Traditional Chinese Painting: A Brief Introduction

Traditional Chinese painting may be intimidating to many outsiders.

After all, most of it is totally separate from Western art.

And its carries around 3,000 years of unique historical, cultural, and philosophical backgrounds.

But today, it’s more accessible than ever.

Chinese paintings can always be enjoyed for their own sake. 

And for those who delve deeper into their contexts, rich rewards await.

Maintaining perspective across millennia

Our view of Chinese painting today is obviously influenced by:

• What survives. Discoveries (in tombs and elsewhere) of paintings still happen
• How artists and art historians have interpreted what came before them. China has rