, temperature changes
all contribute to the deterioration of paint. Plus, silk is a protein-based animal fiber
that breaks down over time and has damaging chemical reactions with pigments and
glues. Western oil paintings, by contrast, lasts longer because the pigments are
preserved in oil and protected from the elements by varnish.
Plum and Bamboo by Wu Zhen

Chinese Painting, Calligraphy and Poetry
Poetry is much more fully integrated into painting and calligraphy in Chinese art
than it is into painting and writing in Western art. There are two words used to
describe what a painter does: Hua hua means "to paint a picture" and xie hua means
"to write a picture." Many artists prefer the latter.
Poetry, painting and calligraphy were known as the "Three Perfections." Poems are
often the subjects of painting. Painters were often inspired by poetry and tried to
create works with a poetic, lyrical quality.
Recalling a series of twelve poems by Su Shih (1036-1101) that inspired him, the
great master painter Shih T'ao (1641-1717) wrote: "This album had been on my desk
for a year and never once did I touch it. One day, when a snow storm was blowing
outside, I thought of Tung-p'o's poems describing twelve scenes and became so
inspired that I took up my brush and started painting each of the scenes in the poems.
At the top of each picture I copied the original poem. When I chant them the spirit
that gave them life emerges spontaneously from paintings." [Source: "The Creators"
by Daniel Boorstin]
When a painting did not fully convey the artist feelings, the artist sometimes turned
to calligraphy to convey his feelings more deeply. Describing the link between writing
and painting, the artist-poet Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322) wrote:
Do the rocks in flying-white, the trees in ancient seal script

And render bamboo as if writing in clerical characters:
Only if one is truly able to comprehend this, will he realize
That calligraphy and painting are essentially the same.
Other times the message of the calligraphy was more mundane. An inscription on
the side of Sheep and Goat by Zhao Mengfu read: "I have painted horses before, but
have never painted sheep, so when Zhongxin requested a painting, I playfully drew
these for him from life. Though I can not get close to the ancient masters, I have
managed somewhat to capture their essential spirit”.
Chinese Painting Styles and Goals

Bamboo by Zhu Wei By the Tang dynasty the criteria for good painting had been
established. One of the main objectives was capturing the qi, or life force, of the
subjects. In the Tang dynasty artists favor figures over landscapes. As time went by
the reverse became true.
Chinese painting can be divided into three major stylistic forms: 1) the meticulous,
detailed kung-pi style and 2) the free, expressive hsieh-I("sketching ideas") style. 3)
The middle path avoids both extremes and tries to capture the "inner spirit" of the
subjects, which has always been more important than simply rendering the outward
form.
One of the most important notions of classical Chinese painting was the
"Concealment of Brilliance." Overt expressions of technical skill were considered
vulgar. "Creativity and individuality were highly valued," but only in an understated
way "within the framework of tradition."
Whether the subject of a work of art is a single dignified mountain or range with a
thousands peaks and valleys, the goal of Chinese painting is to draw the viewer into
the painting a create a "kind of reality like the palpable world." Artists who chose the
liberated approach kept their energies focused and never followed their emotions and
thoughts to the point they created abstract or representative art. Artists who painted
extremely fine details did not copy their subjects.
Color, Shading and Perspective in Chinese Painting

Confined by the tools of the calligrapher, Chinese painters

all but ignored color. Shading was regarded as a European technique, introduced
second-hand by Buddhist missionaries in the A.D. 3rd century.
Classic Chinese artists never developed the idea of central perspective and the
vanishing point which were essential to the development of Renaissance art in
Europe. "Instead," Boorstin wrote, "the Chinese captured space in their painting, by
an invisible linear perspective that diminished objects in the distance, and by aerial
perspective that made distant objects increasingly indistinct.
The Chinese developed and classified three personal points of view, all related to
ways of viewing a landscape: the "level distance" perspective, where the spectator
looks down from a high vantage point; the "deep distance perspective," where the
spectator's vision seems to penetrate into the landscape; and the "high distance"
perspective, where the spectator look up. This helps explain why the Western
observer feels strange when looking at a Chinese painting. And also why Chinese
paintings seem to need no frame." [Source: "The Creators" by Daniel Boorstin]
Copying, Forgeries and Fakes

What is regarded as fake in the West is often treated with great reverence in China.
Even great Chinese masters copied works of their predecessors right down to their
signatures and seals. Chiang Dai-chein, regarded by many as China's greatest 20th
century artist, was an expert forger who sold thousands of paintings attributed to
classic painters. The wide availability of counterfeit goods and indifference to
copyright laws today shows the notions of individualism and individual ownership
remain weak in China.
New York Times art critic Holland Carter wrote, "Debates about authenticity have
always been part of art in China, where 'originals' are often chimerical things, creative

copies are revered as supreme masterpieces and distinctions between copying and
forging are fuzzy."
"The inspiration of nature and past masters," wrote Boorstin, "gave a special kind
and continuity, originality, and inwardness to painters. ...Forgery acquired a new
ambiguity. The Chinese artists' proverbial talent for copying leads reputable art
dealer nowadays to be wary of offering 'authentic' old Chinese paintings. Seeking
constant touch with the past and the works of great masters by hanging pictures on
the wall in rotation according to the seasons or festivals, the Chinese created a
continuing demand that supported workshops for mass production by professional
painters. These artists following the Tao showed remarkable skill in making both new
originals and copies of copies.” [Source: "The Creators" by Daniel Boorstin]
Michele Cordardo, the director of the Central Conservation Institute in Rome, was
invited to China to work in Xian. He told The New Yorker, "The Chinese have a
different sense of the value of original and copy...The Chinese...have a tradition of
conserving by copying and rebuilding...This system of considering by copying or
rebuilding works well as long as you keep the artisan traditions intact. The problem is
that those traditions have broken down in China...Once the continuity of Chinese
imperial civilization came to an end knowledge of traditional pigments, resin, and
textiles, and techniques of painting, wood carving or building quickly began to
disappear."
Subjects of Chinese Painting
Gibbons Chinese artists, wrote Boorstin, painted a "limited number or appropriate

subject matters and these could be depicted in a certain number of techniques...To
the inexpert Western eye, the Chinese painter seems less an original creator than a
performer—like an inspired Western musician playing the composition of great artists
before seasoned listeners." [Source: "The Creators" by Daniel Boorstin]

Even though painting techniques changed over time the subjects remained pretty
constant, and included portraits, dragons and fishes, landscapes, animals, flowers
and birds, vegetables and fruit, wild scenery and the hermit scholar. Things like pine
trees, bamboo, rocks, mountains and running water were important symbols with
easily recognizable meanings. Portraits were usually of emperors and noblemen.
"Ink bamboo," a subject that unified calligraphy and painting, was an especially
popular subject. During the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) some painters painting
nothing but bamboo their entire careers. Bamboo often symbolized the inner
personality of the artist as the gentleman scholar. Bamboo stalks bend but don't
break like a true scholar that adjusts with the times but stays true of his ethics.
Bamboo was also a symbol of the ability to endure oppression.
"The composition, too," wrote Boorstin, "expressed the order of nature, with a
tension between giving and taking, passive and aggressive, host and guest. In a
group of trees, the ‘host’ tree will be bent with spread branches, and the guest tree
slim and straight. If a third tree is added, it must not be exactly parallel. Such a group
of trees can itself be a host in relation to another ‘guest group’ in another part of the
painting...The host-guest principal of tree to tree can equally be applied to the
relation of rock to rock, mountain to mountain, or man to man." [Source: "The
Creators" by Daniel Boorstin]
Chinese Landscape Painting
Leisurely Sound of
Mountains and Spring
by Shi Tao
Unlike traditional Western painters, who used landscapes as background filler for
battle scenes, portraits and central images of suffering religious figures, Chinese
artists painted landscapes as the main subject matter. Religious, historical and
mythological themes that were dealt with explicitly in the West were captured in the

symbolism of trees, rocks, rivers, mountains and birds in the natural landscapes in
Chinese paintings.
Landscape painting developed in the 4th and 5th century and became the most
popular theme for painters beginning in the 11th century. While early figure painting
was influenced by Confucianism, landscape painting found inspiration in Taoist
thought. As it developed artists often sought inspiration more from artistic tradition
than directly from nature. The painter-connoisseur Dong Qichang (1555-1636) wrote,
"If one considers the wonders of nature, then painting does not equal landscape. But
if one considers the wonders of brushwork, then landscape does not equal painting. "
Buddhism, Confucianism and early Taoism all emphasized the concepts of

reclusiveness and communing with nature and this was reflected in landscape
painting. Popular subjects such as mountains, streams, trees and mist were all prized
for the transcendent freedom they inspired. Mountains usually come in two types: the
rugged, steep, precipitous of northern China, or the misty, elegant, rolling mountains
of the Kiangnan region in southern China.
Some landscape paintings are descriptive: an accumulation of painstaking details.

Other are more emotional. Figures are mere specks that are primarily there to
establish scale.
"All landscapes," wrote the 11th century critic Shen Kua, "have to be viewed from
the angle of totality...to see more than one layer of the mountain at one time...see the
totality of its unending ranges." In the early fourteenth century the philosopher Tang
Hou wrote: "Landscape painting is the essence of the shaping powers of Nature. This
through the vicissitudes of yin and yang—weather, time, and climate—the charm of
inexhaustible transformation is unfailingly visible. If you yourself do not possess that
grand wavelike vastness of mountain and valley within your heart and mind, you will
be unable to capture it with ease in your painting.
Taoist Painting

Fanghu Island
of the Taoist immortal Taoism had a major influence on Chinese art forms such as
painting, ritual objects, sculpture, calligraphy and clothing. Themes include rituals,
cosmology and mountains.
Chinese painting was greatly influenced by Taoism, a mystical religion-philosophy
based on the principal that following the rhythms of nature are key to reaching
heaven. The Tao tradition brought together past and present, nature and art, and
poetry and painting. The best Tao-influenced Chinese art was defined as "divine
class" or "marvelous class," terms that describe works by painters who developed
their individual capacities to reveal the spirit of heaven and nature found in
everyone.” [Source: "The Creators" by Daniel Boorstin]
One of its most important goals of Taoist painting was revealing qi, variously known
as the "Breath of Heaven," the "Breath of Nature" or the "Quality of Spirit." According
to one painting manual, "qi is as basic as the way [people] are formed and so it is
with rocks, which are the framework of the heavens and of earth, and also have qi.
That is the reason rocks are sometimes spoken of as 'roots of the clouds.' Rocks
without qi are dead rocks, as bones without the same vivifying spirit are dry bare
bones. How could a cultivated person paint a lifeless rock...rocks must be alive."

Taoist painting often contained heavenly deities, roaming immortals, guardian
figures and protectors of the faith. These images helped propagate Taoism by
informing illiterate people though images rather than texts.
Among the popular subjects of Taoist paintings are the Eight Immortals, Liu Hai and
his golden three-legged toad, deities on flying dragons, guardian figures, protectors
of the faithful, "The Three Purities" (three important Taoist deities roaming through
heaven), and "Three Officials on an Inspection Tour" (deified officials of heaven,
earth and water on a procession through the clouds, land and water).
Immortality was a central element of Taoism. Famous Taoist painting dealing with
immortality include Immortal Ascending on a Dragon, Riding a Dragon, Fungus of
Immortality, Picking Herbs, and Preparing Elixirs.
Taoism and Painting Quickly From Memory
Taoist immortal To paint in a Taoist manner, painters had to paint quickly in an

attempt to capture nature in its true state. "To paint the bamboo," the poet and
painter Su Shih wrote in the 11th century, "one must have it entirely within one.
Grasp the brush, look intently [at the paper], then visualize what you are going to
paint. Follow you vision quickly, lift your brush and pursue directly that which you see,
as a falcon dives on a springing hare—the least slackening and it will escape you."
Chinese painters were expected to paint from memory rather than depicting a
landscape that lay before them. The artist was expected to have a kind of
"photographic memory" which psychologists G. W. Allport later described as a
"visual-memory image [that] revives the earlier optical impression when the eyes are
closed...with hallucinatory clearness." [Source: "The Creators" by Daniel Boorstin]
The Chinese were also forced by their materials to paint quickly in one continuous
process. Unlike Leonardo da Vinci, who developed oil paints for the Last Supper
which could applied at a rate of only a few strokes a day, Chinese painters used
quick drying ink and absorbent paper which could not be erased or retouched. In the
11th century landscape painter Kuo His wrote: "In painting any view the artist must
concentrate his powers to unify the work. Otherwise it will not bear the peculiar
imprint of his soul...If a painter forces himself to work when he feels lazy his
productions will be weak and spiritless, without decision."
"As the arts of the calligraphy and painting developed," Boorstin wrote, "these arts
developed a discipline to assure a calm mind, a cultivated memory. All the scholars

activities were acts of reverence for nature, or as a metaphor for the nobility of man."
To prepare for painting some Chinese artists medited on the rhythms of nature by
taking reflective walks in the forest. The goal wrote the Taoist scholar Chang Tzu was
to "achieve the goal of self-cultivation" through "sageliness within and kingliness
without." [Source: "The Creators" by Daniel Boorstin]
History of Taoist Art
Early Spring by Guo Xi

The earliest examples of Taoist art—murals, sculptures and talisman made by
shamans and Taoist adepts—have been lost to time. Although works of Taoist art
remain from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) none of them are paintings.
Taoism spread throughout China during the Six Dynasties Period (220-588 A.D.),
when Taoist art was often featured on the walls Taoist monasteries and temples. The
father of Taoist painting is regarded as Ku K'ai-chih, a 4th-century sage-painter.
Although none of his works remain, we know about him from the Tang Dynasty
text Record of Famous Painting Throughout the Ages. Ku K'ai-chih is credited with
painting images of Illustrious Fairies and Illustrious Immortals.
Taoist painting flourished during the Tang dynasty (618-906) under the generous
patronage of the imperial court. Famous Taoist Tang painters include the muralists
Wu Tao-tzu (690?-758?) and Yang T'ing-kuang (713-741). Chang Su-ching produced
great images of guardian figures during the Five Dynasties period (907-960).
During the Sung dynasty (960-1279), Taoism and Taoist art were lavishly supported
by the emperors Chen-tsung (998-1022) and Hui-tsung (1101-1125). The zenith of
Taoist painting occurred in the 11th century, when 100 artists, chosen from 3,000

candidates, lead by chief painter Wu Tsung-yuan produced the wall painting Immortal
Protectors of the Dynasty in the Three Purities temple at Lonyang.
Very few paintings remain from the golden period of Taoist periods. All of the Taoist
paintings from the Tang dynasty have been lost but a few from the Sung dynasty
survive. The Yung-lo Temple, built during the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), in Shaanxi
Province contains some old Taoist paintings. Most of the Taoist paintings seen in
temples and museums come from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1645-1911)
dynasties. Works by the artists Ma Yuan (1190-1224) from the Sung Dynasty and
Chang Yü-ch'u from the Ming dynasty can be seen at the National Palace Museum in
Taipei.
Luo Ping, the Ghost Painter

Luo Ping was an 18th century Chinese artist who specialized in rendering ghosts.
Yale historian and China expert Jonathan D. Spence wrote: ‘Luo Ping was not only
innovative in ‘portraying’ his ghosts with such specificity, he kept the element of
surprise constantly to the fore...In the third section of his Ghost Amusement
portrayed an absorbed amorous couple in unmarred human form, gazing into each
other's eyes, while a man in the tall white hat of the underworld's guardians prepared
to lead the couple into the netherworld. The woman's bared red shoes offered the
viewer a signal that was, for the times, shockingly erotic. After four more panels of
the magically displayed ghost figures, the eighth and final panel would have come
with a startling force to the unprepared viewer—as two complete skeletons were
portrayed standing tall and opposite each other in a clump of bare trees, dark rocks,
and wild grasses. The precisely delineated specificity of these figures did not convey
an auspicious message, but instead closed the scroll on a somber more than a
mysterious note.’[Source: Jonathan D. Spence, New York Review of Books, in
connection with Eccentric Visions: The Worlds of Luo Ping (1733 1799): an
exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, October 6, 2009
January 10, 2010]
In one series of Luo Ping scrolls he art historian Yeewan Koon wrote: ‘Half naked
with bald pates and small swollen stomachs, the two figures also recall the world of
hungry ghosts, one of the Buddhist realms of existence. But the human emotions on
the faces of Luo's ghosts place them in a gray consciousness that lurks between the
real and the otherworldly. In this painting, Luo has created an ethereal existence by
making his ghosts both strikingly familiar, through their human pathos, and
evocatively strange,through their physical deformities. “ [Ibid]
Koon wrote: ‘The second leaf is a contrast of types: a skinny, bare-chested ghost
with an official's hat follows a fat, bald ghost in tattered clothes against an empty
background. The oscillation between specificity of types and ambiguity of situation
allows room for a range of interpretations; some viewers were prompted to read this
scene as phantasmagoric social commentary. [One scholar], for example, a Hanlin
academician and playwright, described the figures in leaf 2 as a ‘slave ghost’ and his
master, whom he then compared to corrupt Confucian officials. “ [Ibid]
This ‘urge to rationalize the ghosts as allegories of human behavior,’ adds Koon, ‘is
derived in part from the theatrical immediacy of the images,’ and in this sense the
ghost paintings catch the tensions and contrasts that were coming to dominate this
time in China's history—as well as the layers of religious euphoria that lay behind the
alternate reading of the scrolls title as a ‘realm of ghosts,’ a literalness of
interpretation that Luo Ping deliberately fostered by his repeated claims that he had
seen the ghosts in person on many occasions. This claim, writes Koon, was a part of

Luo Ping's ‘invented persona as an artist who saw and painted ghosts,’ a persona
that ‘set him apart in a capital teeming with talent.” [Ibid]
Life of Luo Ping

Spence wrote: “Luo Ping, who lived from 1733 to 1799, was perfectly placed by
time and circumstance to view the shifts in fortune that were so prominent in China at
that period. He grew up in Yangzhou, a prosperous city on the Grand Canal, just
north of the Yangzi River, which linked the capital at Beijing with the prosperous
commercial and intellectual hubs of Suzhou and Hangzhou. Yangzhou's strategic
location and commercial prominence served it well, and by the time of Luo Ping's
birth it” was “ the financial center for the salt merchants of coastal and central China,
who purchased from the central government the right to sell and transplant salt, and
built up colossal private fortunes from this lucrative trade.” [Source: Jonathan D.
Spence, New York Review of Books]
“Partly because of the lavish kickbacks that the merchants made to local officials
and to the emperor's personal household managers, the city was graced with six
visits from Emperor Qianlong, visits that sparked a building boom in order to provide
adequately opulent living quarters for the imperial visitor and his entourage. At the
same time there were correspondingly lavish expansions of Buddhist temples,
decorative waterways, elaborate gardens, and a predictably energized ambience of
restaurants, teahouses, and brothels.” [Ibid]
“The city was favored with both imperial patronage and the generosity of the salt
merchants—many of whom assembled magnificent libraries and hired renowned
local scholars as cultural amanuenses or tutors to their children, so that they might
have a chance to pass the imperial examinations. This vibrant intellectual world in its
turn attracted other scholars and artists to the region so that Yangzhou became a
byword for informed connoisseurship and aesthetic exploration.” [Ibid]
“Luo Ping's father had passed the second level of the state examinations, which
was no small feat, and could be achieved only by those with excellent academic
training—but he died before Luo Ping was one year old; the most celebrated
ancestor Luo could claim was a great-grandmother who was glorified—at least in
family lore and reminiscence—for having taken her own life in the fierce siege of
1645. Luo was raised by an uncle, who saw that he got a good education, fostered
his skills as a poet, and introduced him to some of the wealthy merchants known for
their cultural gatherings. At age nineteen, Luo married a finely educated woman,
already celebrated for her literary and artistic skills, with whom he had three children,
who also became accomplished poets and painters.” [Ibid]
Luo Ping and His Patron

Spence wrote: “Around 1757 Luo Ping met and became friends with a seventy-
year-old widower, Jin Nong, who was living alone in one of the many Buddhist
temples in the city. In his prime, Jin had worked variously as an art dealer,
calligrapher, and tutor, and had built up a national reputation as a poet and a painter.
One of his many specialties was painting plum blossoms, a genre at which Luo and
his wife were also skilled. Jin's eyesight was fading, and it was apparently a natural
step for the two men to become friends.”[Source: Jonathan D. Spence, New York
Review of Books]
“Jin was often behind with a backlog of orders for painted scrolls and calligraphy,
and for Buddhist devotional art (another of his specialties). It was in tune with the

spirit of the times to take on more than one could accomplish, and it was natural for
Jin to turn to Luo Ping for help, as he did to various other young students or
assistants. One unanticipated consequence was that Jin was more than just a
teacher and mentor to Luo—he became a friend of the family, and often visited Luo
and his wife, staying sometimes at their residence in Yangzhou for days or even
weeks. Some Yangzhou artists and scholars chided Jin Nong for exploiting his young
assistants as ‘substitute brushes’ or ‘ghost painters,’ saying that the practice showed
his ‘laziness’ and indicated that he was ‘taking advantage of his pupils for the sake of
profits.’” [Ibid]
By chance, one of Jin Nong's letters to Luo Ping has survived, giving quite precise
details about what the older man was seeking from his ghost painter: “Paint a
vermilion bamboo with bright pigment. To be excellent, it must be luxurious and fresh
with an antique flavor. Leave more empty space so that I can easily inscribe it. Paint
another one: an ink bamboo using the other one as a model, but don't do anything
too surprising. For the ink bamboo, half a teacup of ink should be enough.” [Ibid]
“In another letter we see Jin Nong giving even tighter guidelines. The ghost painter
must leave adequate space next to the two Buddhist figures, writes Jin, for ‘if the
inscription is too small, it will be unsatisfactory.’ ‘Tomorrow morning I will send paper
for the ink bamboo,’ adds Jin, ‘along with some prepared ink.’ In the closing lines of
this letter he writes, ‘If you will again paint for me, I will choose some excellent
objects to present in exchange,’ and he closes quietly, ‘Letter written by lamplight on
the 27th.’” [Ibid]
Luo Ping Achieves Fame as Ghost Painter

“By the early 1780s,” Spence wrote, “ we can find nationally known Chinese
scholars singling out three of Luo Ping's paintings for special praise” including a
“work identified as Ghost Amusement. This alerts us to the other side of Luo Ping's
labors as a ghost painter, namely that of being a painter of ghosts, for it was as a
painter of ghostly images that Luo achieved his final leap into the ranks of upper-
literati society. This quest led him...to Beijing, where prestigious officials were
gathered in the greatest numbers and the chances for preferment beckoned. He
carried the Ghost Amusement scroll with him. [Ibid]
“This was a bold and perhaps almost unprecedented experiment, which carried
within it a way of confronting the dangers of the unknown and probing the meanings
of the underworld through his own vision of the ghost worlds that for most of us are
never revealed or comprehended. The painting may have been originally conceived
as a series of individual leaves, and the first identifiable colophon—or attached brief
statement—from an influential scholar to whom Luo showed the initial ghost images
can be dated to 1766. But in Beijing, as Luo learned to make his way and expand his
contacts, success followed fast: nine new colophons were added to his scroll in 1772,
four more in 1773, one in 1774, a steady scattering in the later 1770s and 1780s, and
a further torrent in Luo's final years, with six in 1790 and seven in 1791]
From 1790 onward Luo lived mainly in Beijing, often with his two sons, who seem to
have been successful painters. He remained busy and active into the 1790s and,
among numerous commissions and social events, found time in 1797 to create a
second version of his Ghost Amusement scroll, similar in main outline to the original
version from the 1760s but with a different—though still Western—version of a
skeleton in the final panel...Luo Ping died in 1799, but the tokens of respect for his
ghost images continued in written form throughout the nineteenth century.” Sometime

after his death, an art connoisseur wrote on the same portrait scroll in an undated
colophon that Luo had been a ‘completely original painter of Buddhist figures, Daoist
immortals, and ghosts,’ and added that Luo had been ‘a man of exceptional
creativity’ who was ‘never muddled’ and ‘painted with a limpid lucidity.’ The colophon
writer added that ‘before reaching old age [Luo] withered away and died.’
Image Sources: 1, 14) Wikipedia; 2, 4, 8, 9, 10) University of Washington; 3) Nolls

China websitehttp://www.paulnoll.com/China/index.html ; 5, 6, 7 ) China Beautiful
website; 9, 12) Palace Museum, Taipie; 11, 13) Metropolitan Museum of Art; 14)
Shanghai Museum
Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of
London, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP,
Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other
publications.
© 2008 Jeffrey Hays
Last updated April 2010

http://www.sccfsac.org/painting_brush_art.html
Chinese Painting and Brush Art
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings
were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures.
Stone Age pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals. It was only during the Warring
States Period (403-221 B.C.) that artists began to represent the world around them.
Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as

guó huà, meaning national or native painting. Guó huàl painting
involves essentially the same techniques as calligraphy and is
done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink; oils are not
used. As with calligraphy, the most popular materials on which
paintings are made of are paper and silk. The finished work is
then mounted on scrolls, which can be hung or rolled up.
Traditional painting also is done in albums and on walls,
lacquerwork, and other media.
Building on the tradition of calligraphy, Chinese painting

developed a distinctive style that differs greatly from Western
painting. It is more efficient in terms of brushstrokes and
appears more abstract. Landscapes have always been a popular theme, and sometimes these appear
bizarre to the Western eye. To the Chinese painter, they may represent a figurative view painted with
a few swift strokes of the artist's brush.
The Traditional Chinese Artistic Approach
Personal Expression Valued Over

Realism - Although realistic painting in
the European style was very much in
vogue at the Qing court, where it was
appreciated for its documentary value in
commemorating the Qianlong Emperor's
exploits, it was not regarded as high art.
The Chinese and their Manchu rulers
held to the belief that the highest form of
pictorial expression was traditional
Chinese painting, which privileged the
personal expression of the individual
artist over the representation of external
appearances. Since the 14th century
what mattered most in Chinese painting was the artist's ability

to express his personal feelings, to create an image of his
interior world, rather than to describe the external
appearances of things. As a result, most Chinese painting
connoisseurs regarded the European style as little more than
a gimmick.
The Importance of Poetry for Artists and Connoisseurs -

Chinese literati artists often wrote poems directly on their
paintings. This practice emphasized the importance of both
poetry and calligraphy to the art of painting and also
highlighted the notion that a painting should not try to
represent or imitate the external world, but rather to express or
reflect the inner state of the artist. The artist's practice of
writing poetry directly on the painting also led to the custom of
later appreciators of the work, perhaps the initial recipient of

the painting or a later owner, adding their own reactions to the work, often also in the form of
poetry.These inscriptions could be added either directly on the surface of the painting, or sometimes
on a sheet of paper mounted adjacent to the painting. In this way some handscrolls accommodated
numerous colophons by later owners and admirers. Thus in Chinese art the act of ownership entailed
the responsibility of not only caring for the work properly, but to a certain extent also recording one's
response to it.
The Work of Art as a Dialogue with the Past: The Role of Owners and Connoisseurs - One of the most
extraordinary characteristics of Chinese painting is that, in a way, a painting is never quite finished.
What does this mean? Just as the artists themselves used poetry as a medium of expression in
painting, later appreciators of a painting felt free to add to it by writing a poem in response to the work,
or sometimes just adding a personal seal, directly on the surface of the painting or to the silk mounting
bordering the painting. In this way a painting remains "open-ended," and viewing a painting is like
engaging in an ongoing conversation, not only with the artist, but with all the people who have in the
past owned the work and have recorded their response to it. And through this visual record, a
painting's provenance can be traced, so that literally written on the surface of the painting is the very
history of who owned it, how people over time have appreciated it, and how different eras saw its
merits in a different light. When a connoisseur looks at a painting today, he or she not only examines
the work, but takes great delight in seeing which other collectors owned it, and what some of these
owners and other commentators have had to say about it.
Chinese Approaches to Representing Space
Chinese artists' approach to the problem of representing spatial depth on a flat surface is quite
different from that of their Western counterparts. In the West, in Greco-Roman times and again in the
Renaissance, artists created the illusion of spatial depth on a flat surface through the use of linear
perspective, which meant that implied parallel lines were drawn to intersect at an imaginary point on
the horizon called the vanishing point, and all forms were rendered in scale and positioned to
correspond to these guiding lines. As a result, there is a kind of geometric logic to the composition in
Western painting, and the viewing frame which can be seen all at once, unlike in a Chinese handscroll
painting was experienced as a kind of window onto another world.
Pictorial space in Chinese painting is defined somewhat differently from the foreground, middle ground,
and background typically found in traditional Western painting. In Scroll Three of the Kangxi Inspection
Tour series, three distinct classifications of pictorial space, as defined by the 11th-century artist Guo Xi,
can be seen in the artist's treatment of the mountains: "From the bottom of the mountain looking up
toward the top, this is called 'high distance' (gaoyuan). From the front of the mountain peering into the
back of the mountain, this is called 'deep distance' (shenyuan). From a nearby mountain looking past
distant mountains, this is called 'level distance' (pingyuan)."
In fact, the very formats that are used in Chinese painting, particularly the long handscroll, have an
impact on how pictorial space itself is conceptualized in the Chinese painting tradition. Imagine
unrolling a scroll painting, for instance, from right to left as one would in viewing a Chinese painting.
The scroll may be as long 60, 70, or even 80 feet, so it is impossible to see much more than a small
section of the entire painting at once. And in fact, the work was not meant to be seen all at once.
Unlike a traditional Western painting, which is contained within a distinct frame, a painting on a long
scroll that has to be unrolled section by section would not make sense visually if it were composed
with a technique such as linear perspective, which depends on the use of a single, fixed vanishing
point. In a long scroll, the viewer controls the boundaries of the viewing frame at any single moment,
and the pictorial space unfolds as the viewer unrolls the scroll. In this way, the handscroll format

requires that the pictorial space remain fluid. As in traditional Western compositions, there is a
foreground, a middle ground, and a far distance, but the artist continuously shifts the focus of the
composition so that the viewer's apparent vantage point is constantly changing, enabling him or her to
easily navigate the pictorial space unhindered by the constraints of a fixed vanishing point.
For example, the painters of the Qing dynasty were inheritors of a tradition that was already more than
a thousand years old. By the 13th century, Chinese artists had mastered the illusion of recession in
space. But after this time, the representation of space and the description of the external world
gradually ceased to be the principal objective of artists. Working on a flat surface -- such as a canvas
or a scroll, an artist faces the challenge of creating the illusion of three-dimensional forms on a two-
dimensional surface. This is a problem for which artists both in the East and the West found solutions,
but their solutions were very different. European painting after the 15th century tended to treat a
painting as though the canvas were a window through which an illusionistic three-dimensional scene
could be viewed; Chinese painting created the experience of space by means of a moving perspective
that allowed the viewer's eye to explore the pictorial space from a shifting vantage point, so that, in the
case of a long handscroll such as those chronicling an emperor's journey, space is experienced
through the continuous unrolling of the work.
Classification of Chinese Traditional Painting
Traditional Chinese painting has its special materials and tools, consisting of brushes, ink and
pigments, xuan paper, silk and various kinds of ink slabs. There are two main techniques in Chinese
painting, the Meticulous or Gong-bi technique often referred to as court-style painting and the
Freehand or Shui-mo technique which is loosely termed watercolour or brush painting. The Chinese
character mo means ink and shui means water. This style is also referred to as xie yi or freehand style.
Based on different classification standards, Chinese traditional painting can be divided into several
groups:
Techniques - According to painting techniques, Chinese

painting can be divided into two styles: xieyi style and gongbi
style. Xieyi, or freehand, is marked by exaggerated forms and
freehand brushwork. Gongbi, or meticulous, is characterized by
close attention to detail and fine brushwork. Freehand painting
generalizes shapes and displays rich brushwork and ink
techniques.
Forms - The principal forms of traditional Chinese painting are

the hanging scroll, album of paintings, fan surface and long
horizontal scroll. Hanging scrolls are both horizontal and vertical,
usually mounted and hung on the wall. In an album of paintings
the artist paints on a certain size of xuan paper and then binds a
number of paintings into an album, which is convenient for
storage. Folding fans and round fans made of bamboo strips
with painted paper or silk pasted on the frame. The
long, horizontal scroll is also called a hand scroll
and is usually less than 50 centimeters high but
maybe up to 100 meters long.
Subjects - Traditional Chinese painting can be

classified as figure paintings, landscapes and
flower-and-bird paintings. Landscapes represent a
major category in traditional Chinese painting,
mainly depicting the natural scenery of mountains
and rivers. The range of subject matter in figure
painting was extended far beyond religious themes
during the Song Dynasty (960-1127). Landscape painting had already established itself as an
independent form of expression by the fourth century and gradually branched out into the two
separate styles: blue-and-green landscapes using bright blue, green and red pigments; and ink-and-
wash landscapes relied on vivid brushwork and inks. Flower-and-bird painting deviated from
decorative art to form its own independent genre around the ninth century. Traditional Chinese
painting, poetry, Chinese calligraphy, painting and seal engraving are necessary components that

supplement and enrich one another. "Painting in poetry and poetry in painting" has been a criterion for
excellent works. Inscriptions and seal impressions help explain the painter's ideas and sentiments and
also add beauty to the painting.
History of Chinese Painting and Brush Art
Traditional Chinese painting dates back to the Neolithic Age about 6,000 years ago when people
began to use minerals to draw simple pictures resembling animals, plants, and even human beings on
rocks and produce drawings of amazing designs and decorations on the surface of potteries and later
bronze containers. The excavated colored pottery with painted human faces, fish, deer and frogs
indicates that the Chinese began painting as far back as the Neolithic Age. The earliest drawings that
have been preserved till today were produced on paper and silk, which were burial articles with a
history of over 2,000 years.
In its earliest stage, Chinese prehistoric

paintings were closely related to other primitive
crafts, such as pottery, bronze ware, carved
jade and lacquer. The line patterns on
unearthed pottery and bronze ware resemble
ripples, fishing nets, teeth or frogs. The animal
and human figures, succinct and vivid, are
proofs to the innate sensitivity of the ancient
artists and nature.
Chinese painting or engravings found on

precipitous cliffs in Sichuan, Yunnan and
Guizhou in Southwest China; Fujian in East
China and Mount Yinshan in Inner Mongolia;
Altai in China's extreme west and Heihe in the far north date back to prehistory. Strong visual effects
characterize the bright red cliff paintings in southern China that depict scenes of sacrificial rites,
production activities and daily life. In comparison, hunting, animal grazing, wars and dancing are the
main themes of cliff paintings in northern China. Before paper was invented, the art of silk painting had
been developing. The earliest silk painting was excavated from the Mawangdui Tomb in central China
of the Warring States Period (476-221 BC). Silk painting reached its artistic peak in the Western Han
Dynasty (206 BC-AD25). Following the introduction of Buddhism to China during the first century from
India, and the carvings on grottoes and temple building that ensued, the art of painting religious
murals gradually gained prominence.
Early Imperial China (221 BC-AD 220)
In imperial times, beginning with the Eastern Jin Dynasty, painting and calligraphy in China were the
most highly appreciated arts in court circles and were produced almost exclusively by amateurs
aristocrats and scholar officials who had the leisure time necessary to perfect the technique and
sensibility necessary for great brushwork. Calligraphy was thought to be the highest and purest form
of painting. The implements were the brush pen, made of animal hair, and black inks made from pine
soot and animal glue. In ancient times, writing, as well as painting, was done on silk. However, after
the invention of paper in the 1st century CE, silk was gradually replaced by the new and cheaper
material. Original writings by famous calligraphers have been greatly valued throughout China's
history and are mounted on scrolls and hung on walls in the same way that paintings are.

Period of Division (220-581)
China plunged into a situation of divided states from the third to the sixth century where incessant
wars and successions of dynasties sharpened the thinking of Chinese artists which, in turn, promoted
the development of art. Grotto murals, wall murals in tomb chambers, stone carvings, brick carvings
and lacquer paintings flourished in a period deemed very important to the development of traditional
Chinese painting The Tang Dynasty (618-907) witnessed the prosperity of figure painting, where the
most outstanding painters were Zhang Xuan
and Zhou Fang. Their paintings, depicting
the life of noble women and court ladies,
exerted an eternal influence on the
development of shi nu hua (painting of
beauties), which comprise an important
branch of traditional Chinese painting today.
Beginning in the Five Dynasties (907-960),

each dynasty set up an art academy that
gathered together the best painters
throughout China. Academy members, who
were on the government payroll and wore
official uniforms, drew portraits of emperors, nobles and aristocrats that depicted their daily lives. The
system proved conducive to the development of painting. The succeeding Song Dynasty (960-1127)
developed such academies into the Imperial Art Academy.
Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
During the Yuan Dynasty the "Four Great Painters" -- Huang Gongwang, Ni Zan, Wei Zhen and Wang
Meng -- represented the highest level of landscape painting. Their works immensely influenced
landscape painting of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).The Ming
Dynasty saw the rise of the Wumen Painting School, which emerged in Suzhou on the lower reaches
of the Yangtze River. Keen to carry on the traditions of Chinese painting, the four Wumen masters
blazed new trails and developed their own unique styles. When the Manchus came to power in 1644,
the then-best painters showed their resentment to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) court in many ways.
The "Four Monk Masters" -- Zhu Da, Shi Tao, Kun Can and Hong Ren -- had their heads shaved to
demonstrate their determination not to serve the new dynasty, and they soothed their sadness by
painting tranquil nature scenes and traditional art. Yangzhou, which faces Suzhou across the Yangtze
River, was home to the "Eight Eccentrics" - the eight painters all with strong characters, proud and
aloof, who refused to follow orthodoxy. They used freehand brushwork and broadened the horizon of
flower-and-bird painting. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning
of the Republic of China, Shanghai, which gave birth to the Shanghai
Painting School, had become the most prosperous commercial city and a
gathering place for numerous painters. Following the spirit of the Eight
Eccentrics of Yangzhou, the Shanghai School played a vital role in the
transition of Chinese traditional painting from a classical art form to a
modern one. The May 4th Movement of 1919, or the New Culture
Movement, inspired the Chinese to learn from western art and introduce it
to China. Many outstanding painters, led by Xu Beihong, emerged, whose
paintings recognized a perfect merging of the merits of both Chinese Art
and Western Art styles, absorbing western classicism, romanticism and
impressionism. Other great painters of this period include Qi Baishi, Huang
Binhong and Zhang Daqian. Oil painting, a western art, was introduced to
China in the 17th century and gained popularity in the early 20th century. In
the 1980s Chinese oil painting boomed.
Then came popular folk painting -- Chinese New Year pictures pinned up
on doors, room walls and windows on the Chinese New Year to invite
heavenly blessings and ward off disasters and evil spirits - which dates
back to the Qing Dynasty and Han Dynasty. Thanks to the invention of
block printing, folk painting became popular in the Song Dynasty and
reached its zenith of sophistication in the Qing Dynasty. Woodcuts have
become increasingly diverse in style, variety, theme and artistic form since
the early 1980s. Artists from the Han (202 BC) to the Tang (618-906) dynasties mainly painted the

human figure. Much of what we know of early Chinese figure painting comes from burial sites, where
paintings were preserved on silk banners, lacquered objects, and tomb walls. Many early tomb
paintings were meant to protect the dead or help their souls get to paradise. Others illustrated the
teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius or showed scenes of daily life.
Many critics consider landscape to be the highest form of Chinese painting.

The time from the Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song period (907-
1127) is known as the Great age of Chinese landscape. In the north, artists
such as Jing Hao, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi painted pictures of towering
mountains, using strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted
brushstrokes to suggest rough stone. In the south, Dong Yuan, Juran, and
other artists painted the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in
peaceful scenes done with softer, rubbed brushwork. These two kinds of
scenes and techniques became the classical styles of Chinese landscape
painting.
During the Six Dynasties period (220-589), people began to appreciate

painting for its own beauty and to write about art. From this time we begin to
know about individual artists, such as Gu Kaizhi. Even when these artists
illustrated Confucian moral themes, such as the proper behavior of a wife to
her husband or of children to their parents, they tried to make the figures
graceful.
Six Principles of Chinese Painting
The Six Principles of Chinese Painting were established by Xie He, a writer,
art historian and critic in 5th century China. He is most famous for his six
points to consider when judging a painting taken from the preface to his book
"The Record of the Classification of Old Painters" written circa 550 A.D. and
refers to old and ancient practices. The six elements that define a painting
are:
 Spirit Resonance - vitality seems to translate to the nervous

energy transmitted from the artist into the work. The overall energy of a work of art. Xie He
said that without Spirit Resonance, there was no need to look further.
 Bone Method - the way of using the brush that refers not only to texture and brush stroke,
but to the close link between handwriting and personality. In his day, the art of calligraphy was
inseparable from painting.
 Correspondence to the Object - the depicting of form which would include shape and line.
 Suitability to Type - the application of color, including layers, value and tone.
 Division and Planning - placement and arrangement, corresponding to composition,
space and depth.
 Transmission by Copying - the replication of models not only from life but also the works
of antiquity.
Sui and Tang dynasties (581-960)
During the Tang Dynasty, figure

painting flourished at the royal court.
Artists such as Zhou Fang showed the
splendor of court life in painting of
emperors, palace ladies, and imperial
horses. Figure painting reached the
height of elegant realism in the art of the court of Southern Tang (937-975). Most of the Tang artists
outlined figures with fine black lines and used brilliant color and elaborate detail. However, one Tang
artist, the master Wu Daozi, used only black ink and freely painted brushstrokes to create ink paintings
that were so exciting that crowds gathered to watch him work. From his time on, ink paintings were no
longer thought to be preliminary sketches or outlines to be filled in with color. Instead they were valued
as finished works of art. Beginning in the Tang Dynasty, many paintings were landscapes, often
shanshui or mountain water paintings. In these landscapes, monochromatic and sparse, a style that is

collectively called shuimohua, the purpose was not to reproduce exactly the appearance of nature or
realism but rather to grasp an emotion or atmosphere so as to catch the rhythm of nature.
Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368)
Guo Xi, a representative painter of landscape painting in the Northern Song dynasty, has been well
known for depicting mountains, rivers and forests in winter. This piece shows a scene of deep and
serene mountain valley covered with snow and several old trees struggling to survive on precipitous
cliffs. It is a masterpiece of Guo Xi by using light ink and magnificent composition to express his open
and high artistic conception.
In the Song Dynasty period (960-1279), landscapes of more subtle

expression appeared; immeasurable distances were conveyed through
the use of blurred outlines, mountain contours disappearing into the
mist, and impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena. Emphasis
was placed on the spiritual qualities of the painting and on the ability of
the artist to reveal the inner harmony of man and nature, as perceived
according to Taoist and Buddhist concepts. One of the most famous
artists of the period was Zhang Zeduan, painter of Along the River
During the Qingming Festival. Yi Yuanji achieved a high degree of
realism painting animals, in particular monkeys and gibbons.
During the Southern Song period (1127-1279), court painters such as

Ma Yuan and Xia Gui used strong black brushstrokes to sketch trees
and rocks and pale washes to suggest misty space.
While many Chinese artists were attempting to represent three-
dimensional objects and to master the illusion of space, another group
of painters pursued very different goals. At the end of Northern Song
period, the poet Su Shi and the scholar-officials in his circle became
serious amateur painters. They created a new kind of art in which they
used their skills in calligraphy (the art of beautiful writing) to make ink paintings. From their time
onward, many painters strove to freely express their feelings and to capture the inner spirit of their
subject instead of describing its outward appearance.
The "Four Generals of Zhongxing" painted by Liu Songnian during the Southern Song Dynasty. Yue
Fei is the second person from the left. It is believed to be the "truest portrait of Yue in all extant
materials." During the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), painters joined the arts of painting,
poetry, and calligraphy by inscribing poems on their paintings. These three arts worked together to
express the artist's feelings more completely than one art could do alone. Even so, Mongol Khagan
Tugh Temur (r.1328,1329-1332) was very fond of this culture.
Late Imperial China (1368-1895)
Beginning in the 13th century, the tradition of painting simple subjects, a branch with fruit, a few
flowers, or one or two horses-developed. Narrative painting, with a wider color range and a much
busier composition than Song paintings, was immensely
popular during the Ming period (1368-1644).
The first books illustrated with colored woodcuts appeared
around this time; as colo-printing techniques were perfected,
illustrated manuals on the art of painting began to be
published. Jieziyuan Huazhuan (Manual of the Mustard Seed
Garden), a five-volume work first published in 1679, has
been in use as a technical textbook for artists and students
ever since. Some painters of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
continued the traditions of the Yuan scholar-painters. This
group of painters, known as the Wu School, was led by the
artist Shen Zhou. Another group of painters, known as the
Zhe School, revived and transformed the styles of the Song
court.
During the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), painters known as Individualists rebelled against many of
the traditional rules of painting and found ways to express themselves more directly through free

brushwork. In the 1700s and 1800s, great commercial cities such as Yangzhou and Shanghai became
art centers where wealthy merchant-patrons encouraged artists to produce bold new works.
In the late 1800s and 1900s, Chinese painters were increasingly exposed to the Western art. Some
artists who studied in Europe rejected Chinese painting; others tried to combine the best of both
traditions. Perhaps the most beloved modern painter was Qi Baishi, who began life as a poor peasant
and became a great master. His best known works depict flowers and small animals.
Schools of Art During the Qing Dynasty
The Individualists - Art during the Qing dynasty was dominated by three major groups of artists. The
first, sometimes called the Individualists, was a group of men largely made up of loyalists to the fallen
Ming dynasty. The Individualists referred to themselves as leftover subjects of the Ming and practiced
a very personal form of art that sought to express their reaction to the Manchu conquest, either a
sense of resistance, reclusion, or sadness over the fall of
the Ming dynasty. They often removed themselves not
only from government circles but also from society, often
by becoming Buddhist monks. The Individualists sought
to express in their art their own feelings regarding the fall
of the Ming dynasty and the conquest of China by a
group of people whom they regarded as barbarians.
These artists focused particularly on the expressive
potential of painting and sought not to emulate past
models so much as to use poetry, painting, and
calligraphy in ways that would express their feelings of
defiance and loss over the fall of the Ming dynasty.
The Orthodox School - A second group of Qing artists

included those men who dedicated themselves to the
preservation of Chinese traditional culture by returning to
the careful study of a canon of earlier masters that had
been defined in the 17th century. Their commitment to
replicating and being inspired by this earlier canon of
masterpieces led to the labeling of these artists as the
Orthodox school. The Orthodox masters made a point of
first imitating these established earlier models and then
trying to incorporate these stylistic traditions into their
own work. They often created albums of paintings
wherein each leaf would be devoted to the exposition of
a specific earlier style. In this way, a particular album
would demonstrate an individual's command over a
whole range of earlier stylistic traditions.
The Court Artists - A third group of Qing artists included commercial and court artists who specialized
in large-scale decorative works. Such artists were employed by the imperial court to produce
documentary, commemorative, and decorative works for the imperial palaces. Masters of technique,
these artists drew upon the representational styles of the Song dynasty, when meticulously descriptive
painting techniques were highly revered.
The Literati - In China, the literate elite were often referred to as the "literati." The literati were the
gentry class, composed of individuals who passed the civil service exams (or those for whom this was
the major goal in life) and who were both the scholarly and governmental elite of the society. The
literati also prided themselves on their mastery of calligraphy. Often, as an adjunct to calligraphy, they
were also able to paint. During the Qing dynasty, both the Individualists and the Orthodox school
masters came from this elite scholar class.
The Individualist and Orthodox masters were proficient scholars who often embellished their paintings

with poetry. These men were part of a long-standing tradition of the "scholar-artist" that had existed in
China as far back as the 11th century. Members of the educated elite, also called the "literati," had
already taken possession of calligraphy, the art of writing, as a form of self-expression. But by the 11th
century, they began to apply the aesthetic principles of calligraphic brushwork to painting. They began
by painting subjects that could be depicted easily with the brush techniques that they had mastered in
the art of calligraphy, such as bamboo, rocks, and pine trees. This approach to subject matter set
scholar-artists apart from commercial artists, who
pursued a more representational manner.
It was a stroke of genius on the part of the Kangxi

Emperor to enlist the foremost Orthodox school
master, Wang Hui (1632-1717), to direct the painting
of the monumental Southern Inspection Tour scrolls,
the execution of which was sure to be an enormous
challenge. Wang Hui was one of the leading artists
of the time and an acknowledged master at creating
long landscape compositions in the handscroll
format. Furthermore, his selection immediately
identified the Qing court with China's most revered
artistic traditions.
The Qianlong Emperor was an avid collector and connoisseur of Chinese art, and the number of
paintings and artifacts collected during his reign was unprecedented. Many palace halls were used
specifically for the Emperor to admire and study works of art. The Qianlong Emperor had a tendency
to admire the works he collected and commissioned by adding a great number of seals and
inscriptions -- usually in the form of poems -- to the works. In so doing, the emperor not only endowed
these works of art with the imperial imprimatur but also, by leaving his mark on some of the most
important works of Chinese art, asserted his control over Chinese culture and his legitimacy as the
ultimate connoisseur of Chinese art. Often he must have had ghost writers helping him inscribe these
poems, but he did write many of them himself. In fact, the Qianlong Emperor is said to have composed
some 40,000 poems, and many of them are inscribed on the enormous collection of paintings
amassed during his reign. As a result, the Qianlong Emperor's inscriptions and seals appear on
hundreds of the most important Chinese paintings that exist today.
Influence of European Artist on Chinese Painting Styles
Beginning in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, European Jesuit
missionaries began to enter China and serve at the imperial court. Many of
these missionaries brought engravings, illustrated books, and paintings with
them and it was through these visual materials that Chinese were first
introduced to Western linear perspective and the use of shading to model
forms as if they were illuminated by a single light source called "chiaroscuro,"
an Italian word literally meaning light-dark. The Chinese were impressed with
the Europeans' techniques for creating the illusion of recession on a flat
pictorial surface. This was particularly true in court circles, where emperors
quickly realized the extent to which this new style of painting could serve well
to commemorate and document their activities in a way that would be all the
more powerful and convincing because of its realism. It is important to note,
however, that even as "realistic" painting in the European style was very much
in vogue at the Qing court, where it was appreciated for its documentary value,
it was never regarded as "high art." Chinese art had long moved away from a
representational style to one that privileged the personal expression of the
individual artist over the representation of external appearances of nature.
One Jesuit artist in particular, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) who served under three Qing
emperors including the Kangxi Emperor and his grandson, the Qianlong Emperor and even had a
Chinese name, Lang Shining had a major impact on documentary painting at the Qing court. The
Qianlong Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour scrolls were not painted by Castiglione, but the
influence of his style is clearly evident and becomes especially salient when the Qianlong Emperor's
tour scrolls are compared to the Kangxi Emperor's tour scrolls, which were painted about 70 years
earlier.

The Qianlong Emperor's tour scrolls were begun in 1764 by the court artist Xu Yang (act. ca. 1750-
after 1776), who was very much influenced by the European traditions of perspective and figural
representation. Wang Hui, who began the Kangxi Emperor's tour scrolls in 1691, was one of the
foremost painters of the Orthodox School, whose members dedicated themselves to the preservation
of Chinese traditional culture by returning to the careful study of a canon of earlier Chinese masters.
Thus, it is not surprising to compare the two sets of scrolls and find that they differ radically in their
approach to the representation of space and the treatment of figures. A telling example is
the comparison of two specific scrolls, the seventh scroll in the Kangxi
Emperor's tour series and the sixth scroll in the Qianlong Emperor's tour
series, which both feature the Grand Canal and the city of Suzhou.
In the Kangxi scroll, Wang Hui's figures are painted in a stylized, almost
cartoon-like style that gives them a tremendous amount of buoyancy and
expressive energy. The figures in the Qianlong scroll, on the other hand, are
handled in a more European style and are anatomically more accurate, but
they look stiff and posed, as though they are frozen in space and time. Xu
Yang's figures are more three-dimensional in their representation, and
therefore more "realistic" than their counterparts by Wang Hui, but,
paradoxically, they actually seem to have less animation and life than Wang
Hui's figures.
A comparison of the two artists' approaches to the representation of space in

the tour scrolls reveals the limitations of translating the European style to the
Chinese scroll format. Influenced by the Western technique of linear
perspective, Xu Yang strives in the sixth Qianlong scroll to maintain a
consistent vantage point in his representations of the Grand Canal and the route of the Qianlong
Emperor into Suzhou. The Canal is presented as though the viewer were always looking from the east
toward the west. But in order to maintain the consistency of this viewpoint, Xu Yang had to present
Tiger Hill, one of the scenic highlights on this leg of the tour route, from the back rather than from the
front, which would have been its characteristic and thus, more recognizable, view. In the seventh
Kangxi scroll, on the other hand, Wang Hui had no problem reorienting the mountain to present it from
its more characteristic frontal view, which is precisely the way a Chinese map maker would visualize a
mountain. Xu Yang, in trying to maintain a consistent reference point based on linear perspective,
could not reorient the mountain suddenly and show it from the other side. So again, as with the
treatment of figures, the commitment to pictorial realism in fact became a limitation to the artist in
significant ways. Though the European style added a certain kind of illusionary realism to the depiction
of Qianlong's southern inspection tour, it could be argued that it also detracted from one of the most
important functions of these scrolls as historical documents, which was to highlight the significance of
the emperor's visit to important sites such as Tiger Hill and the Grand Canal.

(http://baike.baidu.com/view/1542998.htm)
谢赫的六法论是怎样论述的，历代又是怎样理解与发展的，这需要对原文进行必要的释义。谢
赫原文和古代的辗转传抄是不标点断句的，后人点句不同，六法的意思也就有了一些区别。但不论
哪种点句法，所包涵的基本内容却是大体一致的。
对六法原文的标点断句，一般是“六法者何？一气韵生动是也，二骨法用笔是也，三应物象形
是也，四随类赋彩是也,五经营位置是也,六传移模写是也。” 这种标法主要是根据唐代美术理论家张
彦远《历代名画记》的记述：“昔谢赫云：画有六法：一曰气韵生动，二曰骨法用笔，三曰应物象
形，四曰随类赋彩，五曰经营位置，六曰传移模写。”
今人钱钟书《管锥编》第四册论及这段文字，认为应作如下读法，方才符合谢赫原意与古文
法：“六法者何？一、气韵，生动是也；二、骨法，用笔是也；三、应物，象形是也；四、随类，
赋彩是也；五、经营，位置是也；六、传移，模写是也。”
气韵生动
“气韵生动”或“气韵,生动是也”,是指作品和作品中刻画的形象具有一种生动的气度韵致，显得富
有生命力。气韵，原是魏、晋品藻人物的用词，如“风气韵度”、“风韵遒迈”等，指的是人物从姿
态、表情中显示出的精神气质、情味和韵致。
画论中出现类似的概念，首先是用以衡量画中人物形象的，后来渐渐扩大到品评人物画之外的
作品，乃至某一绘画形式因素，如说“气韵有发于墨者，有发于笔者”（张庚《浦山论画》）、“气关
笔力,韵关墨彩”(黄宾虹《论画书简》)。这已不是谢赫原意，而是后代艺术家、理论家根据自己的
体验、认识对气韵的具体运用和新的发展。气韵与传神在说明人物形象的精神特质这一根本点上是
一致的，但传神一词在顾恺之乃至后人多指人物的面部尤其是眼睛所传达的内在情性，而气韵则更
多的指人物的全体尤其姿致谈吐所传达的内在情性，或者说内在情性的外在化。
在谢赫时代，气韵作为品评标准和创作标准，主要是看作品对客体的风度韵致描绘再现得如
何，而后渐渐涵容进更多主体表现的因素，气韵就指的是作为主客体融一的形象形式的总的内在特
质了。能够表现出物我为一的生动的气韵，至今也是绘画和整个造型艺术的最高目标之一。
骨法用笔
“骨法用笔”或“骨法,用笔是也”,是说所谓骨法及与其密切相关的笔法。“骨法”最早大约是相学的
概念，后来成为人们观察人物身份和特征的语言,在汉、魏很流行。魏、晋的人物品藻,除了“风韵”
一类词外,常用的就是“骨”“风骨”一类评语。如“王右军目陈玄伯‘垒块有正骨’”、“羲之风骨清举也
(《世说新语》)。”“骨”字是一个比喻性的概念,“骨”“骨力”乃借助于比喻来说明人内在性格的刚直、
果断及其外在表现等。文学评论上用“骨”字者，如刘勰《文心雕龙·风骨》“结言端直，则文骨成焉”
等，指的是通过语言与结构所表现的刚健有力之美。书论上用“骨”字，如“善笔力者多骨，不善笔力
者多肉”(《笔阵图》)等，指的是力量、笔力。绘画评论中出现“骨”始于顾恺之，如评《周本纪》：
“重叠弥纶有骨法”；评《汉本纪》：“有天骨而少细美”等。这里的“骨法”、“天骨”诸词，还和人物品
藻、相学有较多的联系，指所画人物形象的骨相所体现出的身份气质。谢赫使用“骨法”则已转向骨
力、力量美即用笔的艺术表现了。当时的绘画全以勾勒线条造型，对象的结构、体态、表情，只能
靠线的准确性、力量感和变化来表出。因此他借用“骨法”来说明用笔的艺术性，包涵着笔力、力感
（与书论“善笔力者多骨”相似）、结构表现等意思在内。这可以由“用笔骨梗”、“动笔新奇”、“笔迹
困弱”、“笔迹超越”诸论述中看出。谢赫之后，骨法成为历代评画的重要标准，这是传统绘画所特有

的材料工具和民族风格所必然产生的相应的美学原则，而它反过来又促进了绘画民族风格的完美发
展。
应物象形
“应物象形”或“应物，象形是也”，是指画家的描绘要与所反映的对象形似。“应物”二字，早在战
国时代就出现了，《庄子·知北游》：“其用心不劳，其应物无方”。《史记·太史公自序》：“与时迁
移，应物变化”，“应物”在这里包涵着人对相应的客观事物所采取的应答、应和、应付和适应的态
度。东晋僧肇说“法身无象，应物以形”，是说佛无具体形象，但可以化作任何形象，化作任何相应
的身躯。对于画家来说，应物就是刻画出对象的形态外观。这一点，早于谢赫的画家宗炳就以“以
形写形，以色貌色（《画山水序》）”加以说明了。在六法中，象形问题摆在第三位，表明在南北
朝时代，绘画美学对待形似、描绘对象的真实性很重视。但又把它置于气韵与骨法之后，这表明那
时的艺术家已经相当深刻地把握了艺术与现实、外在表现与内在表现的关系。后代的论者有的贬低
形似的意义，有的抬高它的地位，那是后人不同的艺术观念在起作用，在六法论始创时代，它的位
置应当说是恰当的。
随类赋彩
“随类赋彩”或“随类，赋彩是也”，是说着色。赋通敷、授、布。赋彩即施色。随类，解作“随
物”。《文心雕龙·物色》：“写气图貌，既随物以宛转”。这里的“类”作“品类”即“物”讲。汉王延寿
《鲁灵光殿赋》：“随色象类，曲得其情”。随色象类，可以解作色彩与所画的物象相似。随类即随
色象类之意，因此同于赋彩。
经营位置
“经营位置”或“经营,位置是也”,是说绘画的构图。经营原意是营造、建筑，《诗·大雅·灵台》：
“经始灵台,经之营之。”经是度量、筹划,营是谋画。谢赫借来比喻画家作画之初的布置构图。“位置”
作名词讲，指人或物所处的地位；作动词，指安排或布置。谢赫说毛惠远“位置经略，尤难比俦”，
是安置的意思。唐代张彦远把“经营位置”连起来读，“位置”就渐被理解为动宾结构中的名词了。他
说“至于经营位置，则画之总要”，把安排构图看作绘画的提纲统领。位置须经之营之，或者说构图
须费思安排，实际把构图和运思、构思看作一体,这是深刻的见解。对此,历代画论都有许多精辟的
论述。
传移模写
“传移模写”或“传移，模写是也”，指的是临摹作品。传，移也；或解为传授、流布、递送。
模，法也；通摹、摹仿。写亦解作摹。《史记·始皇本纪》说：“秦每破诸侯，写仿其宫室”。绘画上
的传移流布,靠的是模写。谢赫亦称之为“传写”：“善于传写，不闲其思”——其实早在《汉书·师丹
传》中就有了“传写”二字：“令吏民传写，流传四方。”把模写作绘画美学名词肯定下来，并作为“六
法”之一，表明古人对这一技巧与事情的重视。顾恺之就留下了《摹拓妙法》一文。模写的功能，
一是可学习基本功，二是可作为流传作品的手段，谢赫并不将它等同于创作，因此放于六法之末。

http://baike.baidu.com/view/286751.htm
古画品录
基本信息
【名称】古画品录
【类别】中国古籍、中国画论著作。
【年代】南朝齐
【作者】谢赫
全文
——南朝齐·谢赫
夫画品者，盖众画之优劣也。图绘者，莫不明劝戒、著升沉，千载寂寥，披图可鉴。虽画有六
法，罕能尽该。而自古及今，各善一节。六法者何？一，气韵生动是也；二，骨法用笔是也；三，
应物象形是也；四，随类赋彩是也；五，经营位置是也；六，传移模写是也。唯陆探微、卫协备该
之矣。然迹有巧拙，艺无古今，谨依远近，随其品第，裁成序引。故此所述不广其源，但传出自神
仙，莫之闻见也。
※第一品（五人）
陆探微。事五代宋明帝，吴人。穷理尽性，事绝言象。包前孕后，古今独立。非复激扬所以称
赞，但价之极乎上上品之外，无他寄言，故屈标第一等。
曹不兴。五代吴时事孙权，吴兴人。不兴之迹，殆莫复传。唯秘阁之内一龙而已。观其风骨，
名岂虚成！
卫协。五代晋时。占画之略，至协始精。六法之中，迨为兼善。虽不说备形妙，颇得壮气。陵
跨群雄，旷代绝笔。
张墨、荀((曰助))五代晋时。风范气候，极妙参神。但取精灵，遗其骨法。若拘以物体，则未
见精粹。若取之外，方厌高腴，可谓微妙也。
※第二品（三人）
顾骏之。神韵气力，不逮前贤；精微谨细，有过往哲。始变古则今，赋彩制形，皆创新意。如
包牺始更卦体，史籀初改画法。常结构层楼，以为画所。风雨炎燠之时，故不操笔；天和气爽之日
方乃染毫。登楼去梯，妻子罕见。画蝉雀，骏之始也。宋大明中，天下莫敢竞矣。
陆绥。体韵遒举，风彩飘然。一点一拂，动笔皆奇。传世盖少，所谓希见卷轴，故为宝也。
袁((艹倩))。比方陆氏，最为高逸。象人之妙，亚美前贤。但志守师法，更无新意。然和璧微
玷，岂贬十城之价也。
※第三品（九人）
姚昙度。画有逸方，巧变锋出，((鬼音))魁神鬼，皆能绝妙。奇正咸宜，雅郑兼善，莫不俊拔
出人意表，天挺生知非学所及。虽纤微长短，往往失之。而舆皂之中，莫与为匹。岂直栋梁萧艾可
搪突((王与))((王番))者哉！
顾恺之。五代晋时晋陵无锡人。字长康，小字虎头。除体精微，笔无妄下。但迹不逮意，声过
其实。

毛惠远。画体周赡，无适弗该，出入穷奇，纵黄逸笔，力遒韵雅，超迈绝伦。其挥霍必也极
妙，至于定质，块然未尽。其善神鬼及马，泥滞于体，颇有拙也。
夏瞻。虽气力不足，而精彩有余。擅名远代，事非虚美。
戴逵。情韵连绵，风趣巧拔。善图贤圣，百工所范。荀、卫以后，实为领袖。及乎子((禺页))
能继其美。
江僧宝。斟酌袁陆，亲渐朱蓝。用笔骨梗，甚有师法。像人之外，非其所长也。
吴((日东))。体法雅媚，制置才巧。擅美当年，有声京洛。
张则。意思横逸，动笔新奇。师心独见，鄙于综采。变巧不竭，若环之无端，景多触目，谢题
徐落云此二人后不得预焉。
陆杲。体制不凡，跨迈流欲。时有合作，往往出人点画之间。动流恢服，传于后者，殆不盈
握。桂枝一芳，足征本性。流液之素，难效其功。
※第四品（五人）
蘧道愍。章继伯。并善寺壁，兼长画扇，人马分数，毫厘不失，别体之妙，亦为入神。
顾宝先。全法陆家，事之宗禀。方之袁((艹倩))，可谓小巫。
王微。史道硕。五代晋时。并师荀、卫，各体善能。然王得其细，史传以似真。细而论之，景
玄为劣。
※第五品（三人）
刘顼。用意绵密，画体简细，而笔迹困弱。形制单省。其于所长，妇人为最。但纤细过度，翻
更失真，然观察祥审，甚得姿态。
晋明帝。讳绍，元帝长子，师王厉。虽略于形色，颇得神气。笔迹超越，亦有奇观。
刘绍祖。善于传写，不闲其思。至于雀鼠笔迹，历落往往出群。时人为之语，号曰移画，然述
而不作，非画所先。
※第六品（二人）
宋炳。炳明于六法，迄无适善，而含毫命素，必有损益，迹非准的，意足师放。
丁光。虽擅名蝉雀，而笔迹轻羸。非不精谨，乏于生气。
说明
《古画品录》是一部绘画品评著作，又名《画品》。南朝齐、梁间人谢赫（生卒年不）撰写。
谢赫的生平未见于史，日本金原省吾《支那上代画论研究》推测其与刘勰、钟嵘约略同时。曾
人梁“秘阁”，掌绘事，作有《安期先生图》、《晋明帝步辇图》等传于后。
书籍简介
《画品》品评三国至齐梁画家二十七人（张彦远《历代名画记》所引为二十九人），
共分六品，并以品第为次序。

第一品陆探微、曹不兴等五人；第二品列顾骏等三人；第三品列姚昙度、顾恺之等九；第四品
列，蘧道愍等五人；第五品列刘等四人；第六品为宗炳、丁光。
顾恺之是杰出的画家，在东晋声名卓著，谢安曾推崇为“自生人以来未有也”。谢赫却仅列之为
第三品，评曰：“格（一‘除’，或作‘骨’）体精微，笔无妄下；但迹迨意，声过其实。”这一品评曾遭
致《画品》续作者的强烈不满。谢赫之所以将顾之列为第三品，反映了《画品》所倡的创倾向，折
射出与时而变的理论意义。他张“迹有巧拙，艺无古今”，强调变古、创新，这与萧纲一派反摹古、
倡新变的思想一致。萧纲在中大通三年(531)被立为皇太子，在此前后大力提倡“宫体”，《画品》写
于 532 年之后，可见谢赫人梁后的绘画及理论，都受到了“宫体”的影响。姚最《续画品》评谢赫“笔
路纤弱，不副壮雅之怀”，这是由于所画“丽服靓妆，随时变改。直眉曲鬓，与世事新”，可见谢赫所
画实为画中“宫体”。这与魏晋玄风笼罩下尚静、传神、重眼睛、轻形体的顾氏画风异趣，《画品》
对顾氏的品评并非妄下。
在《画品》序言中，谢赫沿曹植“是知存乎鉴戒者图画也”（《画赞序》）之说，亦云：“图绘
者，莫不明劝戒，著升沉，千载寂寥，披图可鉴。”但对后世产生巨大影响的，则是首次提出关于
“六法”的理论：“六法者何？一气韵生动是也，二骨法用笔是也，三应物象形是也，四随类赋彩是
也，五经营位置是也，六传移模写是也。”“六法”远承先秦以来儒家所讲“六气”、“六律”、“六诗”，贾
谊《六术》所云“六理”、“六法”、“六行”、“六美”等概念，近参刘勰《文心雕龙·知音》以“六观”论诗
文优劣，使绘画理论从创作技巧到批评准则上升到自成体系的阶段。
“六法”之首是“气韵生动”。汉人重气，认为“人禀气而生，含，气而长”（王充《论衡，·气
寿》），曹丕以“气”人于文学批评，提出“文以气为主”（《典论·论文》）。晋人多以“韵”品藻人
物；“气”“韵”相合为一词，当指人的生命力与智慧、才情的统一。而“生动”之说，可远溯《易传》
“生生之谓易”，又承汉人“气生万物”之论。生命哲学用于艺术，“气韵生动”当是指人的生命、精神、
学识、风度等，应表现在生生不已、变动不居之中。这种既重精神风韵，重姿态动作的观点，继承
了顾恺之传神写照“论，但又与顾氏忘“形”得“神”异，是对传神论的发展。
“六法”之二是“骨法用笔”。“骨法”源古代面相术，指人的骨体相貌，魏晋品藻人物，常有带“骨”
字的评语，认为“骨”人的形体、精神、人品都相关。顾恺之将“骨法”引入绘画，使之成为“以形写神”
的基础。谢赫所说“骨法”，继承了顾恺之所论，但在评张墨、荀勗时又有“但取精灵，遗其骨法”之
说，使“骨法”失去神圣意义而趋于世俗。《画品》将“骨法”与“用笔”相联系，既明确了中国绘画与书
法密切相关，又指出了线条是造型的基础。传为卫夫人作的《笔阵图》说：“善笔力者多骨。”“骨法
用笔”之说当对此有汲取。综观谢赫对各画家的评论，是要求用笔有骨力，要创新，且“气韵生动”当
凭借“骨法用笔”。
“六法”当以“气韵生动”、“骨法用笔”最为重要。其余四法属具体技巧：“应物象形”指按物象面貌
来表现，不能臆造，“随类赋彩”指据不同对象表现各自的色彩，“经营位置”指精心构图、巧妙设
计，“传移模写”指临摹技巧。“六法”对后代有很大影响，宋郭若虚推尊为“六法精论，万古不移”
（《图画见闻志》）。可以认为，《画品》是我国第一部系统的绘画理论批评著作。
对“六法”首作逐条转述的是张彦远《历代名画记》卷二，自此而至清代，皆作四字一句连读，
近代严可均辑《全上古三代秦汉三国六朝文》，始作二、二断开，钱钟书亦认为四字相连失读（参
见《管锥编》第 189 则），对此，李泽厚、刘纲纪《中国美学史》辨析甚详。[1]
版本

有《百川学海》、《王氏画苑》、《津逮秘书》、《丛书集成初编》、《美术丛书》等版本。
北京图书馆所藏《汇刻唐宋画书九种十一卷》含此书，为明嘉靖间刻本，系此书古籍善本。新刊本
为《中国画论丛书》，与姚最《续画品录》合刊，王伯敏注译，人民美术出版社 1959 年出版。
内容概述
《古画品录》是南朝齐、梁的艺术理论家谢赫所著的绘画论。《古画品录》分为两部分
* 序论--提出绘画六法论。
* 画品
谢赫在《古画品录》中提出了完整的绘画六法论：
* 一气韵生动是也：
* 二骨法用笔是也：学者对于谢赫“骨法”有多种解释：指人体的“骨相”、指画的骨架、指线条的运用。
* 三应物象形是也
* 四随类赋彩是也
* 五经营位置是也：“经营位置”就是顾恺之的"置陈布势",就是构图学。
* 六传移模写是也
也有的学者将谢赫的六法标点为：
* 一气韵，生动是也
* 二骨法，用笔是也
* 三应物，象形是也
* 四随类，赋彩是也
* 五经营，位置是也
* 六传移，模写是也
南朝齐谢赫撰的《古画品录》。全书 1 卷，收录了从三国吴至南朝齐代的 27 位画家，分为 6
个品级，评其优劣。书中提出的绘画“六法”之说，对后世影响很大，为历代画家、鉴赏家们所遵
循，有较大的理论价值。西汉的木版彩画。1979 年 3 月在扬州市西郊木椁墓中发现。共两幅。一
幅为《人物图》，长 47 厘米，宽 28 厘米，绘文臣武将各二，画法为墨线勾勒，敷以色彩，画面上
的线条简洁流畅，色彩鲜艳明快，形象准确生动。另一幅为《墓主人生活图》，长 47 厘米，宽 44
厘米，画面分两部分：上部绘 4 个人物，有墓主人，随从与婢女，下部为宴乐的场面，有乐队、伎
乐表演和宾客。整个画面主题突出，疏密有致，气氛十分热烈，反映出贵州家庭生活情景。这两幅
画是研究汉代扬州经济、文化状况的宝贵实物资料。
参考资料
 1．《古画品录》．家国网每日一籍[引用日期 2012-09-28]．
In an article by Kwok Kian Chow (1993) on Chen Chong Swee...

Chen Chong Swee regarded the unchanging aesthetic ideal in ink painting tradition to have its bases on the
Six Principles. Based on Osvald Siren’s translation of the original 5th-century Xie He’s text, the Six
Principles are:
The first is: Spirit Resonance (or, Vibration of Vitality) and Life Movement;.
The second is: Bone Manner (i.e., Structural) Use of the Brush;
The third is: Conform with the Objects to Give Likeness;
The fourth is: Apply the Colours according to the Characteristics;
The fifth is: Plan and Design, Place and Position (i.e., Composition);
The sixth is: To Transmit Models by Drawing.

SIX CANONS OF PAINTING, by XIE HE
The most important medium for the development of Chinese artistic expression was painting,
including calligraphy. From the Six Dynasties period (220-589 A.D.) come the first treatises
on painting and calligraphy. Xie He 's work, Six Canons of Painting, is the earliest of these
and is of fundamental importance in any study of the theory of Chinese painting.
The six canons are:
1. animation through spirit consonance, or sympathetic responsiveness of the vital
spirit (Soper, Far Eastern Quarterly, 8) - that is, cosmic rhythm
2. structural method in use of the brush
3. fidelity to object in portraying forms
4. conformity to kind in applying color
5. proper planning in the placement of elements
6. transmission of experience of the past in making copies
In Gu Hua Pin Lu, (Classified Record of Ancient Painters), by Xie He
FROM: Acker, W., Some T'ang and pre-T'ang Texts in the Study of Chinese Painting, Leiden,
1954.
The Six Canons of Chinese Brush Painting

http://www.nanrae.com/lesson-pg3.html
In the 5th Century A.D., Hsieh Ho wrote the "Six Canons of Painting" which form the basis of all
Chinese Brush Painting to this very day. They are:
1. "Circulation of the Ch'i": (Breath, Spirit, Vital Force of Heaven) - producing "movement of life".
This is in the heart of the artist.
2. "Brush Stroke Creates Structure": This is referred to as the bone structure of the painting. The
stronger the brush work, the stronger the painting. Character is produced by a combination of strong
and lighter strokes, thick and thin, wet and dry.
3. "According to the Object, Draw its Form": Draw the object as you see it! In order to do this, it is
very important first to understand the form of the object! This will produce a work that is not
necessarily totally realistic but as you "see" it. Thus, the more you study the object to be painted, the
better you will paint it.
4. "According to the Nature of the Object Apply Color": Black is considered a color and the range
of shadings it is capable of in the hands of a master painter creates an impression of colors. If color is
used, it is always true to the subject matter.
5. "Organize Compositions With the Elements in Their Proper Place.": Space is used in Chinese
Brush Painting the same way objects are used. Space becomes an integral part of the composition.
6. "In copying, seek to pass on the essence of the master's brush & methods": To the Chinese,
copying is considered most essential and only when the student fully learns the time honored
techniques, can he branch out into areas of individual creativity.
===

http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat7/sub40/item260.html
CHINESE ART AND SYMBOLS

 CHINESE ART
 Websites and Resources
 Learning and the Arts in China
 Nature in Chinese Art
 Chinese Symbols
 Chinese Animal and Fruit Symbols
 Chinese Color Symbolism
 Longevity Symbols in Chinese Art
 Mongol Symbols in Chinese Art
CHINESE ART
Han-era bronze horse

Chinese art and Asian art in general can not be approached in the same way that Western art is.
Asian artists in many cases are motivated by different forces and create art in accordance with
different principals than Western artists.
One of the first things that stands out about Chinese art is that there is so much more to it than
painting and sculpture. Crafts and calligraphy occupy a place that is of equal if not greater
importance than painting and sculpture.
Most Chinese are as ignorant of Western art as Westerners are of Eastern art. Many Chinese
are familiar with Michelangelo, Picasso and van Gogh but don't have a clue who Vermeer, Marcel
Duchamp or Andy Warhol are
Writing about Chinese art coherently is difficult because there are so many different art forms, so
many different historical periods, so many different themes and so many different ethnic groups,
influences and regional art forms. Moreover, so much Chinese art has been lost or destroyed,
creating big gaps in the historical records. Even experts of Chinese art are learning new stuff all
the time.
Websites and Resources

Good Websites and Sources on Chinese Art: China --Art History Resources art-and-
archaeology.com ; Art History Resources on the Web witcombe.sbc.edu ; Art of China
Consortium nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart ;Modern Chinese Literature and Culture (MCLC) Visual
Arts/mclc.osu.edu ; Asian Art.com asianart.com ; China Online
Museum chinaonlinemuseum.com ; Huntington Archive of Asian Artkaladarshan.arts.ohio-
state.edu ; Qing Art learn.columbia.edu Museums with First Rate Collections of Chinese
ArtNational Palace Museum, Taipei npm.gov.tw ; Beijing Palace
Museum dpm.org.cn ;Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org ; Sackler Museum in
Washington asia.si.edu/collections ; China Page Museum list chinapage.com

Jade: Jade Factoryjadefactory.com ; Chinatown Connection chinatownconnection.com ; British
Museum britishmuseum.org ; International Colored Gem
Association gemstone.org ; Ceramics : Pacific Asia Museum pacificasiamuseum.org ; Guide to
Chinese Ceramics artsmia.org/art-of-asia ; Tang Horses China Vista ;
Jingdezhen chinavista.com ; Painting : China Page chinapage.org;University of
Washington depts.washington.edu ; Chinese Painting Collection
Blog chinesepaintingcollection.blogspot.com ; China Vista chinavista.com Calligraphy : China
Page chinapage.org ; University of Washington depts.washington.edu ; China
Vistachinavista.com Brushes China Vista ; Calligraphy Masters on China Online
Museum chinaonlinemuseum.com ; Crafts :Lacquerware www.chinavista.com ;
Papercut chinavoc.com ; Paper Cutting www.chinavista.com ; Kites travelchinaguide.com ;
Kites asiarecipe.com ; Cloisonne China Vista ; Furniture chinatownconnection.com ;
Furniture chinese-furniture.com ; Fans chinavista.com
Jade suit of Liu Sheng, 113 B.C.

Links in this Website: EARLY CHINESE ART Factsanddetails.com/China ; CHINESE ART
FROM THE GREAT DYNASTIES Factsanddetails.com/China ; SHANG DYNASTY (2200-1700
B.C.) AND XIA DYNASTY Factsanddetails.com/China ; ZHOU (CHOU) DYNASTY (1100-221
B.C.) Factsanddetails.com/China ; HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C."A.D.
220) Factsanddetails.com/China ; TANG DYNASTY (A.D. 690-907) Factsanddetails.com/China ;
SONG DYNASTY (960-1279) Factsanddetails.com/China ;YUAN (MONGOL) DYNASTY (1215-
1368) MING DYNASTY (1368-1644) Factsanddetails.com/China ; QING (MANCHU) DYNASTY
(1644-1911)Factsanddetails.com/China ; CHINESE JADE Factsanddetails.com/China ;
CHINESE CERAMICS AND PORCELAINFactsanddetails.com/China ; CHINESE
PAINTING Factsanddetails.com/China ;CHINESE CALLIGRAPHYFactsanddetails.com/China ;
CHINESE CRAFTS Factsanddetails.com/China ; COLLECTING, LOOTING AND COPYING ART
IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China
Books: Chinese Painting by James Cahill (Rizzoli 1985). Possessing the Past: Treasures from
the National Palace Museum, Taipei by Wen C. Fong, and James C. Y. Watt (Metropolitan
Museum of Art, 1996). Wen C. Fong, Professor of Art and Archeology at Princeton, is the
consultive chairman of the Asian Art Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Lee, Sherman, ed. China 5,000 Years: Innovation and Transformation in the Arts. New York:
Guggenheim Museum, 1998; Rawson, Jessica, et al. The British Museum Book of Chinese Art.
London: British Museum Press, 1992; Sullivan, Michael The Arts of China. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1984. Barnhart, Richard M., et al. Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting.
New Haven and Beijing: Yale University Press and Foreign Languages Press, 1997; Clunas,
Craig. Art in China. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997; Harrist, Robert E., Jr., and Wen C.
Fong. The Embodied Image: Chinese Calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection. Princeton:
Art Museum, Princeton University, 1999; Hearn, Maxwell K. Cultivated Landscapes: Chinese
Paintings from the Collection of Marie-Hélène and Guy Weill. New York: Metropolitan Museum of
Art, 2002; Hearn, Maxwell K. How to Read Chinese Paintings. New York: Metropolitan Museum
of Art, 2008; Hearn, Maxwell K., and Wen C. Fong. Along the Riverbank: Chinese Painting from
the C. C. Wang Family Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999; Silbergeld,
Jerome. Chinese Painting Style: Media, Methods, and Principles of Form. Seattle: University of
Washington Press, 1982. Barnhart, Richard M., Wen C. Fong, and Maxwell K. Hearn Mandate of
Heaven: Emperors and Artists in China: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy from The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. Exhibition catalogue.. Zürich: Museum Rietberg, 1996; Cahill, James, ed.
Shadows of Mt. Huang: Chinese Painting and Printing of the Anhui School. Exhibition catalogue..
Berkeley: University Art Museum, 1981; Fong, Wen C., ed. Returning Home: Tao-chi's Album of
Landscapes and Flowers. New York: George Braziller, 1976.

Learning and the Arts in China
Asian artists have traditionally learned their crafts from senior family members or masters, whose
wisdom is regarded as beyond reproach and whose authority is not questioned. Experimentation,
improvisation and innovation are taken as an insult to the master and are not to be undertaken
only if the student becomes a master himself. The Socratic approach of learning through
questioning is not encouraged. There is a risk of humiliating the master if he doesn't known the
answer, plus asking a lot of questions is considered rude.
Students are often like apprentices. During the early stages of their the learning process, they are
often treating like servants. They spend their time cleaning and serving, doing tasks that have
nothing to do with the craft, and are supposed to take every opportunity they can to observe their
master at work.
Nature in Chinese Art

Serenity and tranquil beauty have traditionally been valued in Chinese culture and aesthetics. Fei
Bo, a Chinese choreographer, told The Times: “Our culture is more about spiritual things, and
nature is much more important to us. In our traditional painting the strokes are very simple but
they leave a big space for your imagination."
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “In no other cultural tradition has nature played a
more important role in the arts than in that of China. Since China's earliest dynastic period, real
and imagined creatures of the earth—serpents, bovines, cicadas, and dragons—were endowed
with special attributes, as revealed by their depiction on ritual bronze vessels. In the Chinese
imagination, mountains were also imbued since ancient times with sacred power as
manifestations of nature's vital energy (qi). They not only attracted the rain clouds that watered
the farmer's crops, they also concealed medicinal herbs, magical fruits, and alchemical minerals
that held the promise of longevity. Mountains pierced by caves and grottoes were viewed as
gateways to other realms—"cave heavens" (dongtian) leading to Daoist paradises where aging is
arrested and inhabitants live in harmony. [Source: Metropolitan Museum of
Art metmuseum.org \^/]
“From the early centuries of the Common Era, men wandered in the mountains not only in quest
of immortality but to purify the spirit and find renewal. Daoist and Buddhist holy men gravitated to
sacred mountains to build meditation huts and establish temples. They were followed by pilgrims,
travelers, and sightseers: poets who celebrated nature's beauty, city dwellers who built country
estates to escape the dust and pestilence of crowded urban centers, and, during periods of
political turmoil, officials and courtiers who retreated to the mountains as places of refuge."^/
“Early Chinese philosophical and historical texts contain sophisticated conceptions of the nature
of the cosmos. These ideas predate the formal development of the native belief systems of
Daoism and Confucianism, and, as part of the foundation of Chinese culture, they were
incorporated into the fundamental tenets of these two philosophies. Similarly, these ideas strongly
influenced Buddhism when it arrived in China around the first century A.D. Therefore, the ideas
about nature described below, as well as their manifestation in Chinese gardens, are consistent
with all three belief systems."^/
“The natural world has long been conceived in Chinese thought as a self-generating, complex
arrangement of elements that are continuously changing and interacting. Uniting these disparate
elements is the Dao, or the Way. Dao is the dominant principle by which all things exist, but it is
not understood as a causal or governing force. Chinese philosophy tends to focus on the
relationships between the various elements in nature rather than on what makes or controls them.
According to Daoist beliefs, man is a crucial component of the natural world and is advised to
follow the flow of nature's rhythms. Daoism also teaches that people should maintain a close
relationship with nature for optimal moral and physical health."^/
“Within this structure, each part of the universe is made up of complementary aspects known as
yin and yang. Yin, which can be described as passive, dark, secretive, negative, weak, feminine,
and cool, and yang, which is active, bright, revealed, positive, masculine, and hot, constantly
interact and shift from one extreme to the other, giving rise to the rhythm of nature and unending
change."^/

“As early as the Han dynasty, mountains figured prominently in the arts. Han incense burners
typically resemble mountain peaks, with perforations concealed amid the clefts to emit incense,
like grottoes disgorging magical vapors. Han mirrors are often decorated with either a diagram of
the cosmos featuring a large central boss that recalls Mount Kunlun, the mythical abode of the
Queen Mother of the West and the axis of the cosmos, or an image of the Queen Mother of the
West enthroned on a mountain. While they never lost their cosmic symbolism or association with
paradises inhabited by numinous beings, mountains gradually became a more familiar part of the
scenery in depictions of hunting parks, ritual processions, temples, palaces, and gardens. By the
late Tang dynasty, landscape painting had evolved into an independent genre that embodied the
universal longing of cultivated men to escape their quotidian world to commune with nature. The
prominence of landscape imagery in Chinese art has continued for more than a millennium and
still inspires contemporary artists." \^/
Later when the learning process begins, the student is expected observe and copy his master.
Students are supposed to hang on every word the master says and are supposed to do things
exactly as the master does.
Chinese Symbols
Butterfly, symbol of joy

In China, lucky symbols appear on everything from handkerchiefs to tombstones. Many
auspicious symbols are homonyms of Chinese characters associated with good fortune,
prosperity and longevity. Many inauspicious ones are homonyms of Chinese characters for
"death" or "bad luck."
Chinese buy good luck charms with a picture of Mao on one side and an image of a Bodhisattva
on the other. Man himself is considered a symbol. Heaven is round, the earth is square and man
is regarded as a link between the two because it has a round head and a square body.
Well-known symbols of prosperity and good luck are: 1) jade (protection, health and strength,
See Art); 2) eggs (tranquility, fertility and good luck in Hong Kong); 3) a bearded sage (longevity
or success on exams); 4) a lady bearing fruit (prosperity); 5) a gourd with spreading tendrils
(fertility); 6) plump, lively boys (happiness and many sons); 7) bamboo, plums and pine trees
("three friends of winter").
Imperial symbols included the colors yellow and purple. The Emperor wore yellow robes and
lived under roofs made with yellow tiles. Only the Emperor was allowed to wear yellow. No
buildings outside those in the Forbidden City were allowed to have yellow-tiled roofs. Purple
represented the North Star, the center of the universe according to Chinese cosmology.
The dragon symbolized the Emperor while the phoenix symbolized the Empress. The cranes and
turtles associated with the Imperial court represented the desire for a long reign. The numbers
nine, associated with male energy, and five, representing harmony were also linked with the
Emperor.
The fungus Geroderma ludidum is said to bring life because its Chinese name is a homonym
with the Chinese word for good fortune. Elixirs of immortality often included it as one of the key
ingredients. Other good luck symbols derived from homonyms: 1) Lanterns (homonym with
promotions); 2) bees (homonym with abundance); and 3) fish (homonym with surplus). A clock

sometimes is used to denote death because the Chinese character for "clock" resembles the
character for "death."
Chinese Animal and Fruit Symbols
Crane, symbol of joy

The most prominent animal symbols are: 1) cranes (peace, hope, healing, longevity and good
luck); 2) turtles (long life, but a tortoise refers to a cuckolded husband and a turtle egg is the
Chinese equivalent of a bastard); 3) carps (good luck, they are admired for their strength and
determination to swim upstream, traits that parents want their children to have): 4) lions (good
fortune and prosperity, stone lion gates guard temples and even shopping malls); 5) deer (wealth
and long life); 6) horse (success); 7) sheep (auspicious beginning of a brand-new year); 8)
monkey (success);
Fruit symbols: 1) orange (happiness); 2) many-seeded pomegranate (fertility); 3) apple (peace);
4) pear (prosperity); 5) peaches (long life, good health and sex, both Chinese and Arabs regard
the fury cleft on one side of the peach as symbol of the female genitalia). Peach trees mean
dreams can come true. Beginning in the 2nd century B.C., Taoist kept peach-wood charms to
ward off evil. Sometimes handmade noodles are served on birthdays for long life.
One of the best sign of all is a red bat. Red is a lucky color and a bat is considered a fortunate
sign because its name in Chinese is a homonym with the Chinese word for "good luck, "plus bats
sleep with their head down and their feet up, which shows how relaxed and worry free they are.
Chinese and Vietnamese believe that people can achieve the relaxed, worry-free state of bats by
eating red bat meat. Five flying bats symbolize the “Five Blessings”: longevity, wealth. health,
virtue and a long life span.
Fish are is also important. According to legend many Chinese dragons begin life as fish. They
have magical powers to leap over waterfalls. Carp especially are associated with this legend. The
saying, “The carp has leaped through the dragon's gate” is used to describe success in Chinese
society. Fish are always served on New Year's Eve as a symbol of prosperity and wealth.
Chinese Color Symbolism

Colors: 1) red or orange (happiness and celebration), 2) white (purity, death and mourning); 3)
yellow and gold (heaven and the emperor, a reference the mythical first Yellow Emperor,
sometimes yellow is a mourning color); 4) green (harmony); 5) grey and black (death and
misfortune).
Red, gold and green are associated with good luck. Red is the most auspicious color. It is well
represented at weddings and holidays and fits nicely into Communist models. Red signifies luck,
happiness, health and prosperity. Brides wear something red on their wedding day and red
lanterns are hung on New Year's Day and weddings. Chinese have traditionally given out "lucky
money" on special occasions in red envelopes. Walls are painted red for good luck but writing in
red is bad luck. Sometimes red clothing worn by women ias linked with prostitution.
Green can also be a symbol of cuckoldry. Green hats have traditionally been worn by men
whose wives have cheated on them. The New York Times described how one American
agricultural expert found this out the hard way when he traveled around China giving out bright

green hats and found out that whenever he handed them out the men refused to put them on and
the women laughed.
Longevity Symbols in Chinese Art

Joyce Denney of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “ The pursuit of longevity has played an
unusually notable role in China. Societal respect for the elderly (a generally Confucian value) and
the individual's search for longevity or immortality (a loosely Daoist concern) resulted in a
preoccupation with long life that was reflected in the visual arts. By the time of the Ming (1368–
1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, certain motifs and stories associated with long life had
become fundamental themes in paintings, on garments, and in the decorative arts that were
appropriate as gifts, dress, and furnishings for occasions such as birthday and retirement
celebrations. Among the themes are the character for longevity itself, immortals and certain
legendary figures, motifs such as peaches associated with immortals, and, finally, other motifs
connected to long life through physical attributes or word play. [Source: Joyce Denney,
Department of Asian Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org \^/]
“A decorative motif in itself, the character for longevity (shou) can appear in at least 100 variant
forms and frequently occurs on hangings, garments, and decorative arts that were appropriate for
auspicious occasions such as birthday celebrations. The swastika often appears with the shou
character and reinforces its auspicious meaning. An ancient symbol originating in India, the
swastika is called wan in Chinese and denotes 10,000 years; the pairing of wan and shou also
occurred in the name given to the celebration of the emperor's birthday in the Qing dynasty:
wanshoujie, literally, "festival of 10,000-year longevity." \^/
“Considered part of the pantheons of Daoism and Chinese popular religion, immortals were
readily adopted as subjects in secular arts. The god of longevity, Shoulao, easily recognized by
his prominent cranium, is sometimes accompanied by a deer or rides on the back of a crane.
Among his companions are the eight Daoist immortals, legendary figures sometimes represented
in the visual arts only by their attributes, such as the crutch and gourd of Li Tieguai. The queen
mother of the west (Xiwangmu) figured in stories about the peaches of immortality that grew in
her celestial peach orchard. The peaches conferred immortality on anyone who ate them.
Xiwangmu freely offered the peaches to gods and to certain deserving mortals, and they were
served at banquets she hosted. Sometimes, however, peaches were taken without her
permission. For example, the legendary Han-dynasty official Dongfang Suo stole peaches from
the orchard and thus illegitimately achieved immortality."^/
“Other legendary figures were associated with longevity. One scene frequently represented in
large-scale works was the eightieth birthday reception for General Guo Ziyi, a heroic figure of the
Tang dynasty who was transformed into a popular god of wealth, honor, and happiness. The
birthday reception, a celebration of his long and fruitful life, often appeared on works
commissioned for birthdays, retirements, or promotions of distinguished individuals."^/
“The peach, even without the physical presence of Xiwangmu, had a strong link to longevity. The
peach is seen in drinking cups, decorative vases, and even scholars' objects such as ink tablets.
Works with patterns of blossoming peach branches and trees evoke not only the peach orchard
of Xiwangmu but also the story of the peach blossom spring, from a poem by Tao Yuanming
(365–427) in which the ordinary but immortal populace of an ethereal village located in a grove of
blossoming peach trees lives without being aware of the passage of time or the pressures of the
world."^/
“Motifs were sometimes connected to long life through physical attributes. Long-lived and
evergreen, pines were associated with longevity. Cranes were already linked to long life through
their role as conveyences of the immortals; in addition, their white feathers could also bring to
mind the white hair of the elderly and, when seen in pairs, could obliquely refer to an elderly
couple. This association also held true for small birds with white-feathered heads, common in
paintings given as birthday gifts to elderly couples. The physical property of length was also
associated with long life. The peanut plant was linked to longevity not only because of the
perceived healthfulness of the peanut as food but also because of the plant's long root system.
Long-tailed birds and long ribbons were also connected with long life."^/

“Sometimes word play allowed a pattern usually associated with one auspicious wish to express
another instead. For example, the butterfly was primarily associated with joy and weddings, but
because its name (hudie) is a pun for "age seventy to eighty," it also symbolized longevity. Motifs
symbolic of longevity were often combined with patterns associated with other desirable
conditions, such as happiness, wealth, and attaining high rank. For example, bats, symbolic of
blessings, often occur among longevity motifs (65.210.2). Decorative arts, paintings, and
garments with longevity themes provided a generalized sense of auspiciousness, and the motifs
were sometimes mixed with other patterns to form pleasing works appropriate for many
occasions. \^/
Mongol Symbols in Chinese Art

Stefano Carboni and Qamar Adamjee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “ In the creation
of luxury textiles and objects for the Mongol elite, Chinese artists developed a visual language
that was an effective means of establishing their rule and consolidating their presence throughout
the vast empire. A number of motifs that were part of the existing artistic repertoire were adopted
as imperial symbols of power and dominance—the dragon and the phoenix, for example, two
mythical beasts that integrated the ideas of cosmic force, earthly strength, superior wisdom, and
eternal life. The Mongol versions of the creatures are the highly decorative sinuous dragon with
legs, horns, and beard and the large bird with a spectacular feathered tail floating in the air
(12.49.4). In Iran, these motifs were often paired and became so popular with the Ilkhanids that
they eventually lost their original meaning, becoming part of the common artistic repertoire in the
first half of the fourteenth century. [Source:Stefano Carboni and Qamar Adamjee, Department of
Islamic Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org \^/]
“Other motifs of this period that were familiar throughout the Asian continent are the peony, the
lotus flower (91.1.559), and the lyrical image of the recumbent deer, or djeiran, gazing at the
moon. The flowers, often seen in combination and viewed from both the side and top, provided
ideal patterns for textiles and for filling dense backgrounds on all kinds of portable objects. The
djeiran became widespread in the decorative arts because of the well-established association of
similar quadrupeds with hunting scenes."^/
“For the semi-nomadic Mongols, portable textiles and clothing were the best means of
demonstrating their acquired wealth and power, so it is reasonable to assume that the main mode
of transmission of motifs such as the dragon and peony was through luxury textiles. The most
prominent clothing accessories were belts of precious metal (gold belt plaques, The Nasser D.
Khalili Collection of Islamic Art). Many of the textiles illustrated here prove transmission from east
to west, yet in some instances, exemplified by the Chinese silk with addorsed griffins (cloth of
gold: winged lions and griffins, The Cleveland Museum of Art), the origin of the image is clearly
Central or western Asia. The Mongol period is unique in art history because it permitted the
cross-fertilization of artistic motifs via the movement of craftsmen and artists throughout a
politically unified continent."^/
Image Sources: Palace Museum, Taipei; University of Washington
Text Sources: Palace Museum, Taipei, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Times,
Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, National Geographic, The New Yorker,
Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton's Encyclopedia and various
books and other publications.
© 2008 Jeffrey Hays
Last updated May 2016

https://whereismyfingerprint.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/chinese-landscape-paintingcreating-distances-early-spring-guo-xi/
Chinese landscape painting: Creating Distances -

Early Spring - Guo Xi
Posted by whereismyfingerprint under Art, China, Chinese culture, culture |
This is an excerpt from one of my assignments of last semester, demonstrating how Guo Xi
use San-Yuan 三遠 – “atmospheric perspective” to create distances and spaces.
And this method is still influential to the methodology of contemporary Chinese landscape
painting.
Early Spring (早春圖)

By Guo Xi
dated 1072
ink and light color,on silk
105.8 x 108.1cm
picture: http://www.npm.gov.tw/masterpiece/enlargement.jsp?pic=K2A000053
Introduction
Produced in the Northern Song dynasty(960-1127), a period with well-developed brushwork
and composition, Early Spring is a quintessence to present the landscape painting style of
this“Great age of Chinese landscape” and Guo Xi’s principles of landscape painting.
Guo Xi (after1000-c.1090ce) was a staff served in a court institution of academy, so-called a
court painter. Systematizing his own views on painting, he was not only the emperor-

Shengzong’s(宋神宗)favorite painter but also considered as one of the greatest painters of
China. His treatise “ Lofty Messages of Streams and Mountains” has made a significant
contribution to Chinese traditional landscape, proposing the idea of San-Yuan 三遠–
“atmospheric perspective1”which is a skill to create the illusion of space and distance. I would
further analyze this and other significances of this master piece in the following sections.
The main object in Early Spring is mountains. Mountain has become a prominent feature and
motif in Chinese landscape painting after the Tang dynasty(618–906) collapsed and people
withdrew from the society to the mountains in order to escape from the upheaval, commune
with the nature and seek enjoyments. Early Spring depicted the renewal of the nature
after ,winter with details ,refinedly.
Creating Distances
Guo Xi innovated the technique of “atmospheric perspective” which was influential in
later Chinese landscape painting. The three approaches are namely high distance
(高遠), deep distance (深遠) and level distance (平遠). These techniques are all
included in Early Spring, the most famous work of Guo Xi. The distances enhance
the reality and visual effects which emphasize the height and width,creating a vivid
and monumental composition.
High distance: to create the height of the peak and to view from the bottom of the
mountain looking up toward to the top

Level distant:to view the mountain which is far away from the nearby mountain
Deep distant: to create layers and to view from the front into the back
1T.C.Lai, Brushwork in Chinese Landscape Painting (Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Book
Company and Swindon Book Company ,1983) p.100
“山有三遠：自山下而仰山顛，謂之高遠；自山前而窺山后，謂之深遠；自近山而望遠
山，謂之平遠。” (Lofty Messages of Streams and Mountains ,Gui Xi)

https://www.christies.com/features/How-to-appreciate-Chinese-landscape-paintings-8280-3.aspx
How to appreciate Chinese

landscape paintings
Specialist Kim Yu looks at Classical, Modern and Contemporary Ink works offered
during our Spring 2017 Hong Kong sales season
‘People often ask, how should I appreciate landscape paintings when they all look the
same?’ explains specialist Kim Yu. It is, he admits, an interesting question.
‘When looking closely, you realise that each painting is unique. We can differentiate between
artist by the way they treated mountains and rocks in a painting.’ Li Keran’s paintings, for
example, mostly focused on woods rather than mountains and rocks.
LI KERAN (1907-1989) Jinggang Mountain Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper 136.8 x 68.5 cm.
(53⅞ x 27 in.) Entitled, inscribed and signed, with one seal of the artist Dated 1977. This lot is offered in Fine
Chinese Modern Paintings on 30 May 2017, at Christie’s in Hong Kong.

If the artists wanted to show the textures of rocks, such as harder rock, they would employ
stronger and faster texture strokes. Softer lines are used for the mountains in Guangdong
and the South as their silhouettes are softer and smoother, the specialist explains.
Jin Tingbiao (18th Century), Landscape in Rain. Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper 135 x 79
cm. (53⅛ x 31⅛ in.) Signed, with two seals of the artist. Estimate: HKD 5,000,000 - 7,000,000. This lot is offered
in Fine Chinese Classical Paintings and Calligraphy on 29 May 2017, at Christie’s in Hong Kong.

Why does a good landscape painting always depict mountains by a river? ‘In Jin
Tingbiao’s Landscape in Rain, the river cascades down the canyons,’ says the specialist.
‘The mountains and river convey a sense of depth.’
Looking at a painting by Liu Kuo-sung, Kim Yu points out how the artist uses the river to set
off the rocks, ‘which extend into the distance. Traditional painting and this kind of
contemporary ink painting share a similar principle, which uses rivers and composition to
create a sense of space.’
Liu Kuo-Sung (Liu Guosong, B. 1932), New Scenery of Kuimen. Hanging scroll, Ink and colour on paper 75 x
118.5 cm. (29½ x 46⅝ in.). Executed in 2005. Estimate: HKD 800,000 - 1,500,000. This lot is offered in Chinese
Contemporary Ink on 29 May 2017, at Christie’s in Hong Kong.
In traditional landscape painting, appreciating a scroll is like exploring the scenery with the
artist. The poems and inscriptions on the back further help to complete these works of art.

Lui Shou Kwan (Lü Shoukun, 1919-1975), Zen. Scroll, mounted and framed, Ink and colour on paper 148 x 86.5
cm. (58 ¼ x 34 in.). Executed in 1970. Estimate: HKD 400,000 - 600,000. This lot is offered in Chinese
Contemporary Ink on 29 May 2017, at Christie’s in Hong Kong.
Clouds are another important feature of landscape paintings. ‘While Zhang Daqian used
clouds with splashed paints, contemporary painter Lui Shou-kwan uses water and ink to
create an illusion of clouds,’ says Kim Yu.

Mountains, rocks, trees and rivers are not so important for Chinese modern and
contemporary painters. ‘What matters,’ the specialist concludes, ‘is to fully express their
emotions and intentions through the power of the artistic atmosphere. And the results are
abstract paintings.’
2 May 2017
Related lots
LUI SHOU KWAN (LÜ SHOUKUN, 1919-1975)

Zen
Price Realized HKD 1,000,000
(USD 128,955)
Lot 815 | Sale 14336
LUI SHOU KWAN (LÜ SHOUKUN, 1919-1975)
Zen
Scroll, mounted and framed
Ink and colour on paper
148 x 86.5 cm. (58 ¼ x 34 in.)
Executed in 1970
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LIU KUO-SUNG (LIU GUOSONG, B. 1932)

New Scenery Of Kuimen
(USD 128,955)
Lot 818 | Sale 14336
LIU KUO-SUNG (LIU GUOSONG, B. 1932)
New Scenery of Kuimen
Hanging scroll
Ink and colour on paper
75 x 118.5 cm. (29 1/2 x 46 5/8 in.)
Executed in 2005
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ANONYMOUS (13TH CENTURY)

Landscapes
(USD 549,347)
Lot 901 | Sale 14337
ANONYMOUS (13TH CENTURY)
Landscapes
Album of eight leaves, ink on paper
Each leaf measures 15.5 x 19.8 cm. (6 1/8 x 7 3/4 in.)
Without signature or seal
Colophon by Sun Weibi (19th-20th century), with one seal
Accompanied by a note of Liu Qiu’an (1915-1999), with two seals
NOTE: In China, paintings have long been highly regarded by the literati and
aristocrats as a means to nurture one’s character and manners. First appearing in
the Wei and Jin dynasties (3rd century), landscape painting took shape in the Sui
and Tang dynasties (6th -7th century) and evolved to be stylistically sparse, distant
yet profound expressions in the Song and Yuan dynasties (10th-13th century).
Subtle and without signature or seal, Landscapes exemplifies the characteristics of

the Song Yuan landscape painting. Various views of the rivers, mountains, hills and
clouds in different times of the year are meticulously depicted in an overall abstract
pattern, yet rendered with maximum visual effects. Compare
with Snowscape formerly attributed to Ma Yuan, now in the collection of the
Shanghai Museum. These qualities, together with the dense paper texture
of Landscapes, justify it being a work of the Southern Song/Yuan period.
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JIN TINGBIAO (18TH CENTURY)

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JIN TINGBIAO (18TH CENTURY)
Landscape in Rain
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
135 x 79 cm. (53 1/8 x 31 1/8 in.)
Signed, with two seals of the artist
Inscribed with a poem by Emperor Qialong (1711-1799), with two seals and dated
fourth month, jimao year (1759)
Six imperial collection seals: three of Emperor Qialong and three of Emperor
Jiaqing (1760-1820)
NOTES: Jin Tingbiao, a native of Wu Cheng (now Huzhou of the Zhejiang
province), worked as a court painter from 1757 to 1767. During his tenure, 87 of
his works were documented in the Catalogue of the Qing Imperial Collection
(Shiqu Baoji), 78 of which had poems composed by the Emperor Qianlong,
including Landscape in Rain. This justifies Jin as being one of his favourite
painters of the time.
Landscape in Rain is an early work by the artist, depicting merchants travelling in
the rain, while workers are towing rafts and farmers are working with their
raincoats on. Nevertheless, according to The Events of Qianlong edited by Chang
Jianhua, it was the year when the Emperor prayed for rain to alleviate the drought.
This corresponds with Qianlong’s sentiments towards the hardships of his people
expressed through his poem on the painting.
View Lot
https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=20,29,35,45&post=26320

An Approach to the Appreciation of Chinese Painting

Publication Date: August 01, 1959 |
Chinese painting, closely related to Chinese calligraphy and poetry, is one of the
most important manifestations of Chinese cultural life and ideas.
Pictorial art can be traced back to the age of cavemen. Color painting was mentioned
in the Confucian classics. Even the use of oil-paint has been discovered on
specimens of silk, lacquer or pottery of a very early date. But Chinese painting in the
classical form and style was only made possible after the 3rd century B.C., when the
finely-pointed writing-brush, which we Chinese prefer to call a "pen," was first
invented and then gradually improved.
Chinese painting, like the painting of other cultural areas, began with figure-painting
for the purpose of keeping a vivid pictorial record of important events, such as hunts,
battles, processions and the like. We know that mural paintings of historical scenes
and figures already existed during the Han Dynasty (B.C. 206-A.D. 220), and that
there were painters in attendance upon the emperor at the Han court. As an instance
of this, we may recall the story, well-known to every Chinese, of the court painter,
Mao Yen-shou, who maliciously disfigured the most beautiful lady Wang Chao-chun
in her portrait, which he was commissioned to paint in order to aid the Emperor Yuan
(B.C. 48-32) to select, from among his court ladies, a bride for a powerful Hunnish
chieftain. The tragic fate of this charming and talented lady occasioned by this
unscrupulous act became subsequently a source of inspiration for poets, playwrights
and painters alike.
In spite of the many descriptive records of Han paintings, there is none of them
extant. All we can see today are the rubbings taken from stone carvings in sacred
buildings or sarcophagi. But there is a famous piece of painting by Ku K'ai-chih on a
silk scroll, dating from the next period, Tsin Dynasty (A.D. 265-420), which is still well
preserved. It is named "Admonitions of the Imperial Preceptress", after its subject-
matter. Although some art critics hold the view that this is a copy of Ku's original,
executed by a talented painter in the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), it remains
immaterial to those whose main interest lies in a study of the composition, style and
technique of a great painter of human figures in the Tsin period.
It was during the Tang Dynasty that classical Chinese painting came of age. The
preceding age, Sui Dynasty (A.D. 589-618), was too brief for the realization of any
great artistic achievements. I once examined an unquestionably genuine Sui scroll
entitled "Travelers in Spring" by Chan Tzu-ch'ien, a renowned painter of that period,
and I could not help noticing immediately that the landscape part of this scroll was
still in an immature stage. However, a brilliant period of cultural renaissance,
especially in poetry and painting, was inaugurated as soon as the T'ang Dynasty took
up its rule over China. The painting of human beings and animals alike developed in
parallel lines with art of landscapes. The number of great masters was almost evenly
in different fields, and some of them were skilled in every field. Among the figure
painters, Yen Li-pen whose famous scroll "Foreign Envoy Arriving with Tribute" is
now preserved in Taiwan and reproduced in this work, was a versatile pioneer in this
field. Two distinguished artists, Chou Fang and Chang Hsuan, were generally
recognized as masters in painting court beauties, while Wu Tao-tzu painted Buddhist
and Taoist figures with simple but firm lines that convey a deep sense of serenity.
Han Kan was -known as China's supreme painter of horses was in great vogue.
Among landscape painters, the two generals Li Ssu-hsun and Li Chao-tao, father and
son, ranked foremost, because they prepared the way for the florescence of Chinese
landscape painting during and after the 8th century. They painted in a wide range of
brilliant colors, especially blue and green, with exquisite taste. Another master of the
same period, who founded a different school of landscape-painting in monochrome,
was Wang Wei who was also a great poet. He painted human figures as well as
landscapes, but it is in the latter branch that his influence and contribution became
permanent.
The intermingling and integration of these two trends of art, figure and landscape-
painting, into a single stream opened a new era, which well deserves the name
suggested' by John C. Ferguson, "The Renaissance of Chinese Art." The following is
what he said in this connection:
"The period of T'ai Tsung (the second emperor but true founder of the T'ang Dynasty)
may be considered the renaissance of China's art as it was also of its literature. The
date of this renaissance may be approximately designated as A.D. 700 just as that of
Western art may be given as A.D. 1400. It will thus be seen that Chinese painting as
we now know it is earlier by seven hundred years than our Western painting. This
period of seven hundred years, i.e. A.D. 700-1400 was in China the Golden Age in
which the great artists of the T'ang Dynasty, Five Dynasties. Sung and Yuan
Dynasties flourished."
There is a great deal of historical truth in this statement. If we carefully study some of
the Western Renaissance paintings, we shall not fail to notice that even in the case
of such a famous example as Leonardo de Vinci's "Mona Lisa," despite the superb
technique and delicacy of expression in representing the human figure, the portrayal
of landscape appears rather stiff and not quite homogeneous as compared with
Chinese painting of the same time or even of an earlier period.
During the transitional period between the Five Dynasties and Sung Dynasty,
Chinese landscape painting not only reached maturity but also gained ascendancy
over other branches of painting. This was primarily due to the creative genius and
persistent efforts of a number of masters such as Ching Hao, Kuan T'ung, Tung Yuan,
Chu Jan, Fan K'uan and others, which resulted in the influence of this school
becoming pervasive and permanent. Among these masters there naturally existed a
great many differences in regard to style, technique and manner of expression,
because an artist as such must possess his own individuality, taste and personal
preferences. But the artists of this period were usually classified, or rather subdivided,
into two schools: the Northern and the Southern. Ching Hao, Kuan T'ung and Fan
K'uan were considered as belonging to the Northern School, the characteristics of
which were impressiveness, magnitude, heavy and sharp strokes together with
greater contrast between light and dark. On the other hand, Tung Yuan and Chu Jan
were the pioneers of the Southern School, the outstanding features of which
comprised serenity, gentility, smoothness and more harmony than contrast. These
differences, however, have often been exaggerated, for some of the great painters
succeeded in assimilating the best of both schools.
During the first half of the Sung Dynasty, there were a number of distinguished
calligraphers and men of letters who interested themselves in painting, in which they
attained remarkable proficiency. The following are some of the great names
belonging to this category: Chao Pu-chih, who excelled in painting landscapes and
human figures; Wang Hsien, who was a famous landscape artist; Wen T'ung and Su
Shih, who produced exquisite bamboo studies; Mi Fei and his son Mi Yu-jen, who
painted misty mountain peaks; and last but not least Emperor Hui Tsung, a great
connoisseur and gracious patron of art, who was also a talented painter of
landscapes, flowers and birds. Their active participation not only gave tremendous

encouragement to painters, but also brought about a closer union between Chinese
painting, poetry and calligraphy, as I have already pointed out. This unique tradition
has been preserved up to the present day among the great artists. In this connection,
we must not fail to mention the names of two very unconventional artists, Liang K'ai
and Fa Ch'ang of the Southern Sung Dynasty (1127-1279), whose style is
characterized by the dynamic use of bold, simple strokes applied with unhesitating
spontaneity -a style so distinctively impressionistic that they might well be considered
the unacknowledged forerunners of present-day modernistic painting.
In spite of the rising influence of the Northern School of painting led by Hsia Kuei and
Ma Yuan, together with members of Ma's family, by reason of their improved
technique and original contributions during the latter part of the Sung Dynasty, the
succeeding one, Yuan Dynasty, was dominated by the Southern School, which
included most of the great Yuan painters, such as Chao Meng-fu, Huang Kung-wang,
Wu Chen, Ni Tsan, Wang Meng, and others. Many of these harked back to Tung
Yuan and Chu Jan, their forerunners, but their own genius added a great deal to the
perfection of their artistic work. Their composition and brushwork became more
natural and their poetic feeling more intense.
The early Ming paintings were imitative of the Yuan tradition, until the appearance of
the creative work of Shen Chou (1427-1509). He was a versatile artist and bold, who
expressed his aesthetic feeling and vivid imagery in forceful but unconventional
forms. He was fond of using broad and spontaneous strokes of the brush, and his
poems, supplementary to the painted scenes, were always superb. His noble
personality and devotion to art inspired a whole generation of talented painters. The
brilliant styles of T'ang Yin and Ch'iu Ying were quite different from his, but both of
them were closely associated with and influenced by him. His most famous disciple
was Wen Cheng-ming, who painted with very fine strokes expressive of a fine
sensitivity and conveying a delicate mood of serenity and repose.
When the house of Ming collapsed, a brilliant epoch of Chinese painting sprang up
on its ruins. The only explanation of this ironical fact is that when the Manchu rule
was established, most of the talented painters were patriotic enough not to serve
under an alien regime; instead, they devoted their energy to art. Those who helped to
open this new era were again divided into two schools, one of which adhered closely
to old traditions, whereas the other, in a spirit of revolt, tried to shake off the trammels
of traditional art in order to create something new. To the former school belonged the
famous "Four Wangs," i.e. Wang Shih-min, Wang Chien, Wang Hui and Wang Yuan-
ch'i, all accomplished artists, thoroughly trained in the workmanship of the masters of
Sung and Yuan periods. Both Wu Li and Yun Shou-p'ing shared with them the same
classical tradition, but each of them painted with an original and distinctive style of his
own. To the second school belonged first of all two descendants of the Ming royal
family, (1) Tao Chi, better known as Shih T'ao, and (2) Chu Ta, better known as Pa
Ta Shan Jen. They were both great creative geniuses. Shih T'ao had a distinctive
style in painting different kinds of subject-matter, and Pa Ta's work displays an
abstract quality, which has the merit of never being puzzling. To Pa Ta, every stroke
of the brush seemed to possess a meaning of its own. We must not fail, however, to
mention the names of two equally well-known artists, Shih Hsi and Chien Chiang,
thus completing the "Four Great Monks" of that period. I also wish to mention
Giuseppe Castiglione, better known in China as Lang Shih-ning, an 18th century
Jesuit father, who served as a court artist during the reign of Emperor Ch'ien Lung,
and endeavored to introduce Western technique into Chinese painting.
We have now come to the end of our historical development of Chinese painting in
which a short summary of its most important schools and outstanding masters has
been given. The Imperial Palace Collection ceased to grow after the reigns of
Emperor Ch'ien Lung and his successor Emperor Chia Ching so that the present
volumes include no works later than that date and I have therefore not attempted to
discuss here any of the more recent trend and achievements in Chinese painting.
As to the problem of how to attain a sound understanding of a work of art two factors
are required: the first is intuitive appreciation and the other acquired taste. This
requirement is all the more necessary in the case of an unfamiliar work. The essence
of universality in art justifies the play of intuition while the study of aesthetics and
history of ·art provides a reasonably sound basis for synthetic and analytical
appreciation. With this in mind I will offer a few remarks that .may lead to a right
approach to the study of Chinese painting. Naturally due emphasis must also be laid
upon the differences between the two main currents in the art of painting Chinese
and Western.
(1) Instrument and Technique
Chinese painting and calligraphy which is a unique art in the field of Chinese culture
are inseparable twins. Both of them derive their artistic value from the use of the
Chinese pen or brush which must work in conjunction with Chinese paper or silk, ink
and ink slab. These four articles have been termed the "four precious possessions" of
a scholar. When using the finely-pointed Chinese pen or brush to paint on thin soft
paper or silk every line and every stroke must be well thought out beforehand and
executed with precision because once it is put down it can never be erased. Nor is it
possible for anyone to superimpose over the original a second layer of paint as is
sometimes the case with Western oil painting. So Dr. Ferguson is again quite right in
his general views when he concludes his comparative study of the different trends in
Chinese and Western painting with the following statement:
"Painting and calligraphy (in China) developed side by side. At every stage of its
growth painting has been influenced by calligraphy .... Painting in China has a
background different from European painting .... Step by step in its progress Western
painting was joined with sculpture and architecture but in China its companion was
calligraphy. In other words it may be said that Western painting is plastic in its ideals
while that of China is graphic. The former laid emphasis upon the management of
light and shade in such a way as to bring figures into relief and thus produce
sculptural effects. It also represents streets, buildings, galleries and interiors with
geometrical perspective. But in Chinese painting brush strokes have all important—
strokes which could compare in delicacy, harmony and strength with those of
calligraphy."
(2) Composition and Perspective Following Dr. Ferguson's remarks on the
importance of brush strokes in Chinese painting let us consider the question of
perspective together with that of composition. In A. D. 425 Hsieh Ho laid down his
"Six Canons of Painting" as follows:
1. Maintain vitality in the general atmosphere and rhythmic movement.
2. Show strength in using the pen.
3. Create forms suitable to the subject-matter.
4. Use different colors in accordance with the nature of various groups.
5. Plan and arrange things in their right position.
6. Make sketches of various movements from different angles.

For about fifteen centuries these six canons have exercised a tremendous influence
over the development of Chinese painting.
During the Sung Dynasty, Li Ch'eng, one of the great masters, formulated a rule on
perspective. "In painting landscapes," he said, "one should decide first upon the
positions of the 'host' and 'guest' mountains and then upon the relative distances of
objects. After that one can mark out the scenery and the objects and arrange the
high and the low." In his "Essay on Landscape," Kuo Hsi of the Sung Dynasty
explained the idea of perspective. "A mountain viewed at close range," he said, "has
one appearance; a mountain viewed at a distance of several miles has another. The
change of appearance caused by the varying degrees of distance from the object is
figuratively known as the change of shape with every step one takes.'"
So there is no doubt that the question of perspective has always been borne in mind
by Chinese painters but it has never been so geometric as conceived by some of
their Western colleagues. In this respect it is very similar to the question of "Time"
which has its physical as well as psychological aspects as conceived by individuals
of different kinds of training and different moods.
I used to be very critical about the perspective of Chinese classical paintings. When I
was standing on level ground gazing at a distant mountain I thought that it must be
quite impossible to include so many closely packed views as are so often seen in
Chinese scrolls. However my skepticism disappeared when I was traveling by air for
looking down at the ground from an angle of some forty-five degrees I could see that
the perspective now tallied exactly with what was shown in Chinese paintings. I am
also very fond of the long Chinese scrolls which are intended to be gradually unrolled
on the reading desk so that one may imagine oneself wandering through the scenery.
(3) Concept of Nature and View of Life To the Chinese people the two primary
functions of the art of painting are the interpretation of nature and the purification of
life. Generally speaking the Chinese people are great lovers of nature and beautiful
scenery. In the past they were never too enthusiastic about the conquest of nature
but on the contrary always tried to seek harmony with this great "scheme of things
entire." This was a fundamental characteristic of most of the celebrated poets and
their poetic expression. Herein lies the meeting-ground of poetry and painting and it
explains why verses were often added to paintings either as colophons or
commentaries or else were chosen as titles. This in short is the reason why
landscape painting became a dominant current in Chinese art.
Kuo Hsi, in the same work from which we have quoted above, gave an eloquent and
truthful explanation of the mission that landscape painting was meant to fulfill:
"Having no access to real landscape the lover of forests and streams, the friend of
mist and haze, enjoys them only in his dreams. How delightful it is, then, to have a
landscape painted by a skilled hand. Without leaving his room the happy possessor
finds himself at once among the streams and ravines; the cries of birds and monkeys
sound faintly in his ears; light from the hills and glittering reflections from the water
dazzle his eyes. Does not such a scene satisfy the mind and captivate the heart?
That is why the world appreciates the true significance of pictures of mountains. If
this were not recognized or landscapes roughly and carelessly approached would it
belike wantonly spoiling a magnificent view or polluting the pure wind?"
In order to fulfill this noble mission however the artist must bear in mind the
psychological interpretation that the famous artist-emperor, Hui Tsung of the Sung
Dynasty, gave of the mental processes of Chu Jan, the celebrated monk-painter,
while he was at work:

"He had a profound (sense of what was) of exceptional interest. ... Whenever he
applied brush to paper it was like some author or man of parts at the moment of
composing poetry, a veritable spring would gush forth in abundance from the tip of
his brush .... the great riches within his breast endowed his brush with an
inexhaustible fertility."
Painting is an art that helps us to regain our spiritual peace and enjoyment through
aesthetic appreciation. While maintaining a due respect for modern technological and
scientific achievements, we may still set apart a portion of our life, for the
appreciation of art and nature and enjoy their peaceful blessings. In the midst of this
age of fear and tribulation, we may still contrive to maintain, somewhere and
somehow, our mental equilibrium and tranquility by means of artistic contemplation.
We have great pleasure in offering these six volumes of masterpieces of Chinese
painting now in the National Palace Museum to art-lovers all over the world, as we
feel that art treasures of this kind should be an indispensable and integral part of the
common cultural heritage of mankind and a valuable contribution to the work of
promoting a well-balanced and peace-loving world civilization.
*Reprinted from Three Hundred Master Pieces of Chinese Painting in the Palace
Museum.

https://www.britannica.com/art/Chinese-painting/The-role-of-calligraphy-in-Chinese-art
Chinese painting (a concise art history of Chinese Art)

WRITTEN BY: Liu Qiyi, Jerome Silbergeld, Michael Sullivan
Chinese painting, one of the major art forms produced in China over the centuries.
The other arts of China are treated in separate articles. These include Chinese
calligraphy, which in China is closely associated with painting; interior
design; tapestry; floral decoration; Chinese pottery; metalwork; enamelwork;
and lacquerwork; as well as Chinese jade; silk; and Chinese architecture.
The present political boundaries of China, which include Tibet, Inner Mongolia,
Xinjiang, and the northeastern provinces formerly called Manchuria, embrace a far
larger area of East Asia than will be discussed here. “China proper,” as it has been
called, consists of 18 historical provinces bounded by the Plateau of Tibet on the west,
the Gobi to the north, and Myanmar (Burma), Laos, and Vietnam to the southwest,
and it is primarily painting as it developed in China proper that will be treated here.
(See also Central Asian arts; and Southeast Asian arts.)
The first communities that can be identified culturally as Chinese were settled chiefly
in the basin of the Huang He (Yellow River). Gradually they spread out, influencing
other tribal cultures, until, by the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), most of China
proper was dominated by the culture that had been formed in the cradle of northern
Chinese civilization. Over this area there slowly spread a common written language, a
common belief in the power of heaven and the ancestral spirits to influence the living,
and a common emphasis on the importance of ceremony and sacrifice to achieve
harmony among heaven, nature, and humankind. These beliefs were to have a great
influence on the character of Chinese painting, and indeed all the arts of China.
Chinese civilization is by no means the oldest in the world: those of Mesopotamia and
Egypt are far older. But, while the early Western cultures died, became stagnant, or
were transformed to the point of breaking all continuity, that of China has grown
continuously from prehistoric settlements into the great civilization of today.
The Chinese themselves were among the most historically conscious of all the major
civilizations and were intensely aware of the strength and continuity of their cultural
tradition. They viewed history as a cycle of decline and renewal associated with the
succession of ruling dynasties. Both the political fragmentation and social and
economic chaos of decline and the vigour of dynastic rejuvenation could stimulate
and colour important artistic developments. Thus, it is quite legitimate to think of the
history of Chinese painting primarily in terms of the styles of successive dynasties, as
the Chinese themselves do.
General Characteristics
Aesthetic characteristics and artistic traditions
Art as a reflection of Chinese class structure
One of the outstanding characteristics of Chinese art is the extent to which it reflects
the class structure that has existed at different times in Chinese history. Up to
the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), the arts were produced by anonymous
craftsmen for the royal and feudal courts. During the Warring States period and
the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), the growth of a landowning and merchant class
brought new patrons. After the Han there began to emerge the concept of “fine art” as
the product of the leisure of the educated gentry, many of whom were amateur
practitioners of the arts of poetry, music, calligraphy, and, eventually, painting. At
this time a distinction began to arise between the lower-class professional and the
elite amateur artist; this distinction would have a great influence on the character of
Chinese art in later times. Gradually one tradition became identified with the artists
and craftsmen who worked for the court or sold their work for profit. The scholarly
amateurs looked upon such people with some contempt, and the art of the literati
became a separate tradition that was increasingly refined and rarefied to the point
that, from the Song dynasty (960–1279) onward, an assumed awkwardness in
technique was admired as a mark of the amateur and gentleman. One effect of the
revolutions of the 20th century was the breaking down of the class barriers between
amateur and professional and even, during the Cultural Revolution of 1966–76, an
emphasis on anonymous, proletarian-made art like that of the Tang dynasty (618–
907) and earlier.
Chinese painting
The role of calligraphy in Chinese art
Since the 3rd century CE, calligraphy, or writing as a fine art, has been considered
supreme among the visual arts in China. Not only does it require immense skill and
fine judgment, but it is regarded as uniquely revealing of the character and breadth of
cultivation of the writer. Since the time when inscribed oracle bones and tortoise
shells (China’s oldest extant writing) were used for divination in the Shang
dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE), calligraphy has been associated with spiritual
communication and has been viewed in terms of the writer’s own spiritual
attunement. It is believed that the appreciation and production of calligraphy
requires lofty personal qualities and unusual aesthetic sensitivity. The
comprehension of its finer points is thought to require experience and sensibility of a
high order.
The Chinese painter uses essentially the same materials as the calligrapher—brush,
ink, and silk or paper—and the Chinese judge his work by the same criteria they use
for the calligrapher, basically the vitality and expressiveness of the brushstroke itself
and the harmonious rhythm of the whole composition. Painting in China is, therefore,
essentially a linear art. The painters of most periods were not concerned with striving
for originality or conveying a sense of reality and three-dimensional mass through
aids such as shading and perspective; rather, they focused on using silk or paper to
transmit, through the rhythmic movement of the brushstroke, an awareness of the
inner life of things.
The aesthetics of line in calligraphy and painting have had a significant influence on
the other arts in China. In the motifs that adorn the ritual bronzes, in the flow of the
drapery over the surface of Buddhist sculpture, and in the decoration
of lacquerware, pottery, and cloisonné enamel (wares decorated with enamel of
different colours separated by strips of metal), it is the rhythmic movement of the line,
following the natural movement of the artist’s or craftsman’s hand, that to a large
extent determines the form and gives to Chinese art as a whole its remarkable
harmony and unity of style.
Characteristic themes and symbols
In early times Chinese art often served as a means to submit to the will of heaven
through ritual and sacrifice. Archaic bronze vessels were made for sacrifices to

heaven and to the spirits of clan ancestors, who were believed to influence the living
for good if the rites were properly and regularly performed.
Chinese society, basically agricultural, has always laid great stress on understanding
the pattern of nature and living in accordance with it. The world of nature was seen as
the visible manifestation of the workings of a higher power through the generative
interaction of the yin-yang (female-male) dualism. As it developed, the purpose of
Chinese art turned from propitiation and sacrifice to the expression of human
understanding of these forces, in the form of painting of landscapes, bamboo, birds,
and flowers. This might be called the metaphysical, Daoist aspect of Chinese painting.
Particularly in early times, art also had social and moral functions. The earliest wall
paintings referred to in ancient texts depicted benevolent emperors, sages, virtuous
ministers, loyal generals, and their evil opposites as examples and warnings to the
living. Portrait painting also had this moral function, depicting not the features of the
subject so much as his or her character and role in society. Court painters were called
upon to depict auspicious and memorable events. This was
the ethical, Confucian function of painting. High religious art as such is foreign to
China. Popular folk religion was seldom an inspiration to great works of art,
and Buddhism, which indeed produced many masterpieces of a special kind, was a
foreign import.
Human relationships have always been of supreme importance in China, and a
common theme of figure painting is that of gentlemen enjoying scholarly pursuits
together or of the poignant partings and infrequent reunions that were the lot of
officials whose appointments took them across the country.
Among the typical themes of traditional Chinese art there is no place for war, violence,
the nude, death, or martyrdom. Nor is inanimate matter ever painted for art’s sake:
the very rocks and streams are felt to be alive, visible manifestations of the invisible
forces of the universe. No theme would be accepted in traditional Chinese art that
was not inspiring, noble, refreshing to the spirit, or at least charming. Nor is there
any place in most of the Chinese artistic tradition for an art of pure form divorced
from content: it is not enough for the form to be beautiful if the subject matter is
unedifying. In the broadest sense, therefore, all traditional Chinese art is symbolic,
for everything that is painted reflects some aspect of a totality of which the painter is
intuitively aware. At the same time, Chinese art is full of symbols of a more specific
kind, some with various possible meanings. Bamboo suggests the spirit of the scholar,
which can be bent by circumstance but never broken, and jade symbolizes purity and
indestructibility. The dragon, in remote antiquity perhaps an alligator or rain deity, is
the wholly benevolent symbol of the emperor; the crane symbolizes long life; and
paired mandarin ducks symbolize wedded fidelity. Popular among the many symbols
drawn from the plant world are the orchid, a Confucian symbol of purity and loyalty;
the winter plum, which blossoms even in the snow and stands for irrepressible purity,
in either a revolutionary political or a spiritual sense; and the gnarled pine tree,
which may represent either survival in a harsh political environment or the
unconquerable spirit of old age.
Characteristics of painting
The character of Chinese painting, like that of Chinese calligraphy, is closely bound
up with the nature of the medium. The basic material is ink, formed into a short stick
of hardened pine soot and glue, which is rubbed to the required consistency on an
inkstone with a little water. The painter uses a pointed-tipped brush made of the hair
of goats, deer, or wolves set in a shaft of bamboo. He paints on a length of silk or a
sheet of paper, the surface of which is absorbent, allowing no erasure or correction.

He must therefore know beforehand what he intends to do, and the execution
demands confidence, speed, and a mastery of technique acquired only by long
practice. For example, to broaden the brushstroke, the painter applies downward
pressure on the brush. Such subtle action of the highly flexible but carefully
controlled brush tip determines the dynamic character of the brushwork and is the
primary focus of attention of both the artist and critical viewers.
In painting, colour is added, if at all, to make the effect more true to life or to add
decorative accent and rarely as a structural element in the design, as in Western art.
Brighter, more opaque pigments derived from mineral sources (blue from azurite,
green from malachite, red from cinnabar or lead, yellow from orpiment or ochre, all
produced in various intensities) are preferred for painting on silk, while translucent
vegetable pigments predominate in painting on paper (indigo blue, red from
safflower or madder, vegetable green, rattan and Sophora yellow) and produce a
lighter, more delicate effect.
Whereas painting on dry plaster walls or screens is an ancient art in China, more
common formats in the past millennium have been the vertical hanging scroll,
perhaps derived from the Buddhist devotional banner, and the horizontal hand scroll,
which may be of any length up to about 15 metres (50 feet). Other forms are fan
painting and the album leaf. The artist’s carefully placed signature, inscription, and
seals are an integral part of the composition. In Chinese eyes a picture may gain
considerably in interest and value from the colophons added by later connoisseurs on
the painting itself or, in the case of a hand scroll, mounted after it. The mounting of
paintings is a highly skilled craft and, if carefully done, will enhance the appearance
of a scroll and ensure its preservation for many centuries.
From The Shang Dynasty To 220 CE

Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE)
The arts of the Zhou dynasty, the longest dynasty in Chinese history, reflect the
profound changes that transformed Chinese society during this period of nearly 800
years. The first Zhou rulers virtually took over the Shang culture; indeed, the earliest
bronze vessels bearing Zhou inscriptions might, from their style, have been made in
the Shang dynasty. The Zhou kings parceled out their expanding territory among
feudal lords, each of whom was free to make ritual objects for his own court use. As
the feudal states rose in power and independence, so did the central Zhou itself
shrink, to be further weakened by the eastward shift of the capital from sites in the
Wei River valley near modern-day Xi’an to Luoyang in 771 BCE. Thereafter, as the
Zhou empire was broken up among rival states, many local styles in the arts
developed. The last three centuries of the Zhou dynasty, known as the Warring
States period (475–221 BCE), saw a flowering of the arts in many areas. The
breakdown of the feudal hegemony, the growth of trade between the states, and the
rise of a rich landowning and merchant class all brought into existence new patrons
and new attitudes that had a great influence on the arts and crafts.
Practically nothing survives of Zhou painting, although from literary evidence it
seems that the art developed considerably, particularly during the period of the
Warring States. Palaces and ancestral halls were decorated with wall paintings. Late
Zhou texts tell of a craftsman working for the Zhougong (duke of Zhou) who covered
the stock of a whip with minute paintings of dragons, snakes, horses, chariots, and
“all the ten thousand things” and of another painter who told the king of Qi that
spirits and ghosts were easier to draw than dogs and horses, whose precise
appearance is known to all. The rhetorical questions or riddles in

the Tianwen (“Questions to Heaven”), attributed to the poet Chu Yuan, are
traditionally thought to have been inspired by wall paintings.
The most significant development of the late Zhou, one among the most
revolutionary of all moments in Chinese art, was the emergence of
a representational art form, a departure from the ritualized depiction of fanciful and
usually isolated creatures of the Shang and early to middle Zhou that is evident in the
bronzes of this period. In decorating ceremonial objects, artists began to depict the
ceremonies themselves, such as ancestral offerings in temple settings, as well as ritual
archery contests (important in the recruitment and promotion of officials),
agriculture and sericulture, hunting, and the waging of war—all activities vital to a
well-ordered state. Such representations were cast with gold or silver inlay or
engraved onto the sides of bronze vessels, most notably the hu, where all these
themes might be combined on a single vessel. This conceptual transformation began
by the late 6th century BCE, at about the same time Confucius and other philosophers
initiated humane speculation on the nature of statecraft and social welfare.
The early representation of landscape, indicated only crudely on bronzes, appears in
more sophisticated fashion on embroidered textiles of the 4th–3rd centuries BCE from
south-central Chinese sites such as Mashan, near Jiangling in the state of Chu
(modern Hubei province). There, as in the Han dynasty art that followed, landscape
is suggested by rhythmic lines, which serve as mountain contours to organize
spatially a variety of wild animals in front and back and which, while structurally
simple, convey in linear fashion a sophisticated concept of mountain landscape as
fluid, dynamic, and spiritual.
Further indications of the subject matter of Dong (Eastern) Zhou pictorial art are
given by objects in lacquer, chiefly from the state of Chu and from Sichuan, on which
hunting scenes, chariots and horsemen, and fantastic winged creatures drawn from
folklore were painted in a simple but lively style natural to the fluid character of the
medium. Large painted lacquer coffins with such creatures depicted were present in
the 5th-century-BCE royal tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. The labour required for these
coffins is suggested by the set of nested coffins from the Han dynasty found at
Mawangdui (two bearing exquisite landscape designs, described below), which are
said to represent one million man-hours. A painted lacquer storage box from the
Zeng tomb bears the earliest depiction of two of the Chinese directional animals
(formerly thought to date from the later Han), together with the names of the 28 stars
used in Chinese astrology (previously believed to have been introduced at a later time
from Iran or India).

Drawing of ancestral offering scenes (ritual archery, sericulture, hunting, and warfare) cast on a ceremonial bronze hu, 6th–5th century BC, Zhou dynasty. In the
Palace Museum, Peking.Wang Lu/ChinaStock Photo Library
Some of these motifs and, perhaps, the early treatment of landscape itself may derive
in both theme and style from foreign sources, particularly China’s northern nomadic
neighbours. Those scenes concerned with ceremonial archery and ritual offerings in
architectural settings, sericulture, warfare, and domestic hunting, however, seem to
be essentially Chinese. These renditions generally occur with figures in two-
dimensional silhouette spread evenly over most of the available pictorial surface. By
the very late Zhou, however, occasional examples—such as the depiction of a
mounted warrior contending with a tiger, executed in inlaid gold and silver on a
bronze mirror from Jincun (c. 3rd century BCE, Hosokawa collection, Tokyo)—suggest
the emerging ability of artists to conceive of two-dimensional images in terms of
implied bulk and spatial context.
The few surviving Zhou period paintings on silk—from about the 3rd century BCE, the
oldest in all East Asia—were produced in the state of Chu and unearthed from tombs
near Changsha. One depicts a woman, perhaps a shaman or possibly the deceased,
with a dragon and phoenix; one depicts a gentleman conveyed in what appears to be a
dragon-shaped boat; and a third, reported to be from the same tomb as the latter, is a
kind of religious almanac (the earliest known example of Chinese writing on silk)
decorated around its border with depictions of deities and sacred plants.
Qin (221–206 BCE) and Han (206 BCE–220 CE) dynasties
In 221 BCE the ruler of the feudal Qin state united all of China under himself as Qin
Shihuangdi (“First Sovereign Emperor of Qin”) and laid the foundation for the long

stability and prosperity of the succeeding Han dynasty. His material
accomplishments were the product of rare organizational genius, including
centralizing the Chinese state and legal system, unifying the Chinese writing script
and its system of weights and measures, and consolidating many of the walls of
northern China into an architectural network of beacon towers able to spot any
suspicious military movement and relay messages across the territory in a single day.
However, his means were brutal and exhausted the people, and the dynasty failed to
survive his early death.
The Xi (Western) Han (206 BCE–25 CE), with its capital at Chang’an (near modern
Xi’an), reached a climax of expansive power under Wudi (ruled 141/140–87/86 BCE),
who established colonies in Korea and Indochina and sent expeditions into Central
Asia, which made Chinese arts and crafts known abroad and opened up China itself to
foreign ideas and artistic influences. After the period of the usurping Xin dynasty (9
to 25 CE), the Dong (Eastern) Han (25–220 CE), with its capital at Luoyang, recovered
something of the dynasty’s former prosperity but was increasingly beset by natural
disasters and rebellions that eventually brought about its downfall. The art of the Han
dynasty is remarkable for its variety and vigour, which resulted from its foreign
contacts, from the contemporary sense of being a united nation within which many
local traditions flourished, and from the patronage of a powerful court and the new,
wealthy landowning and official classes.
Literature and poetry indicate that the walls of palaces, mansions, and ancestral halls
were plastered and painted. Themes included figure subjects, portraits, and scenes
from history that had an ethical or didactic purpose. Equally popular were themes
taken from folk and nature cults that expressed the beliefs of popular Daoism. The
names of the painters are generally not known. Artists were ranked according to their
education and ability from the humble craftsmen-painters (huagong) up to the
painters-in-attendance (daizhao), who had high official status and were close to the
throne. This bureaucratic system lasted into the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12).
In addition to wall paintings, artists painted on standing screens, used as room
dividers and set behind important personages, and on long rolls of silk. Paper was
invented in the Han dynasty, but it is doubtful whether it was much used for painting
before the 3rd or 4th century CE.
Surviving Han paintings include chiefly tomb paintings and painted objects in clay
and lacquer, although incised and inlaid bronze, stamped and molded tomb tiles, and
textile designs provide further indications of the painting styles of the time. The most
important painted tombs have been found at Luoyang, where some are decorated
with the oldest surviving historical narratives (1st century BCE); at Wangdu in Hebei
(Dong Han), where they are adorned with figures of civil and military officials; and
at Liaoyang in Liaoning, where the themes include a feasting scene, musicians,
jugglers, chariots, and horsemen. The Liaoyang paintings are in a crude but lively
style, with a feeling of space and strong lateral movement. On the celebrated bricks
taken from a tomb shrine of the Dong Han (now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston),
elegant and individualized gentlemen engaged in animated conversation are rendered
with a sensitive freedom of movement.
Funerary slabs also reflect the variety of Han pictorial art. The most famous are those
from tomb shrines of the Wu family at Jiaxiang in Shandong, dated between about
147 and 168 CE. The subjects range from the attempted assassination of the first Qin
emperor to feasting and mythological themes. Although they are depicted chiefly in
silhouette with little interior drawing, the effect is lively and dramatic. These well-
known works have been generally taken as representative of Han painting style since
their discovery in 1786. They are now understood, however, to be very conservative in

style, even archaic, perhaps with the intent of advertising the sponsoring family’s
chaste attachment to the pure and simple virtues of past times. A far earlier painting,
a funerary banner from about 168 BCE, excavated in 1972 at Mawangdui, reveals how
much more sophisticated early Han and even late Zhou painting must have been.
Painted with bright, evenly applied mineral pigments and fine, elegant brush lines on
silk, the banner represents a kind of cosmic array, with separate scenes of a funerary
ceremony, the underworld, and the ascent of the deceased (the Lady Dai mentioned
above) to a heavenly setting filled with mythic figures. It contains stylistic features
not previously seen before the 4th century CE, creating spatial illusion through
foreshortening, overlapping, and placement upon an implied ground plane, as well as
suggesting certain lighting effects through contrasting and modulated colours.
Funerary banner from the tomb of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), Mawangdui, Hunan province, ink and colours on silk, c. 168 BC, Western Han dynasty; in the Hunan
Provincial Museum, Changsha, China. Wang Lu/ChinaStock Photo Library
Han landscape painting is well represented by the lacquer coffins of Lady Dai at
Mawangdui, two of which are painted with scenes of mountains, clouds, and a variety
of full-bodied human and animal figures. Two approaches are used: one, more
architectonic, uses overlapping pyramidal patterns that derive from the bronze decor
of the late Zhou period (1046–255 BCE); the other continues the dynamic linear
convention already noted on the embroidered textiles from Jiangling, in the Warring
States period (475–221 BCE), as well as on late Zhou painted lacquers, on inlaid
bronze tubes used as canopy fittings for chariots, and on woven silks found at Noin-
ula, in Mongolia. Elsewhere, in the late Han, a new feeling for pictorial space in a
more open outdoor setting appeared on molded bricks decorating tombs near
Chengdu; these portrayed hunting and harvesting, the local salt-mining industry, and
other subjects.

Landscape scene from a bronze fitting of a chariot canopy from Dingxian, Hebei province, drawing, c. 2nd–1st century BC, Western Han dynasty; in the Hebei
Provincial Museum, Wuhan, China.Zhang Ping/ChinaStock Photo Library
From 220 To 1206 CE

Three Kingdoms (220–280) and Six Dynasties (220–589)
For 60 years after the fall of Han, China was divided between three native dynasties:
the Wei in the north, Wu in the southeast, and Shuhan in the west. It was briefly
reunited under the Xi (Western) Jin; but in 311 Luoyang and in 316 Chang’an fell to
the invading Xiongnu, and before long the whole of northern China was occupied by
barbarian tribes who set up one petty kingdom after another until, in 439, a Turkish
tribe, the Tuoba, brought the region under their rule as the Bei (Northern) Wei
dynasty. They established a capital at Pingcheng (modern Datong) in Shanxi that they
populated through the forced immigration of tens of thousands of Chinese. The
Chinese they recruited into their service influenced the Tuoba until they became
completely Sinicized. In 495 the Wei moved their capital to Luoyang in the heartland
of ancient Chinese civilization, where they lost what little Turkish identity they still
possessed. They were succeeded in 535 by other petty barbarian dynasties who held
the north until the reunification of China in 581.
The barbarians adopted Buddhism as a matter of state policy, for Buddhism was an
international religion with a concept of kingship that helped them to equate their
earthly power with their spiritual authority and thus to legitimize their control over
the Chinese. Moreover, in the devastated land that was northern China in the 4th and
5th centuries, when the Confucian system was in ruins and Daoism a refuge for the
few, the Buddhist doctrine of salvation through faith and good works acted as a
powerful consoling and uniting force, much like the role the Christian church played
in the Middle Ages in Europe. Therefore, when the Bei Wei embarked on great
projects of temple building and the carving of colossal images, the people supported
them, and Buddhist art flourished in the north.
The Six Dynasties of South China, which ruled from Nanjing, were slower to respond
to the Buddhist message, partly because they were less accessible to the missionaries

entering China from Central Asia and partly because Confucianism and Daoism had
been kept alive among the refugees from the north. Buddhist missionaries and art
came to Nanjing by way of Indochina, but this cultural traffic did not become
important before the 4th century. Although the rulers (with few exceptions) were
weak, corrupt, or cruel and the court a maze of intrigue, it was chiefly in Nanjing that
the great poets, calligraphers, painters, and critics flourished, and they in turn greatly
influenced the arts of the occupied north.
The breakdown of the Confucian system after the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) was
reflected in painting and painting theory: increasingly, Daoist and Buddhist themes
and theoretical reasons for painting were emphasized. This period saw the first
activity by the courtier class, who painted as amateurs and who were far better
remembered in the written record of the art than were their professional, artisan-
class counterparts. Among the first named painting masters, Cao Buxing and Dai Kui
painted chiefly Buddhist and Daoist subjects. Dai Kui was noted as a poet, painter,
and musician and was one of the first to establish the tradition of scholarly amateur
painting (wenrenhua). He was also the leading sculptor of his day, almost the only
instance in Chinese history of a gentleman who engaged in this craft.
The greatest painter at the southern court in this period was Gu Kaizhi, an amateur
painter from a family of distinguished Dong (Eastern) Wei dynasty scholar-officials in
Nanjing and an eccentric member of a Daoist sect. One of the most famous of his
works (which survives in a Tang dynasty copy in the British Museum) illustrates a
3rd-century didactic text “Nüshizhen” (“Admonitions of the Court Instructress”), by
Zhang Hua. In this hand scroll, narrative illustration is bound strictly to the text (as if
used as a mnemonic device): the advice to imperial concubines to bear sons to the
emperor, for instance, is accompanied by a delightful family group. The figures are
slender and fairylike, and the line is fine and flows rhythmically. The roots of this
elegant southern style, which then epitomized the highest Nanjing court standard,
can be traced back to Changsha in the late Zhou (1046–256 BCE)–early Han period,
and it was later adopted as court style by the Bei Wei rulers (e.g., at Longmen) when
they moved south to Luoyang in 495. Gu Kaizhi also was noted as a portraitist, and,
among Buddhist subjects, his rendering of the sage Vimalakirti became a model for
later painters.

Admonitions of the Court Instructress, detail of an ink and colour on silk hand scroll, attributed to Gu Kaizhi, possibly a Tang dynasty copy of a Dong (Eastern)
Jin dynasty original; in the British Museum, London.Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
The south saw few major painters in the 5th century, but the settled reign of Wudi in
the 6th produced a number of notable figures, among them Zhang Sengyao, who was
commissioned by the pious emperor to decorate the walls of Buddhist temples in
Nanjing. All his work is lost, but his style, from early accounts and later copies, seems
to have combined realism with a new freedom in the use of the brush, employing dots
and dashing strokes very different from the fine precision of Gu Kaizhi. He also
painted “flowers in relief” on the temple walls, which were much admired. Whether
the effect of relief was produced by chiaroscuro or by the thickness of the pigment
itself is not known.
Painters in northern China were chiefly occupied in Buddhist fresco
painting (painting on a freshly plastered wall). While all the temples of the period
have been destroyed, a quantity of wall painting survives at Dunhuang in
northwestern Gansu in the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, Qianfodong, where there
are nearly 500 cave shrines and niches dating from the 5th century onward. There are
also wall paintings in the caves of Maijishan and Bingling Temple.
Early Dunhuang paintings chiefly depict incidents in the life of the Buddha,
the Jatakas (stories of his previous incarnations), and such simple themes as the
perils from which Avalokiteshvara (Chinese Guanyin) saves the faithful. In style they
show a blend of Central Asian and Chinese techniques that reflects the mixed
population of northern China at this time.

Bodhisattva: painted mural, ChinaBodhisattva, detail of a painted mural, mid-5th century, Bei (Northern) Wei dynasty, in cave 272, Dunhuang, Gansu
province, China.Chen Zhi'an/ChinaStock Photo Library
Painters practicing foreign techniques were active at the northern courts in the 6th
century. Cao Zhongda painted, according to an early text, “after the manner of foreign
countries” and was noted for closely clinging drapery that made his figures look as
though they had been drenched in water. At the end of the 6th century, a painter from
Khotan (Hotan), Weichi Bozhina, was active at the Sui court. A descendant of
his, Weichi Yiseng, painted frescoes in the temples of Chang’an using a thick impasto
(a thick application of pigment) and a brush line that was “tight and strong like
bending iron or coiling wire.” Those foreign techniques caused much comment
among the Chinese but seem to have been confined to Buddhist painting and were
eventually abandoned.
The beginning of aesthetic theory in China was another product of the spirit of
inquiry and introspection that characterized these restless years. About 300 CE a long,
passionate poem, Wen Fu (“Rhymeprose on Literature”), was composed by Lu Ji on
the subject of artistic creation. Also from this period, the Wenxin Diaolong (“Literary
Mind and Carving of Dragons”) by Liu Xie has long remained China’s
premier treatise on aesthetics. It offers insightful consideration of a wide range of
chosen topics, beginning with a discussion of wen, or nature’s underlying pattern. Set
forth as central to the mastery of artistic expression are the control of “wind” (feng,
emotional vitality) and “bone” (gu, structural organization).
In the Nan (Southern) Liang dynasty critical works were written on literature and
calligraphy; and, about the mid-6th century, the painter Xie He compiled the earliest
work on art theory that has survived in China, the Guhuapinlu (“Classified Record of
Painters of Former Times”). In this work he grades 27 painters in three classes,
prefacing his list with a short statement of six aesthetic principles by which painting
should be judged. These are qiyun shengdong (“spirit resonance, life-motion”),
an enigmatic and much debated phrase that means that the painter should endow his
work with life and movement through harmony with the spirit of nature; gufa
yongbi (“structural method in use of the brush”), referring to the structural power
and tension of the brushstroke in both painting and calligraphy, through which the
vital spirit is expressed; yingwu xianxing (“fidelity to the object in portraying
forms”); suilei fucai (conforming to kind in applying colours); jingying
weizhi (planning and design in placing and positioning); and chuanyi
moxie (transmission of ancient models by copying). The last principle seems to refer

to the copying of ancient paintings both for technical training and as a means of
preserving them and hence the tradition itself. Of the “six principles,” the first two are
fundamental, for, unless the conventional forms are brought to life by the vitality of
the brushwork, the painting has no real merit, however carefully it is executed; the
latter principles imply that truth to nature and tradition also must be obtained for the
first two to be achieved. The six principles of Xie He have become the cornerstone of
Chinese aesthetic theory down through the centuries.
The integration of spirituality and naturalism is similarly found in the short,
profoundly Daoist text of the early 5th century, Huashanshuixu (“Preface on
Landscape Painting,” China’s first essay on the topic), attributed to Zong Bing. Zong
suggests that if well-painted—that is, if both visually accurate and aesthetically
compelling—a landscape painting can truly substitute for real nature, for, even
though miniaturized, it can attract vital energy (qi) from the spirit-filled void (dao)
just as its real, material counterpart does. This interplay between macrocosm and
microcosm became a constant foundation of Chinese spiritual thought and aesthetics.
Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties
The founding of the Sui dynasty reunited China after more than 300 years of
fragmentation. The second Sui emperor engaged in unsuccessful wars and vast public
works, such as the Grand Canal linking the north and south, that exhausted the
people and caused them to revolt. The succeeding Tang dynasty built a more
enduring state on the foundations the Sui rulers had laid, and the first 130 years of
the Tang was one of the most prosperous and brilliant periods in the history of
Chinese civilization. The empire at the time extended so far across Central Asia that
for a while Bukhara and Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan) were under Chinese control,
the Central Asian kingdoms paid China tribute, and Chinese cultural influence
reached Korea and Japan. Chang’an became the greatest city in the world; its streets
were filled with foreigners, and foreign religions—
including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Manichaeism, Nestorianism, Christianity, Juda
ism, and Islam—flourished. This confident cosmopolitanism is reflected in all the arts
of this period.
The splendour of the dynasty reached its peak between 712 and 756
under Xuanzong (Minghuang), but before the end of his reign a disastrous defeat
caused Central Asia to enter the control of the advancing Arabs, and the rebellion of
General An Lushan in 755 almost brought down the dynasty. Although the Tang
survived another 150 years, its great days were over, and, as the empire shrank and
the economic crisis deepened, the government and people turned against foreigners
and foreign religions. In 845 all foreign religions were briefly but disastrously
proscribed; temples and monasteries were destroyed or turned to secular use, and
Buddhist bronze images were melted down. Today the finest Buddhist art and
architecture in the Tang style is to be found not in China but in the 8th-century
temples at Nara in Japan. While the ancient heartland of Chinese civilization in the
Henan-Shaanxi area sank in political and economic importance, the southeast
became ever more densely populated and prosperous, and in the last century of the
Tang it was once again the cultural centre of China, as it had been in the Six
Dynasties (220–589).
The patronage of the Sui and Tang courts attracted painters from all over the
empire. Yan Liben, who rose to high office as an administrator, finally becoming a
minister of state, was also a noted 7th-century figure painter. His duties
included painting historical scrolls, notable events past and present, and portraits,
including those of foreigners and strange creatures brought to court as tribute, to the

delight of his patron, Taizong. Yan Liben painted in a conservative style with a
delicate, scarcely modulated line. Part of a scroll depicting 13 emperors from Han to
Sui (in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is attributed to him. His brother Yan Lide
was also a painter. Features of their style may possibly be preserved in wall paintings
in recently discovered 7th- and early 8th-century tombs in northern China, notably
that of Princess Yongtai (reburied 706) near Xi’an.
The royal tombs near Xi’an (706) show the emergence of a more liberated tradition in
brushwork that came to the fore in mid- to late 8th-century painting, as it did in
the calligraphy of Zhang Xu, Yan Zhenqing, and other master writers. The
greatest brush master of Tang painting was the 8th-century artist Wu Daoxuan, also
called Wu Daozi, who not only enjoyed a career at court but had sufficient creative
energy to execute, according to Tang records, some 300 wall paintings in the temples
of Luoyang and Chang’an. His brushwork, in contrast to that of Yan Liben, was full of
such sweeping power that crowds would gather to watch him as he worked. He
painted chiefly in ink, leaving the colouring to his assistants, and he was famous for
the three-dimensional, sculptural effect he achieved with the ink line alone. His work
(e.g., a mural at the Datong Hall of the imperial palace, representing almost 500 km
[300 miles] of Sichuan’s Jialing River, produced in a single day without preliminary
sketches) survives only through descriptions and very unreliable copies. Wu Daozi
had a profound influence, particularly on figure painting, in the Tang and
Song dynasties. His style may be reflected in some of the 8th-century caves at
Dunhuang, although the meticulous handling of the great paradise compositions in
the caves increasingly came to approximate the high standards of Chinese court
artists and suggests the inspiration of earlier and more conservative Buddhist
painters, who included Zheng Fazhi and Dong Boren. This more restrained style can
also be seen in the Japanese temple murals at Hōryū Temple near Nara, executed
about 670–710 in the Chinese “international” manner.
Polo player, detail of a mural from the tomb of Li Xian (the crown prince Zhanghuai), near Xianyang, Shaanxi province, AD 706, Tang dynasty; in the Shaanxi
Provincial Museum, Xi'an, China. Wang Lu/ChinaStock Photo Library

Figure painters who depicted court life in a careful manner derived from Yan Liben
rather than from Wu Daozi included Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang. The
former’s Ladies Preparing Silk survives in a Song dynasty copy (in the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston), while later versions of several compositions attributed to Zhou
Fang exist. Eighth-century royal tomb murals and Dunhuang Buddhist paintings
demonstrate the early appearance and widespread appeal of styles that these court
artists helped later to canonize, with individual figures (especially women) of
monumental, sculpturesque proportion arranged upon a blank background with
classic simplicity and balance.
Horses played an important role in Tang military expansion and in the life of the
court; riding was a popular recreation, and even the court ladies played polo. Horses
also had become a popular subject for painting, and one of the emperor Xuanzong’s
favourite court artists was the horse painter Han Gan. A damaged and much restored
8th-century painting of the emperor’s favourite charger, Zhaoyebai (Shining White in
the Night, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City), attributed to Han Gan,
gives a hint of that artist’s vital talent. The other great horse-painting master was the
army general Cao Ba, said by the poet Du Fu to have captured better the inner
character of his subjects and not just the flesh. Most later horse painters claimed to
follow Han Gan or Cao Ba, but the actual stylistic contrast between them was already
reported in Bei (Northern) Song times as no longer distinguishable and today is
hardly understood.
The more than three centuries of the Sui and Tang were a period of progress and
change in landscape painting. The early 7th- and 8th-century masters Zhan Ziqian, Li
Sixun, and the latter’s son Li Zhaodao developed a style of landscape painting known
as qinglübai (“green, blue, white”) or jinbi shanshui (“gold-blue-green landscape”), in
which mineral colours were applied to a composition carefully executed in fine line to
produce a richly coloured effect. Probably related to Central Asian painting styles of
the Six Dynasties period and associated with the jeweled-paradise landscapes of the
Daoist immortals, this “blue-and-green” type readily appealed to the Tang court’s
taste for international exotica, religious fantasy, and boldly decorative art. A painting
in this technique, known as Minghuang’s Journey to Shu (that is, to Sichuan; in
the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan), reflects what is considered to be the
style of Li Zhaodao, although it is probably a later copy. This style gradually
crystallized as a courtly and professional tradition, in contrast to the more informal
calligraphic ink painting of the literati.

Minghuang's Journey to Shu, ink and colour on silk hanging scroll, attributed to Li Zhaodao, Tang-dynasty style, possibly a 10th–11th-century copy of an 8th-
century original; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
The generally accepted founder of the school of scholarly landscape painting
(wenrenhua) is Wang Wei, an 8th-century scholar and poet who divided his time
between the court at Chang’an, where he held official posts, and his country estate of
Wang Chuan, of which he painted a panoramic composition preserved in later copies
and engraved on stone. Among his Buddhist paintings, the most famous was a
rendering of the Indian sage Vimalakirti, who became, as it were, the “patron saint”
of Chinese Buddhist intellectuals. Wang Wei sometimes painted landscapes in colour,
but his later reputation was based on the belief that he was the first to paint
landscape in monochrome ink. He was said to have obtained a subtle atmosphere by
“breaking the ink” (pomo) into varied tones. The belief in his founding role, fostered
by later critics, became the cornerstone of the philosophy of the wenrenhua, which
held that a man could not be a great painter unless he was also a scholar and a
gentleman.
More adventurous in technique was the somewhat eccentric late 8th-century
painter Zhang Zao, who produced dramatic tonal and textural contrasts, as when he
painted simultaneously, with one brush in each hand, two branches of a tree, one
moist and flourishing, the other desiccated and dead. This new freedom with the
brush was carried to extremes by such painters of the middle to late Tang as Wang
Xia (Wang Mo) and Gu Kuang, southern Chinese Daoists who “splashed ink” (also
transliterated as pomo but written with different characters than “broken ink”) onto
the silk in a manner suggestive of 20th-century “Action painters” such as Jackson
Pollock. The intention of these ink-splashers was philosophical and religious as well
as artistic: it was written at the time that their spontaneous process was designed to
imitate the divine process of creation. Their semifinished products, in which the
artistic process was fully revealed and the subject matter had to be discerned by the
viewer, suggested a Daoist philosophical skepticism. These techniques marked the
emergence of a trend toward eccentricity in brushwork that had free rein in periods of
political and social chaos. They were subsequently employed by painters of the

southern “Sudden” school of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, which held that enlightenment
was a spontaneous, irrational experience that could be suggested in painting only by a
comparable spontaneity in the brushwork. Chan painting flourished particularly in
Chengdu, the capital of the petty state of Shu, to which many artists went as refugees
from the chaotic north in the last years before the Tang dynasty fell. Among them
was Guanxiu, an eccentric who painted Buddhist saints with a weird air and
exaggerated features that had a strong appeal to members of the Chan sect. The
element of the deliberately grotesque in Guanxiu’s art was further developed during
the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period by Shi Ke, who was active in Chengdu in
the mid-10th century. In his paintings, chiefly of Buddhist and Daoist subjects, he set
out in the Chan manner to shock the viewer by distortion and roughness of execution.
Five Dynasties (907–960) and Ten Kingdoms (902–978)

At the fall of the Tang, northern China, ruled by five short-lived dynasties, plunged
into a state of political and social chaos. The corrupt northern courts offered little
support to the arts, although Buddhism continued to flourish until persecution in 955
destroyed much of what had been created in the 110 years since the previous anti-
Buddhist campaign. The 10 independent kingdoms that ruled various parts of
southern China, though no more enduring, offered more enlightened patronage. At
first the Qian (Former) Shu (with its capital at Chengdu) and then, for a longer period,
the kingdoms of the Nan (Southern) Tang (with the capital at Nanjing) and Wuyue
(with its capital at Hangzhou) were centres of comparative peace and prosperity. Li
Houzhu (Li Yu), the last ruler of the Nan Tang, was a poet and liberal patron at whose
court the arts flourished more brilliantly than at any time since the mid-8th century.
Not only were the southern courts at Chengdu and Nanjing leading patrons of the arts,
but they also began formalizing court sponsorship of painting by organizing a
centralized atelier with an academic component and by granting painters an
elevated bureaucratic stature—policies that would be followed or modified by
subsequent dynasties.
Landscape painting
In northern China only a handful of painters were working. The greatest of them, Jing
Hao, who was active from about 910 to 950, spent much of his life as a recluse in
the Taihang Mountains of Shanxi. No authentic work of his survives, but it seems
from texts and later copies that he created a new style of landscape painting. Boldly
conceived and executed chiefly in ink with firmness and concentration, his
precipitous crags, cleft with gullies and rushing streams, rise up in rank to the top of
the picture. For 150 years before his time, the centre of landscape painting activity
had been in the southeast. Jing Hao’s importance therefore lies in the fact that he
both revived the northern spirit and created a type of painting that became the model
for his follower Guan Tong and for the classic northern masters of the early Song
period (960–1279), Li Cheng and Fan Kuan. An essay on landscape painting, “Bifaji”
(“Notes on Brushwork”), attributed to Jing Hao, sets out the philosophy of this school
of landscape painting, one that was consistent with newly emergent Neo-Confucian
ideals. Painting was to be judged both by its visual truthfulness to nature and by its
expressive impact. The artist must possess creative intuition and a reverence for
natural subject matter, tempered by rigorous empirical observation and personal self-
discipline. Consistent with this, in all the major schools of Song landscape painting
that followed, artists would render with remarkable accuracy their own regional
geography, letting it serve as a basis for their styles, their emotional moods, and their
personal visions.

Travelers Among Mountains and Streams, ink and slight colour on silk hanging scroll, by Fan Kuan, c. 960–c. 1030, Bei (Northern) Song dynasty; in the
National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
In contrast to the stark drama of this northern style, landscapes associated with the
name of Dong Yuan, who held a sinecure post at the court of Li Houzhu in Nanjing,
are broad and almost impressionistic in treatment. The coarse brushstrokes (known
as “hemp-fibre” texture strokes), dotted accents (“moss dots”), and wet ink washes of
his monochrome style, said to be derived from Wang Wei, suggest the rounded, tree-
clad hills and moist atmosphere of the Jiangnan (“South of the Yangtze River”) region.
The contrast between the firm brushwork and dramatic compositions of such
northern painters as Jing Hao and his followers and the more relaxed and
spontaneous manner of Dong Yuan and his follower Juran laid the foundation for two
distinct traditions in Chinese landscape painting that have continued up to modern
times. The style developed by Dong Yuan and Juran became dominant in the Ming
(1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911/12) periods, preferred by amateur artists because
of its easy reduction to a calligraphic mode, its calm and understated compositional
nature, and its regional affiliation.
While the few figure painters in northern China, such as Hu Huai, characteristically
recorded hunting scenes, the southerners, notably Gu Hongzhong and Zhou Wenju,
depicted the voluptuous, sensual court life under Li Houzhu. A remarkable copy of an
original work by Gu Hongzhong depicts the scandalous revelries of the minister Han
Xizai. Zhou Wenju was famous for his pictures of court ladies and musical
entertainments, executed with a fine line and soft, glowing colour in the tradition
of Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang.
Flower painting

Flower painting, previously associated chiefly with Buddhist art, came into its own as
a separate branch of painting in the Five Dynasties. At Chengdu, the master Huang
Quan brought to maturity the technique of mogu hua (“boneless painting”), in which
he applied light colours with delicate skill, hiding the intentionally pale underdrawing
and seeming thereby to dispense with the usually dominant element of a
strong brush outline. His great rival, Xu Xi, working for Li Houzhu in Nanjing, first
drew his flowers in ink in a bold, free manner suggestive of the draft script, caoshu,
adding a little colour afterward. Both men established standards that were followed
for centuries afterward. Because of its reliance on technical skill, Huang Quan’s
naturalistic style (also referred to as xiesheng, or “lifelike painting”) was mainly
adopted by professional painters, while the scholars admired the calligraphic freedom
of Xu Xi’s style (referred to as xieyi, or “painting the idea”).
A Pheasant and Sparrows Among Rocks and Shrubs, ink and colours on silk hanging scroll, attributed to Huang Jucai, 10th century, Bei (Northern) Song dynasty;
in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan. 99 × 53.6 cm.National Palace Museum, Taipei
Both men were also noted painters of bamboo, an object that had symbolic
associations for the scholar-gentleman and at the same time posed a technical
challenge in the handling of the brush. After the founding of the
Song, xiesheng artists from Sichuan, including Huang Quan and his sons Huang
Jucai and Huang Jubao, traveled to the new court at Bianjing (Kaifeng), where they
established a tradition that dominated the Bei Song period. Xu Xi found greater
favour during the Yuan (1206–1368), Ming, and Qing periods.
Song (960–1279), Liao (907–1125), and Jin (1115–1234) dynasties
Although reunited and ably ruled for well over a century by the first five Song
emperors, China failed to recover the northern provinces from the barbarian tribes.
A Khitan tribe, calling their dynasty Liao, held all of northeastern China until 1125,
while the Xi (Western) Xia held the northwest, cutting off Chinese contact with
western and Central Asia. From the new capital, Bianjing, the Song rulers pursued a
pacific policy, buying off the Khitan and showing unprecedented toleration at home.
While it brought Chinese scholarship, arts, and letters to a new peak of achievement,
this policy left the northern frontiers unguarded. When in 1114 the Juchen Tatars in
the far northwest revolted against the Khitan, the Chinese army helped the rebels
destroy their old enemy. The Juchen then turned on the Song: they invaded China,
besieged the capital in 1126, and took as prisoner the emperor Qinzong, the emperor
emeritus Huizong (who had recently abdicated), and the imperial court. They then

established their own dynasty, the Jin, with their capital at the city later to be called
Beijing. The remnants of the Song court fled to the south in 1127 and, after several
years of wandering, established their “temporary” capital at the beautiful city of
Hangzhou. The Nan Song (Southern Song) never seriously tried to recover the north
but enjoyed the beauty and prosperity of their new home, while the arts continued to
flourish in an atmosphere of humanity and tolerance until the Mongols entered China
in the 13th century and swept all before them. In 1234 they destroyed the Juchen
Tatars, and, although the Chinese armies resisted valiantly, Hangzhou fell in 1276.
Three years later a loyal Song minister drowned himself and the young emperor.
The Bei (Northern) Song was a period of reconstruction and
consolidation. Bianjing was a city of palaces, temples, and tall pagodas; Buddhism
flourished, and monasteries and temples once again multiplied. The Song emperors
attracted around them the greatest literary and artistic talent of the empire, and
something of this high culture was carried on by their successors of Liao and Jin. The
atmosphere at the Nan Song court in Hangzhou, perhaps even more refined and
civilized, was clouded by the loss of the north, and the temptation to enjoy the
delights of Hangzhou and neglect their armies on the frontier turned men in on
themselves. Power and confidence no longer characterized Nan Song art; instead it
was imbued with an exquisite sensibility and a romanticism that is
sometimes poignant, given the disaster that befell China in the 13th century.
Song interest in history and a revival of the classics were matched by a new concern
with the tangible remains of China’s past. This was the age of the beginning of
archaeology and of the first great collectors and connoisseurs. One of the most
enthusiastic of these was the Bei Song emperor Huizong (1100–1125/26), whose
passion for the arts blinded him to the perils that threatened his country. Huizong’s
sophisticated antiquarianism reflects an attitude that became an increasingly
important factor in Chinese art. He collected and cataloged pre-Qin bronzes and
jades while the palace studios turned out close replicas and archaic emulations of
both media. Building his royal garden, the Genyue, was said to have nearly
bankrupted the state, as gigantic garden stones hauled up by boat from the south
closed down the Grand Canal for long periods. He was also the most distinguished of
all imperial painting collectors, and the catalog of his collection (the Xuanhe
Huapu, encompassing 6,396 paintings by 231 painters) remains a valuable document
for the study of early Chinese painting. (Part of the collection passed into the hands of
the Jin conquerors, and the remainder was scattered at the fall of Bianjing.) Huizong
also elevated to new heights the recent process of bureaucratizing court painting,
with entrance examinations modeled on civil service norms, with ranks and
promotions like those of scholar-officials, and with regularized instruction sometimes
offered by the emperor himself as chief academician. The favours granted throughout
the Song to lower-class artisans at court incurred the ire of aristocratic courtiers and
provided stimulus for the rise of the amateur painting movement among these
scholar-officials (shidafu hua), which ultimately became the literati painting mode
(wenrenhua) that dominated most of Yuan (1206–1368), Ming (1368–1644), and
Qing (1644–1911/12) history.
Settled conditions and a tolerant atmosphere helped to make the Bei Song a period of
great achievement in landscape painting. Li Cheng, a follower of Jing Hao who lived a
few years into the Song, was a scholar who defined the soft, billowing earthen
formations of the northeastern Chinese terrain with “cloudlike” texture, interior
layers of graded ink wash bounded by firmly brushed, scallop-edged contours. He is
remembered especially for winter landscapes and for simple compositions in which
he set a pair of tall, rugged, aging evergreens against a low, level view of desiccated
landscape. As with Jing Hao and Guan Tong, probably none of his original work
survives, but aspects of his style have been perpetuated in thousands of other artists’
works.
An even more formidable figure was the early 11th-century painter Fan Kuan, who
began by following Li Cheng’s style but turned to studying nature directly and finally
followed only his own inclinations. He lived as a recluse in the mountains of Shaanxi,
and a Song writer said that “his manners and appearance were stern and old-
fashioned; he had a great love of wine and was devoted to the Dao.” A tall landscape
scroll, Travelers Among Mountains and Streams (National Palace Museum, Taipei,
Taiwan), bearing his hidden signature, depicts peasants and pack mules emerging
from thick woodland at the foot of a towering cliff that dwarfs them to insignificance.
The composition is monumental, the detail is realistic, and the brushwork, featuring a
stippling style known as “raindrop” strokes, is powerful and close-textured. While the
details of the work are based on closely observed geographic reality (perhaps some
specific site such as Mount Heng), a profoundly idealistic conception is revealed in
the highly rational structure of the painting, which conforms closely to aspects of
Daoist cosmology and numerology.
Other northern masters of the 11th century who helped to establish the great classical
tradition were Xu Daoning, Gao Kegong, and Yan Wengui. The second half of the
century was dominated by Guo Xi, who became an instructor in the painting division
of the Imperial Hanlin Academy. His style combined the technique of Li Cheng with
the monumentality of Fan Kuan, and he made some advances, particularly in the
relief that he attained by shading with ink washes (“cloudlike” texture), a spectacular
example of which is his Early Spring (1072; National Palace Museum, Taipei,
Taiwan). He was a great decorator and liked to work on such large surfaces as plaster
walls and standing screens. His observations on landscape painting were collected
and published by his son Gao Si under the title Linquan Gaozhi (“Lofty Record of
Forests and Streams”). In addition to giving ideas for paintings and notes on the rules
of the art, in this work he stresses that the enjoyment of landscape painting can
function as a substitute for wandering in the mountains, an indulgence for which
the conscientious Confucian scholar-official was too busy.

Early Spring, detail of a hanging scroll, ink and slight colour on silk, by Guo Xi, 1072, Northern Song dynasty; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
Taiwan.National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
While the monumental realistic tradition was reaching its climax, quite another
approach to painting was being expressed by a group of intellectuals that included the
poet-statesman-artist Su Shi (Su Dongpo), the landscape painter Mi Fu, the bamboo
painter Wen Tong, the plum painter and priest Zhongren Huaguang, and the figure
and horse painter Li Gonglin. Su and Mi, together with their friend Huang Tingjian,
were also the foremost calligraphers of the dynasty, all three developing the tradition
established by Zhang Xu, Yan Zhenqing, and Huaisu in the mid-8th century. The aim
of these artists was not to depict nature realistically—that could be left to the
professionals—but to express themselves, to “satisfy the heart.” They spoke of merely
“borrowing” the literal shapes and forms of things as a vehicle through which they
could “lodge” their thoughts and feelings. In this amateur painting mode of the
scholar-official (shidafu hua, later called wenrenhua), skill was suspect because it
was the attribute of the professional and court painter. The scholars valued
spontaneity above all, even making a virtue of awkwardness as a sign of the painter’s
sincerity.
Mi Fu, an influential and demanding connoisseur, was the first major advocate and
follower of Dong Yuan’s boneless style, reducing it to mere ink dots (Mi dian, or “Mi
dots”). This new technique influenced many painters, including Mi Fu’s son Mi
Youren, who combined it with a subdued form of ink splashing. Wen Tong and Su
Dongpo were both devoted to bamboo painting, an exacting art form very close in
technique to calligraphy. Su Dongpo wrote poems on Wen Tong’s paintings, thus
helping to establish the unity of the three arts of poetry, painting, and calligraphy that
became a hallmark of the wenrenhua. When Su Dongpo painted landscapes, Li

Gonglin sometimes executed the figures. Li was a master of baimiao (“plain line”)
painting, without colour, shading, or wash. He brought a scholar’s refinement of taste
to a tradition theretofore dominated by Wu Daozi’s dramatic style.
The northern emperors were enthusiastic patrons of the arts. Huizong, perhaps the
most knowledgeable of all Chinese emperors about the arts, was himself an
accomplished calligrapher (he developed a unique and extremely elegant style known
as “slender gold”) and a painter chiefly of birds and flowers in the realistic tradition
stretching back to Huang Quan and developed by subsequent court artists such as Cui
Bai of the late 11th century. While meticulous in detail, his works were subjective in
mood, following poetic themes that were calligraphically inscribed on the painting. A
fine example of the kind of painting attributed to him is the minutely observed and
carefully painted Five-Coloured Parakeet on Blossoming Apricot Tree (Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston). He demanded the same qualities in the work of his court painters
and would add his cypher to pictures of which he approved. It is consequently very
difficult to distinguish the work of the emperor from that of his favoured court artists.
Among the distinguished academicians at Huizong’s court were Zhang Zeduan,
whose extraordinarily realistic Qingming Festival scroll (Palace Museum, Beijing)
preserves a wealth of social and architectural information in compellingly artistic
form, and Li Tang, who fled to the south in 1127 and supervised the reestablishment
of the northern artistic tradition at the new court in Hangzhou. Although Guo Xi’s
style remained popular in the north after the Jin occupation, Li Tang’s mature style
came to dominate in the south. Li was a master in the Fan Kuan tradition, but he
gradually reduced Fan’s monumentality into more refined and delicate compositions
and transformed Fan’s small “raindrop” texture into a broader “ax-cut” texture stroke
that subsequently remained a hallmark of most Chinese court academy landscape
painting.
In the first two generations of the Nan Song, however, historical figure painting
regained its earlier dominance at court. Gaozong and Xiaozong, respectively the son
and grandson of the imprisoned Huizong, sought to legitimize their necessary but
technically unlawful assumption of power by supporting works illustrating the
ancient classics and traditional virtues. Such works, by artists including Li Tang
and Ma Hezhi, often include lengthy inscriptions purportedly executed by the
emperors themselves. They represent the finest survival today of the ancient court
tradition of propagandistic historical narrative painting in a Confucian political mode.
Subsequently, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, the primacy of landscape
painting was reasserted. The tradition of Li Tang was turned in an
increasingly romantic and dreamlike direction, however, by the great masters Ma
Yuan, his son Ma Lin, Xia Gui, and Liu Songnian, all of whom served with distinction
in the painting division of the imperial Hanlin Academy. These artists used the Li
Tang technique, only more freely, developing the so-called “large ax-cut” texture
stroke. Their compositions are often “one-cornered,” depicting a foreground
promontory with a fashionably rusticated building and a few stylish figures separated
from the silhouettes of distant peaks by a vast and aesthetically poignant expanse of
misty emptiness—a view these painters must have seen any summer evening as they
gazed across Hangzhou’s West Lake. The Ma family’s works achieved a
philosophically inspired sense of quietude, while Xia Gui’s manner was strikingly
dramatic in brushwork and composition. The Ma-Xia school, as it came to be called,
was greatly admired in Japan during the Muromachi and Azuchi-Momoyama periods,
and its impact can still be found today in Japanese gardening traditions.

Spring Fragrance, Clearing After Rain, ink and slight colour on silk album leaf by Ma Lin, Nan (Southern) Song dynasty; in the National Palace Museum,
Taipei.National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
Toward the end of this period, Chan (Zen) Buddhist painting experienced a brief but
remarkable florescence, stimulated by scholars abandoning the decaying
political environment of the Nan Song court for the monastic life practiced in the hill
temples across the lake from Hangzhou. The court painter Liang Kai had been
awarded the highest order, the Golden Girdle, between 1201 and 1204, but he put it
aside, quit the court, and became a Chan recluse. What is thought to be his earlier
work has the professional skill expected of a colleague of Ma Yuan, but his later
paintings became freer and more spontaneous.
The greatest of the Chan painters was Muqi, or Fachang, who reestablished the
Liutong Monastery in the western hills of Hangzhou. The wide range of subjects of his
work (which included Buddhist deities, landscapes, birds and animals, and flowers
and fruit) and the spontaneity of his style bear witness to the Chan philosophy that
the “Buddha essence” is in all things equally and that only a spontaneous style can
convey something of the sudden awareness that comes to the Chan adept in his
moments of illumination. Perhaps his best-known work is his hastily sketched Six
Persimmons (preserved and idolized in Japan), while a somewhat
more conservative style is seen in his triptych of three hanging scrolls with Guanyin
flanked by a crane and gibbons (Daitoku Temple, Kyōto, Japan). Chinese
connoisseurs disapproved of the rough brushwork and lack of literary content in
Muqi’s paintings, and none appear to have survived in China. However, his work, and
that of other Chan artists such as Liang Kai and Yujian, was collected and widely
copied in Japan, forming the basis of the Japanese suiboku-ga (sumi-e) tradition.

Six Persimmons, ink on paper hanging scroll, attributed to Muqi (active mid-13th century), Nan (Southern) Song dynasty; in the Daitoku Temple, Kyōto, Japan.
Width 36.2 cm.Daitoku-ji, Kyoto; photograph, Zen Cultural Laboratory
Chan Buddhism borrowed greatly from Daoism, both in philosophy and in painting
manner. One of the last great Song artists was Chen Rong, an official, poet, and
Daoist who specialized in painting the dragon, a symbol both of the emperor and of
the mysterious all-pervading force of the Dao. Chen Rong’s paintings show these
fabulous creatures emerging from amid rocks and clouds. They were painted in a
variety of strange techniques, including rubbing the ink on with a cloth and
spattering it, perhaps by blowing ink onto the painting.
From 1206 To 1912

Yuan dynasty (1206–1368)
Although the Mongol conquest made China part of an empire that stretched from
Korea to Hungary and opened its doors to foreign contacts as never before, this short-
lived dynasty was oppressive and corrupt. Its later decades were marked by social and
administrative chaos in which the arts received little official encouragement. The
Mongols distrusted the Chinese intelligentsia, relying primarily on Central Asians for
government administrative functions. Nevertheless, some influential Chinese writers
recognized that the Mongols brought a sense of martial discipline that was lacking in
the Song (960–1279), and after 1286 an increasing number of Chinese scholars were
persuaded to enter government service, undoubtedly hoping to influence their rulers
to adopt a more benign policy toward the Chinese people.
One school that flourished under Yuan official patronage was that of Buddhist and
Daoist painting; important wall paintings were executed at the Yongle Temple in
Shanxi (now restored and moved to Ruicheng). A number of royal patrons, including
Kublai, the emperors Buyantu and Tog-temür, and Kublai’s great-granddaughter
Sengge, built an imperial collection of important early works and also sponsored
paintings that emphasized such themes as architecture and horses. Still, their
activities were not a match for Song royal patronage, and it was in this period that the
amateur art of painters of the scholar class (in the tradition of Su Dongpo and his late
Bei Song colleagues) first came to dominate Chinese painting standards.
The restriction of the scholars’ opportunities at court and the choice of many of them
to withdraw into seclusion rather than serve the Mongols created a heightened sense
of class identity and individual purpose, which in turn inspired their art. Eremitic

rather than courtly values now shaped the art of painting as never before, and a
stylistic gulf sprang up between literati painters and court professionals that was not
bridged until the 18th century. Whereas most painting had previously displayed
technical refinement and had conservatively transmitted the heritage of the
immediate past, gradually evolving through modest individual departures, the literati
thenceforth typically based their styles on a wide-ranging knowledge of distant
stylistic precedents, selectively chosen and radically transformed by means of
expressive calligraphic brushwork. Style and subject were both intended to reflect
closely the artist’s own personality and mood rather than conforming to the wishes of
a patron. Typical were the simply brushed orchid paintings of Zheng Sixiao, who
painted this traditional symbol of political loyalty without any ground beneath as a
comment on the grievous loss of China to foreign domination.
Qian Xuan was among the first to define this new direction. From Wuxing in Zhejiang,
he steadfastly declined an invitation to serve at court, as reflected in his painting style
and themes. A conservative painter before the Mongol conquest, especially of realistic
flowers and birds, he altered his style to incorporate the primitive qualities of ancient
painting, favouring the Tang blue-and-green manner in his landscape painting, stiff
or peculiarly mannered renditions of vegetation and small animals, and the archaic
flavour of clerical script in his brushwork. Calligraphy became a part of his design
and frequently confirmed through historical references a link between subject matter
and his eremitic choice of lifestyle. Like many Chinese scholars who espoused this
amateur ideal, Qian Xuan was obliged by demeaning circumstances to exchange his
paintings in return for his family’s livelihood.
The most distinguished of the scholar-painters was Zhao Mengfu, a fellow townsman
and younger follower of Qian Xuan who became a high official and president of the
imperial Hanlin Academy. In his official travels he collected paintings by Bei Song
masters that inspired him to revive and reinterpret the classical styles in his own
fashion. A notable example is Autumn Colours in the Qiao and Hua Mountains (1296;
National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan), a nostalgic, deliberately archaistic
landscape in the Tang manner. The hand scrolls Twin Pines and Level
View (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City) and Water Village (1302; Palace
Museum, Beijing) exemplify his reinterpretation of past masters (Li Cheng and Dong
Yuan, respectively) and furthered the new direction of scholarly landscape painting
by applying the standards and techniques of calligraphy to painting.
The Yuan produced many fine calligraphers, including Zhao Mengfu, who was the
most influential, Yang Weizhen, and Zhang Yu. The period was less innovative in
calligraphy than in painting, however, and Zhao’s primary accomplishment was to
sum up and resynthesize the past. His well-studied writing style was praised in his
time for its breadth of historical understanding, and his standard script became the
national model for book printing, but he was later criticized for a lack of daring or
expression of personality, for a brush style too sweet and pleasing.

Zhao Mengfu: Sheep and GoatSheep and Goat, detail of an ink handscroll by Zhao Mengfu, c. 1300; in the Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington,
D.C.Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Other gentlemen-painters who worked at the Yuan court perpetuated more
conservative Song styles, often rivaling or even surpassing their Song predecessors in
the process. Ren Renfa worked in great detail and was perhaps the last of China’s
great horse painters; he defended his court service through both the style and theme
of his paintings. Li Kan carefully studied the varieties of bamboo during his official
travels and wrote a systematic treatise on painting them; he remains unsurpassed as
a skilled bamboo painter. Gao Kegong followed Mi Fu and Mi Youren in painting
cloudy landscapes that symbolized good government. Wang Mian, who served not the
Mongols but anti-Mongol forces at the end of the dynasty, set the highest standard
for the painting of plums, a symbol of irrepressible purity and, potentially, of
revolutionary zeal.
Ren Renfa: Nine HorsesNine Horses, detail of a hand scroll by Ren Renfa, ink and colours on silk, 1324, Yuan dynasty; in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; purchase Nelson Trust (72-8)
In retrospect, however, it was the ideals of the retired scholars that had the most
lasting effect on later Chinese art. This may be summed up as individuality of
expression, brushwork more revealing of the inner spirit of the subject—or of the
artist himself—than of outward appearance, and suppression of the realistic and
decorative in favour of an intentional plainness, understatement (pingtan), and
awkwardness (zhuo), which marks the integrity of the gentleman suspicious of too

much skill. Four masters of the middle and later Yuan, all greatly influenced by Zhao
Mengfu, came to be regarded as the foremost exponents of this philosophy of
painting in the Yuan period.
Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, detail from a hand scroll, ink on paper, by Huang Gongwang, 1350, Yuan dynasty; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
Huang Gongwang, a Daoist recluse, was the oldest. His most revered and perhaps
only authentic surviving work is the hand scroll Dwelling in the Fuchun
Mountains (National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan), painted
with dynamic brushwork during occasional moods of inspiration between 1347 and
1350. Unlike the academicians, Gongwang did not hesitate to go over his brushwork,
for expression, not representation, was his aim. The cumulative effect of his
masterpiece is obtained not by its fidelity to visible forms but by a profound feeling of
oneness with nature that set an ideal standard for later scholarly painting.
Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, detail of a hand scroll by Huang Gongwang, 1347–50, Yuan dynasty; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
This scholarly serenity was also expressed in the landscapes of Wu Zhen, a poor
Daoist diviner, poet, and master painter who, like Huang Gongwang, was inspired by

Dong Yuan and Juran, whose manner he rendered, in landscapes and bamboo
painting alike, with blunt brushwork, minimal motion, and utmost calm. His bamboo
paintings are also superb, and, in an album in the National Palace Museum (Taipei),
he pays tribute to his Song dynasty predecessors Su Dongpo and Wen Tong.
The third of the Four Masters of the Yuan dynasty was Ni Zan, a prosperous
gentleman and bibliophile forced by crippling taxation to give up his estates and
become a wanderer. As a landscapist, he eliminated all depictions of human beings.
He thus reduced the compositional pattern of Li Cheng (symbolizing lofty gentlemen
in isolation from the court) to its simplest terms, achieving, as Wu Zhen had, a sense
of austere and monumental calm with the slenderest of means. He used ink, it was
said, as sparingly as if it were gold.
The Rongxi Studio, ink on paper hanging scroll by Ni Zan, 1372, late Yuan dynasty; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.National Palace
Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
Quite different was the technique of the fourth Yuan master, Wang Meng, a grandson
of Zhao Mengfu. His brushwork was dense and energetic, derived from Dong Yuan
but tangled and hoary and thereby imbued with a feeling of great antiquity. He often
drew heavily from Guo Xi or from what he perceived as Tang traditions in his
landscape compositions, which he filled with scholarly retreats. He sometimes used
strong colours as well, which added a degree of visual charm and nostalgia to his
painting that was lacking in the other three masters’ work.
The combination in the Four Masters of a consistent philosophical and political
attitude and a wide range of ink techniques made them models for later scholar-
painters, both in their lives and in their art. It is impossible to appreciate the work of
the landscape painters of the Ming and Qing (1644–1911/12) dynasties unless one is
aware of how acutely conscious they were of their debt to the Yuan masters and how
frequently they paid tribute to them both in their style and in their inscriptions. From
this point on, indeed, the artist’s own inscription, as well as the colophons of
admirers and connoisseurs, became an integral part of the total work of art.

Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

The restoration of a native dynasty made China once again a great power. The Ming
dynasty felt a kinship with the heyday of the Tang dynasty (618–907), a connection
reflected in the vigour and rich colour of Ming arts and crafts. Early in the 1400s,
China again expanded into Central Asia, and maritime expeditions brought Central
Asian products around the Indian Ocean to its own shores. Chinese pottery exports
also greatly increased. The 15th century was a period of settled prosperity and great
achievement in the arts, but the last century of the dynasty was marked by corruption
at court and a deep discontent among the scholar-gentry that is reflected in their
painting.
The first Ming emperor, Hongwu, was a highly distrustful personality whose vengeful
focus fell upon Suzhou, the local base of his chief rival for the throne as well as home
to the Yuan period (1206–1368) literati painting movement. So many artists became
victim to his recriminations, typically for political rather than artistic reasons, that a
novel movement in Chinese painting history was nearly halted. Among those literati
painters who lost their lives during this period were Wang Meng, Zhao Yuan, Xu Ben,
Chen Ruyan, Zhang Yu, Zhou Wei, and Sheng Zhu. Rejecting the individualist
standard of literati painting, early Ming emperors who revived the custom of
summoning painters to court sought instead to create a cultural bridge to the last
native regimes, the Tang and Song. Although they revived Song professional court
styles, they never organized their painters into a central teaching academy and indeed
sometimes dealt quite harshly with them. Scholar-painters, increasingly few in
number in the early Ming, stayed at home in the south, further widening the gulf
between themselves and court artists.
Early Ming court painters such as Xie Huan and Li Zai at first revived the Tang blue-
and-green and Bei Song court styles of Guo Xi. Bian Wenjin and his follower Lu
Ji carried forward the bird-and-flower painting tradition of Huang Quan, Cui Bai,
and the Song emperor Huizong. Gradually, however, the Nan Song styles of the
landscape artists Li Tang, Ma Yuan, and Xia Gui came to hold sway, beginning
with Dai Jin, who served under the fifth emperor, the Xuande emperor (himself a
painter of moderate ability). Nevertheless, Dai Jin, who was opposed in the Beijing
capital by jealous court rivals and who found the restrictions there intolerable (as did
many others who followed), was affected by the calligraphically inspired scholars’ art:
his brushwork shows far greater freedom than is found in his Nan Song models.
Like Dai Jin, many professional painters went to Beijing from the old Nan Song
capital region around Hangzhou, and they were said to belong to the Zhe school of
painting. Many of the so-called Zhe school artists were in fact scholars disgruntled
with the autocratic Ming politics and drawn to Daoist eremitic themes
and eccentric brushwork. Most dazzling among them, perhaps, was Wu Wei, from
Jiangxia in Hubei, whose drunken bouts at court were forgiven out of admiration for
his genius with the brush.
Among the few important amateur painters to hold a scholarly position at the early
Ming court was Wang Fu, who survived a long period of banishment to the frontier
under the first emperor to return as a court calligrapher. He became a key figure in
the survival and transmission of Yuan literati style and was the first to single out the
masters Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen, Ni Zan, and Wang Meng as models. Other early
Ming scholar-official painters in the Yuan tradition were the bamboo painter Xia
Chang and Liu Jue, who retired to Suzhou at the age of 50 after having been
president of the Board of Justice. In his landscapes Liu Jue gives to the cool,

often austere style of the Yuan masters a looser, more genial character, thus making
them more accessible to the large number of amateur gentlemen-painters who
flourished in the Jiangnan region—notably those in and around Suzhou, during the
settled middle years of the 15th century.
The Wu district of Jiangsu, in which Suzhou lies, gave its name to the Wu
school of landscape painting, dominated in the late 15th century by Shen Zhou, a
friend and pupil of Liu Jue. Shen Zhou never became an official but instead devoted
his life to painting and poetry. He often painted in the manner of the Yuan masters,
but his interpretations of Ni Zan and Wu Zhen are more clearly structured and firmer
in brushwork. His work is unsurpassed in all Chinese art for its humane feeling; the
gentle and unpretentious figures he introduced give his paintings great appeal. Shen
Zhou commanded a wide range of styles and techniques, on which he impressed his
warm and vigorous personality. He also became the first to establish among the
literati painters a flower painting tradition. These works, executed in the “boneless”
fashion developed by 10th-century court artists but with the freedom of such late
Song Chan painters as Muqi, were followed with greater technical versatility by Chen
Shun and Xu Wei in the late Ming and then by Shitao (Daoji) and Zhu Da of the early
Qing. Their work, in turn, served as the basis for the revival of flower painting in the
late 19th and the 20th century.
Poet on a Mountain Top, ink on paper or ink and light colour on paper, album leaf mounted as a hand scroll, by Shen Zhou, Ming dynasty; in the Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo., U.S. 38.7 × 60.2 cm.The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; purchase
Nelson Trust (46–51/2)
Shen Zhou’s younger contemporary and friend Wen Zhengming showed an even
greater interest in the styles of the past, which he reinterpreted with a refined and
scholarly precision. He, too, had many styles and was a distinguished calligrapher. He
was an active teacher of painting as well, and among his gifted pupils were his
son Wen Jia and his nephew Wen Boren. Their landscapes display a lyrical delicacy
in composition, touch, and colour, qualities that in the work of lesser late Ming artists
of the Wu school degenerated into a precious and artificial style.

Three early 16th-century professional Suzhou masters, Zhou Chen, Qiu Ying,
and Tang Yin, established a somewhat different standard from that of the scholarly
Wu group, never renouncing the professional’s technical skills yet mastering the
literary technique as well. They achieved a wide range, and sometimes a blend, of
styles that could hardly be dismissed by scholarly critics and that won great popular
acclaim. In fact, Tang Yin, who was not only a student of Zhou Chen but also a
brilliant scholar and longtime friend of Wen Zhengming, became mythologized in the
centuries that followed.
In the succeeding generations, other painting masters similarly helped confuse the
distinction between amateur and professional standards, and, in the early 17th
century, a number of these artists also showed the first influence of the European
technique that had been brought to China through engravings and then oil paintings
by Matteo Ricci and other Jesuit missionaries after 1600. Among these painters were
the landscapists Wu Bin from Nanjing, Zhang Hong from Suzhou, and Lan Ying from
Qiantang in Zhejiang province. The southern painter Chen Hongshou and the Beijing
artist Cui Zizhong initiated the first major revival of figure painting since Song times,
possibly as a result of their encounters with Western art. Perspective and shading
effects appear among other naturalistic features in the art of this generation, along
with a newfound interest in saturated colours and an attraction to formal distortion,
which may have derived in part from a fascination with the unfamiliar in Western art.
Beyond the revived interest in naturalism, which seems to have inspired in some
artists a renewed attention to Five Dynasties (907–960) and Song painting (as the
last period in which Chinese artists had displayed knowledge about such matters),
there occurred an even more fundamental questioning of contemporary standards. In
the work of Chen and Cui, which exhibits all the aforementioned qualities, an almost
unprecedented interest in grotesquerie and satire visually enlivens their work, yet it
also reflects something of the restless individualism and deep disillusionment that
were part of the spirit of this period of national decline. The breakdown of orthodoxy
reached an extreme form in Xu Wei. In his explosive paintings, chiefly of flowers,
plants, and bamboo, he showed an absolute mastery of brush and ink and a total
disregard of tradition.

A Tall Pine and Daoist Immortal, ink and colour on silk hanging scroll with self-portrait (bottom centre) by Chen Hongshou, 1635, Ming dynasty; in the National
Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
Standing above all others of this period in terms of historical impact, the theorist,
critic, and painter Dong Qichang saw the proliferation of styles as a symptom of the
decline in morale of the scholar class as the Ming became increasingly corrupt. His
aim to reestablish standards in landscape painting paralleled a movement to restore
traditional virtue to government. In his brief but influential essay “Huashuo”
(“Comments on Painting”), he set out what he held to be the proper lineage of
scholarly painting models, from Wang Wei of the Tang through Dong Yuan
and Juran of the Five Dynasties, Su Dongpo and Mi Fu of the Song, Huang Gongwang,
Wu Zhen, Ni Zan, and Wang Meng of the Yuan, and Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming
of the Ming. He labeled these artists as “Southern school” in reference to
the Southern school of Chan Buddhism and its philosophy of spontaneous
enlightenment, while he rejected such “Northern school” (i.e., gradualist, pedantic)
artists as Guo Xi, Ma Yuan, Xia Gui, and Qui Ying. Dong believed that the greatest
painters were highly creative individuals who, to be followed effectively, had to be
creatively reinterpreted. Appropriately, his own landscape painting was often quite
original, sometimes daringly so, even while based on a systematic reduction
and synthetic reintegration of past styles. However, having breathed new life into a
troubled tradition by looking inward and to the past, his reinterpretations
(particularly of the styles of Dong Yuan and Juran) set an ideal beyond which his
contemporaries and followers could not go without either a great leap of imagination,
a direct return to nature, or a departure from the historical core of Chinese painting
standards. Only a few artists, in the early Qing, could achieve this, primarily through

the route of artistic imagination; many more throughout the Qing followed Dong too
slavishly in theory without attaining new heights or perspectives in actual practice.
One further feature of late Ming art was the popularity of wood-block printing,
including the appearance of a sophisticated tradition of polychrome printing, done in
imitation of painting. Among the earliest major examples were the collections of ink
designs Fangshi Mopu of 1588 and Chengshi Moyuan of 1606 (“Mr. Fang Yulu’s Ink
Catalog” and “Mr. Cheng Dayue’s Ink Garden,” respectively); both catalogs utilized
graphic designs by significant artists to promote the products of Anhui province’s
foremost manufacturers of ink sticks. The Shizhuzhai Shuhuapu (“Ten Bamboo
Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy”), produced by Hu Zhengyan between
1619 and 1633, set the highest standard for polychrome wood-block printing and
helped influence the development of colour printing in Japan. Painters such as Chen
Hongshou participated in print production in forms ranging from book illustration to
playing cards, while others, including Xiao Yuncong, generated high-quality
topographical illustrations. Through such artists, the medium came to influence
painting as well as to be influenced by it.
Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12)

The Manchu conquest did not produce a dislocation of Chinese social and cultural life
in the same way the Mongol invasion had done. On the contrary, even before their
conquest, the Manchus began imitating Chinese ways, and the Qing rulers,
particularly Kangxi (1661–1722) and Qianlong (1735–96), were well-educated men
who were eager to enlist the support of Chinese scholars. They were
extremely conservative in their political and cultural attitudes; in artistic taste, their
native love of extravagance (which the Chinese viewed as barbarous) was tempered,
ironically, by an equally strong conservative propensity. The art of the Qing dynasty,
even the painting of many of its finest eccentrics and the design of its best gardens, is
similarly characterized both by lavish decoration and ornate effects as well as by
superb technique and conservative taste. By the 19th century,
however, China’s internal weakness and humiliation by the Western powers were
reflected in a growing stagnation of the arts.
The dual attraction of the Manchu rulers to unbridled decoration and to orthodox
academicism characterized their patronage at court. In regard to the former, they
favoured artists such as Yuan Jiang, who, in the reign of Kangxi, combined with great
decorative skill the model of Guo Xi and the mannered distortions that had cropped
up in the late Ming (1368–1644), partly as a result of Ming artists’ exposure to an
unfamiliar Western art. More thoroughly Westernized work, highly exotic from the
Asian perspective, was produced both by native court artists such as Jiao Bingzhen,
who applied Western perspective to his illustrations of the text Gengzhitu (“Rice and
Silk Culture”), which were reproduced and distributed in the form of wood
engravings in 1696, and by the Italian missionary Giuseppe Castiglione. In the mid-
18th century Castiglione produced a Sino-European technique that had considerable
influence on court artists such as Zuo Yigui, but he was ignored by literati critics. His
depictions of Manchu hunts and battles provide a valuable visual record of the times.
On the other hand, Manchu emperors saw to it that conservative works in the
scholar-amateur style by Wang Hui, Wang Yuanqi, and other followers of Dong
Qichang were also well represented at court, largely putting an end to the conflict at
court between professional and amateur styles that had been introduced in the Song
(960–1279) and that played a significant role in the Ming. In a sense, the amateur
style was crowned victor, but it came at the expense of the amateurism that had

defined its purpose, given the prominent role these artists enjoyed at court. This
politically effective aspect of Manchu patronage was not necessarily a specifically
calculated strategy; rather, it was a natural extension of their concerted attempts
to cultivate and recruit the scholar class in order to establish their legitimacy.
The Qianlong emperor was the most energetic of royal art patrons since Huizong of
the Song, building an imperial collection of more than 4,000 pre-Qing paintings
and calligraphy and cataloging them in successive editions of the Shiqubaoji. The
shortcomings of his taste, however, were displayed in his preference for recent
forgeries rather than the originals in his collection (notably, copies of Huang
Gongwang’s Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains and of Fan Kuan’s Travelers among
Mountains and Streams) and in his propensity for covering his collected
masterpieces with multiple impressions of court seals and calligraphic inscriptions in
a mediocre hand.
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The conservatism of Qing period painting was exemplified by the Six Masters of the
late 17th and the early 18th century, including the so-called “Four Wangs,” Wu Li,
and Yun Shouping. In the works of most of these artists and of those who followed
their lead, composition became routinized, with little in the way of variation
or genre detail to appeal to the imagination; fluency of execution in brushwork
became the exclusive basis for appreciation. Wang Shimin, who had been a pupil of
Dong Qichang, retired to Taicang near modern Shanghai at the fall of the Ming,
making it the centre of a school of scholarly landscape painting that included his
friend Wang Jian and the younger artist Wang Hui. Wang Hui was a dazzling prodigy
whose landscapes included successful forgeries of Bei Song and Yuan masters and
who did not hesitate to market the “amateur” practice, both among fellow scholars
and at the Manchu court; however, the hardening of his style in his later years
foreshadowed the decline of Qing literati painting for lack of flexible innovation. In
contrast, Wang Shimin’s grandson, Wang Yuanqi, was the only one of these
six orthodox masters who fully lived up to Dong Qichang’s injunction to transform
the styles of past models creatively, as he did in his tour de force Wang River Villa,
After Wang Wei (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City). At court, Wang

Yuanqi rose to high office under the Kangxi emperor and served as chief compiler of
the imperial painting and calligraphy catalog, the Peiwenzhai Shuhuapu.
White Clouds over Xiao and Xiang, hanging scroll after Zhao Mengfu by Wang Jian, one of the Six Masters of the early Qing period, ink and colour on paper,
1668; in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington,
D.C.
Receiving no patronage from the Manchu court and leaving only a minor following
before the latter half of the 19th century was a different group of artists, now
frequently referred to as “Individualists.” Collectively, these artists represent a
triumphant, if short-lived, moment in the history of literati painting, triggered in
good part by the emotionally cathartic conquest of China by the Manchus. They
shared a rejection of Manchu political authority and the choice of an eremitic, often
impoverished lifestyle that obliged them to trade their works for their sustenance, in
spite of their allegiance to amateur ideals. Stylistically, just like their more orthodox
contemporaries, they often revealed the influence of Dong Qichang’s systematization
of painting method; but, unlike the more conservative masters, they pursued an
emotional appeal reflective of their own temperaments. For example, Gong Xian, a
Nanjing artist whose budding political career was cut short by the Manchu conquest,
used repetitive forms and strong tonal contrasts to convey a pervasive feeling of
repressive constraint, lonely isolation, and gloom in his landscapes (most impressive
is his Thousand Peaks and Myriad Ravines in the Rietberg Museum, Zürich,
Switzerland; C.A. Drenowatz Collection). He was the most prominent of the artists
who came to be known as the Eight Masters of Nanjing. This group was only loosely
related stylistically, though contemporary painters from Nanjing did share solidity of
form derived from Song prototypes and, possibly, from the influence of Western art.

Fan Qi: River LandscapeRiver Landscape, detail of a hand scroll by Fan Qi, one of the Eight Masters of Nanjing, 17th century, Qing dynasty, ink and colour on
silk; in the Museum of Asian Art, one of the National Museums of Berlin, Germany.Courtesy
of Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz
The landscapes of Kuncan (Shiqi), who became a somewhat misanthropic abbot at a
Buddhist monastery near Nanjing, also express a feeling of melancholy. His works
were typically inspired by the densely tangled brushwork of Wang Meng of the Yuan
(exemplified by his painting Bao’en Temple, Sumitomo Collection, Ōiso, Japan).
Another Individualist artist to join the Buddhist ranks was Hongren, exemplar of a
style that arose in the Xin’an or Huizhou district of southeastern Anhui province and
that drew on the famed landscape of the nearby Huang Mountains. The group of
artists now known as the Anhui school (including Ding Yunpeng, Xiao Yuncong, Mei
Qing, Zha Shibiao, and Dai Benxiao) mostly pursued an emotional extreme opposite
from Gong Xian and Kuncan, a severe coolness based on the sparse, dry linear style of
the Yuan artist Ni Zan. However individualistic, virtually all these artists reveal the
influence of Dong Qichang’s compositional means. In the 17th century, when the
Anhui style became popular among wealthy collectors in the area of present-day
Shanghai, propagated in part through wood-block catalogs illustrating Anhui’s
vaunted ink and painting-paper products, ownership of a Hongren painting became
the mark of a knowing connoisseur.
Two artists, both members of the deposed and decimated Ming royal family, stood
out among these Individualist masters and left, albeit belatedly recognized, the most
enduring legacy of all. Known by a sequence of names, perhaps designed to protect
his royal identity, Zhu Da, or Bada Shanren, suffered or at least feigned a period of
madness and muteness in the 1680s. He emerged from this with an eccentric style
remarkable for its facility with extremes, alternating between a wet-and-wild manner
and a dry, withdrawn use of brush and ink. His paintings of glowering birds and fish
casting strange and ironic glances, as well as his structurally interwoven studies of
rocks and vegetation, are virtually without precedent in composition, although
aspects of both the eccentric Xu Wei and Dong Qichang are discernible in his work.
His esoteric inscriptions reveal a controlled intent rather than sheer lunacy and
suggest a knowledgeable, if hard to unravel, commentary on China’s contemporary
predicament.
Zhu Da’s cousin Daoji was raised in secret in a Chan Buddhist community. He
traveled widely as an adult in such varied artistic regions as the Huang Mountains
district of Anhui province and Nanjing and finally settled in the newly prosperous city
of Yangzhou, where in his later years he publicly acknowledged his royal identity,
renounced his Buddhist status, and engaged in professional practices. His work has a
freshness inspired not by masters of the past but by an unfettered imagination, with
brush techniques that were free and unconventional and a daring use of colour. In his
essay “Huayulu” (“Comments on Painting”), he ridiculed traditionalism, writing that
his own method was “no method” and insisting that, like nature, creativity with the
brush must be spontaneous and seamless, based on the concept of yihua, the
“unifying line.”
Daoji’s extreme stand in favour of artistic individuality stands out against the growing
scholasticism of Qing painting and was an inspiration to the artists, roughly grouped
together as the “Eight Eccentrics” (including Zheng Xie, Hua Yan, Huang Shen, Gao
Fenghan, Jin Nong, and Luo Pin), who were patronized by the rich merchants in early
18th-century Yangzhou. The art of Zhu Da and Daoji was not firmly enshrined,
however, until the late 19th century, when a new individualist thrust appeared in
Shanghai in response to the challenge of Western culture. Their influence on Chinese
art since then, especially in the 20th century, was profound.
Since 1912
Painting in China, as with all the arts of China since 1912, has reflected the effects of
modernization, the impact of Western art, and the political, military, and economic
struggles of the period, including the war with Japan (1937–45), the civil war that
ended in the establishment in 1949 of the People’s Republic of China, and the rapid
economic changes of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Painting and printmaking

Shanghai, which had been forcibly opened to the West in 1842 and boasted a newly
wealthy clientele, was the logical site for the first modern innovations in Chinese
art at the turn of the 20th century. A Shanghai regional style had appeared by the
1850s, led by Ren Xiong, his more popular follower Ren Yi (Ren Bonian), and Ren
Yi’s follower Wu Changshi. The style drew its inspiration from a series of
Individualist artists of the Ming and Qing, including Xu Wei, Chen Shun, Chen
Hongshou, Zhu Da, and Daoji. It focused on birds and flowers and figural themes
more than the old landscape tradition did, and it emphasized decorative qualities,
exaggerated stylization, and satiric humour rather than refined brushwork and sober
classicism. Under Wu Changshi’s influence, this style was passed on to Beijing in the
early 20th century through the art of Chen Hengke (Chen Shizeng) and Qi Baishi.

Self-portrait on a hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper, by Ren Xiong, undated (probably 1855–57); in the Palace Museum, Beijing. 177.4 × 78.5 cm.Hu
Chui/ChinaStock Photo Library
The first Chinese artists to respond to international developments in modern art were
those who had visited Japan, where the issues of modernization appeared earlier than
they did in China. The Japanese blended native and Western traditions in styles such
as Nihonga painting and in establishing an institutional basis of support (under the
leadership of Okakura Kakuzō, who founded the Tokyo Fine Arts School in 1889).
Among the first Chinese artists to bring back Japanese influence were Gao Jianfu, his
brother Gao Qifeng, and Chen Shuren. Gao Jianfu studied art for four years in Japan,
beginning in 1898; during a second trip there, he met Sun Yat-sen, and subsequently,
in Guangzhou (Canton), he participated in the uprisings that paved the way for the
fall of imperial rule and the establishment in 1912 of a republic. Inspired by the “New
Japanese Style,” the Gao brothers and Chen inaugurated a “New National Painting”
movement, which in turn gave rise to a Cantonese, or Lingnan, regional style that
incorporated Euro-Japanese characteristics. Although the new style did not produce
satisfying or lasting solutions, it was a significant harbinger and continued to thrive
in Hong Kong, practiced by such artists as Zhao Shao’ang.
The first establishment of Western-style art instruction also dates from this period. A
small art department was opened in Nanjing High Normal School in 1906, and the
first art academy, later to become the Shanghai Art School, was founded in the year of
the revolution, 1911, by the 16-year-old Liu Haisu. In the next decade he would
pioneer the first public exhibitions (1913) and the use of live models, first clothed and
then nude, in the classroom.

Increasingly, by the mid-1920s, young Chinese artists were attracted not just to
Japan but also to Paris and German art centres. A trio of these artists brought back
some understanding of the essential contemporary European traditions and
movements. Liu Haisu was first attracted to Impressionist art, while Lin Fengmian,
who became director of the National Academy of Art in Hangzhou in 1928, was
inspired by the experiments in colour and pattern of Henri Matisse and the Fauves.
Lin advocated a synthesis combining Western techniques and Chinese expressiveness
and left a lasting mark on the modern Chinese use of the brush. Xu Beihong, head of
the National Central University’s art department in Nanjing, eschewed European
Modernist movements in favour of more conservative Parisian academic styles. He
developed his facility in drawing and oils, later learning to imitate pencil and chalk
with the Chinese brush. The monumental figure paintings he created would serve as a
basis for Socialist Realist painters after the communist revolution of 1949.
By the 1930s all these modern trends were clearly developed and institutionalized.
Although most of the major artists of the time advocated Modernism, two continued
to support more traditional styles: Qi Baishi, who combined Shanghai style with an
infusion of folk-derived vitality, and the relatively conservative landscapist Huang
Binhong, who demonstrated that the old tradition could still produce great masters.
Socialism produced a new set of artistic demands that were first met not by painting
but by the inexpensive mass medium of wood-block prints, which had been invented
in China and first used in the Tang dynasty (618–907) to illustrate Buddhist sutras.
Initially stimulated by the satiric leftist writer Lu Xun, printmakers flourished during
the 1930s and ’40s under the dual influence of European socialist artists like Käthe
Kollwitz and the Chinese folk tradition of New Year’s prints and papercuts. Among
the most prominent print artists were Li Hua and Gu Yuan, who attained a new
standard of political realism in Chinese art.
Fleeing Refugees, ink on paper (woodblock print) by Li Hua, 1944.© Li Hua/ChinaStock Photo Library

In 1942, as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s first intellectual rectification
movement, Mao Zedong delivered two speeches at the Yan’an Forum on Literature
and Art that laid out the official party dictates on aesthetics for decades to come—
namely, the necessity to popularize styles and subjects in order to reach a mass
audience, the need for artists to share in the lives of ordinary people, and the
requirement that the party and its goals be treated positively rather than subjected to
satiric criticism. “Art for art’s sake” was strictly denounced as a bourgeois liberal
attempt to escape from the truly political nature of art. Although Mao later defended
a place for the artistic study of nude models, a staple of Western naturalism, the tone
he set led to severe limitations on the actual practice of this.
The Sino-Japanese War of 1937–45 led many artists of varied persuasions to flee
eastern China for the temporary Nationalist capital in Chongqing, Sichuan province.
This exodus brought a tremendous mixing of styles and artistic ferment, but the
opportunity for innovation that this promised was thwarted by subsequent events.
After the 1949 revolution, Communist Party control of the arts was firmly established
by the placement of the academies under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture;
by the creation of artists’ federations and associations, under the management of the
party’s Department of Propaganda, which served as an exclusive pathway to
participation in exhibitions and other means of advancement; by the establishment of
a strict system of control over publications; and by the virtual elimination of the
commercial market for contemporary arts.
Throughout the 1950s, as Socialist Realist standards were gradually implemented, oil
painting and wood-block printing were favoured and political cartoons and posters
were raised to the status of high art. Artists working in the traditional media—with
their basis in the Individualist art of the old “feudal” aristocracy—struggled
institutionally for survival, eventually succeeding only as a result of the nationalist
fervour that accompanied China’s ideological break with the Soviet Union late in the
decade. The internationalist but relatively conservative Xu Beihong was installed as
head of the new Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, but he died in 1953. Other
older-generation leaders died shortly afterward (e.g., Qi Baishi and Huang Binhong)
or were shunted aside (e.g., Liu Haisu and Lin Fengmian), and a younger generation
soon came to the fore, ready to make the necessary compromises with the new regime.
The talented landscapist Li Keran, who had studied with Qi Baishi, Lin Fengmian,
Huang Binhong, and Xu Beihong, combined their influences with realistic sketching
to achieve a new naturalism in the traditional medium. A leading figure painter
was Cheng Shifa, a descendant of the Shanghai school who utilized that style in
politically polished depictions of China’s minority peoples. Many talented artists,
including Luo Gongliu and Ai Zhongxin, painted in oils, which, because of their link
to the Soviet Union and Soviet art advisers, held a favoured position until the Sino-
Soviet split of the late 1950s.

Chairman Mao at Jinggang Mountain, oil on canvas, by Luo Gongliu, 1961; in the Museum of Chinese Revolutionary History, Beijing.Zhao
Liye/ChinaStock Photo Library
While the early 1960s provided a moment of political relaxation for Chinese artists,
the Cultural Revolution of 1966–76 brought unprecedented hardships, ranging
from forced labour and severe confinement to death. Destruction of traditional arts
was especially rampant in the early years of the movement. Only those arts approved
by a military-run apparatus under the sway of Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing, could thrive;
these followed the party’s increasingly strict propagandist dictates and were often
created anonymously as collective works. In the early 1970s, when China first
reopened Western contacts, Premier Zhou Enlai attempted to restore government
patronage for the traditional arts. When Zhou’s health declined, traditional arts and
artists again suffered under Jiang Qing, including being publicly denounced and
punished as “black arts” after officials saw exhibitions in Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an
in 1974.
The passing of Mao and Maoism after 1976 brought a new and sometimes refreshing
chapter in the arts under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping. The 1980s were
characterized by decreasing government control of the arts and increasingly bold
artistic experimentation. Three phenomena in 1979 announced this new era: the
appearance of Cubist and other Western styles as well as nude figures (although the
government covered the nudes) in the murals publicly commissioned for the new
Beijing airport; an influential private arts exhibition by the “Stars” art group at the
Beijing Art Gallery; and the rise of a truly realistic oil painting movement, which
swept away the artificiality of Socialist Realist propaganda. In the 1980s a resurgence
of traditional Chinese painting occurred, featuring the return of formerly disgraced
artists, including Li Keran, Cheng Shifa, Shi Lu, and Huang Yongyu, and the
emergence of such fresh talents as Wu Guanzhong, Jia Youfu, and Li Huasheng.
After 1985, as an increasingly bold avant-garde movement arose, the once-
threatening traditional-style painting came to seem to the government like a
safe alternative. In the final months before the June 1989 imposition of martial law in
Beijing (see Tiananmen Square incident), an exhibition of nude oil paintings from the

Central Academy of Fine Arts at the Chinese National Gallery and an avant-garde
exhibition featuring installation art, performance art, and printed scrolls mocking the
government both drew record crowds. The latter was closed by police, and both
exhibits were eventually denounced as having lowered local morals, supposedly
helping to precipitate the tragic events that followed in June 1989. New limitations on
artistic production, exhibition, and publication ensued. At the conclusion of these
events, a number of leading artists, including Huang Yongyu, fled China, joining
others—including Zhang Daqian, He Huaishuo, and Lin Fengmian—who had
previously fled or abandoned China to establish centres of Chinese art throughout the
world.
Boat People, ink and colours on paper hanging scroll, by He Huaishuo, 1979; in the Water, Pine, and Stone Retreat Collection, Hong Kong.The Water,
Pine and Stone Retreat Collection, Hong Kong
Michael SullivanJerome SilbergeldLiu Qiyi
Painting at the turn of the 21st century

Many of the artists who remained in China after the events of Tiananmen
Square adopted styles influenced by Western Pop art. In one Chinese variation of the
style, “Political Pop,” artists such as Wang Guangyi and Li Shan juxtaposed Red
Guard imagery of workers, peasants, and soldiers with capitalist imagery such as the
Coca-Cola logo (a favourite image of American Pop artist Andy Warhol). The image
of Mao Zedong was frequently utilized—and ridiculed—in paintings of this style.
Other artists used cartoonish portraiture and bright colours (a style reminiscent of
American Roy Lichtenstein) in works that explore the banalities of bourgeois life.

While such derivations of Pop art often possessed common stylistic elements, they
differed in their tendencies either to challenge or to reflect popular culture, politics,
and economic realities. Artists representing these movements participated in
prestigious international art fairs such as the Venice Biennale.
As the 1990s progressed, the Chinese visual arts developed in
an environment increasingly characterized by an open-market economy and a
relatively liberal political climate. Artists became freer to express themselves than
they had ever been in the history of Chinese art. In this democratic atmosphere,
different styles and forms of art coexisted.
Changes in government policy allowed artists to study modern art from the West
more extensively than ever before. Many canonical writings on aesthetics and art
theory were translated and published in China. Chinese artists also greatly enriched
their understanding of Western art once elegant catalogs were imported from
overseas and once exhibitions of the work of artists such as the German Expressionist
painters, Pablo Picasso, and Robert Rauschenberg traveled to China. Inspired by the
“art for art’s sake” quality of much of the work they saw, many Chinese artists began
to reject the idea—long-standing in China—that art must serve politics and the people.
Increasingly, many Chinese artists faithfully imitated Western styles, exploring such
styles as Cubism and Abstract Expressionism. While such experiments shook the
Chinese art system and laid a foundation for the birth of new forms, many artists
made work that was overly derivative of Western styles; by the mid-1990s, such
overtly referential work had decreased in popularity.
Realism maintained an important position in China at the end of the 20th century.
Most Chinese artists graduated from academies of fine art that rigorously trained
them in realist techniques. In the early 1990s, classical Chinese oil painting, as seen
in the work of Jing Shangyi, reached a high degree of excellence. Many artists—
including those in the fields of oil painting, traditional Chinese painting, printmaking,
and sculpture—depicted realistic scenes of daily life in their works, much like the
older generations had done. Artists such as Luo Zhongli followed the tenets of
traditional Chinese art while also drawing on the methods of international modern
art (and sometimes Chinese folk art) in their work. Others used their skills at realism
to adopt contemporary Western trends, including Photo-realism and work inspired
by Western artists such as Andrew Wyeth and Balthus. Many such interpretations of
realism also won international attention and prizes.
By the late 1990s, in addition to continuing traditional forms, Chinese artists renewed
the avant-garde experimentation of the mid-1980s and explored performance
art, conceptual art, earth art, installation art, and video art, all chief media of the
international art scene. As the art world became increasingly global, China thus
became a part of it. At the 2000 Shanghai Biennial, theoreticians, critics, and artists
discussed the virtues of retaining traditional Chinese forms as well as the importance
of learning from foreign styles. These two often conflicting themes continued to
define Chinese art into the 21st century.

Some examples of Gongbi Style Chinese Paintings

https://zrtu.net/%E5%AE%8B%E4%BB%A3%E5%B7%A5%E7%AC%94%E8%8A%B1%E9%B8%9F%E7%94%BB/#18
宋代林椿的工笔花鸟画《果熟来禽图》绘画教程


https://www.sohu.com/a/216153773_175644
清代名画余穉工笔花鸟 (Qing Dynasty)




http://m.tooopen.com/view/82137.html
清朝乾隆皇帝老年画像



Videos on Chinese Paintings.

https://www.christies.com/features/How-to-appreciate-Chinese-landscape-paintings-8280-3.aspx
How to appreciate Chinese landscape

paintings
Specialist Kim Yu looks at Classical, Modern and Contemporary Ink works offered during our
Spring 2017 Hong Kong sales season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAe5GO_inrM
Maxwell K. Hearn: How to read Chinese

painting
Maxwell Hearn, chairman of Asian art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, explains how
to appreciate a Chinese long scroll of painting in 3 mins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIt0wBUdY5E
Ancient Art Links - Chinese Landscape

Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum (大都
会博物馆中国山水画）
“Chinese Landscape Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum” explores China’s thousand-year-old
tradition of landscape painting. Asian Art curator Joseph Scheier-Dolberg leads a guided tour through
the galleries: Landscapes of Poetry, Landscapes of Magic, Landscapes of Reclusion, and more. The
program takes advantage of modern technology to magnify the fascinating details, which otherwise
would be missed by general viewers. These landscape treasures reflect the Daoism view of the world,
that humans are tiny compared to the majesty of nature, and that only mountains and rivers last for
eternity. Ancient Art Links, a CUNY TV Digital Series, is a miniseries produced by Quan Ou,
dedicated to exploring history via stories and profiles of ancient art treasures. The series of short films
aims to bridge an information gap between members of the general public and art historians, and to
become an entertaining and enlightening way to reflect on the past and the common links that join
civilizations and humanity. For more Ancient Art Links, visit http://www.cuny.tv/show/ancientartlinks/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPmED0GbYUs&t=11s
Arts: Ancient Chinese Art | The New York

Times
Maxwell Hearn, the new head of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, demonstrates the
ancient art of understanding and appreciating Chinese scroll paintings. Related Article:
http://nyti.ms/elMjI4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQhqs1iFHDQ
China: West Meets East at The Metropolitan

Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is home to the finest collection of Chinese
masterpieces of any museum outside of China. Produced for Public Television by Great Museums TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6ohNFBi774
Study of Perspective in Chinese Landscape

paintings by MUSEUM FÜR KUNST UND GEWERBE HAMBURG
http://chineseperspective.wordpress.com/ experimental video painting by Yuan Yao "Reisende im Gebirge
im Herbst" (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEfI4-lZLcc
[Eng&Chi] 中国艺术大观水墨意境纪录片

Chinese Art and Painting BBC Documentary
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/imperial-china/beginners-guide-
imperial-china/v/appreciating-chinese-calligraphy
https://youtu.be/MEN0CzGv5-Y
Appreciating Chinese calligraphy

Discover the art of Chinese calligraphy. Try your hand at brushpainting in
this digital interactive. Created by Asian Art Museum.

Chinese Painting PDF

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VJC - Art Readings on Chinese Painting

The two main techniques in Chinese painting are:

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Wall scroll painted by Ma Lin in 1246. Ink on silk, 110.5 cm wide.

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Early Imperial China (221 BC–AD 220)

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Period of division (220–581)

Luoshenfu by Gu Kaizhi (344-406 AD)

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The Sakyamuni Buddha, by Zhang Shengwen, 1173-1176 AD, Song Dynasty.

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Sui and Tang dynasties (581–960)

Song and Yuan dynasties (960–1368)

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Guo Xi, a representative painter of landscape painting in

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Late imperial China (1368–1895)

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Fine brush Freehand or "sketching Mixed Western and

Xiao Meng Wu Guanzhong

 This style tends to be  This style emphasizes  Wu Guanzhong's work

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More gong bi examples More xie yi examples More examples

Li Tongyuan Unidentified artist

Shen Mei (b. 1947)

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Guo Xi (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Guo Xi’s Early Spring

Early Spring, done in

How do man and nature

Guo Xi (ca. 1020-1090), Early Spring, dated

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Guo Xi made his reputation on his landscapes

Guo Xi is known to have prepared large-scale

Guo Xi's paintings often contained

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Old Trees, Level Distance, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127)

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Websites and Resources

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Chinese Artists and Forms

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Calligraphy and Painting Tools

The tools and brush techniques

Calligrapher’s paper is still made by hand in some places by smoothing oatmeal-like

Chinese Handscroll Painting

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Plum and Bamboo by Wu Zhen

Do the rocks in flying-white, the trees in ancient seal script

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Color, Shading and Perspective in Chinese Painting

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Confined by the tools of the calligrapher, Chinese painters

Copying, Forgeries and Fakes

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Subjects of Chinese Painting

Gibbons Chinese artists, wrote Boorstin, painted a "limited number or appropriate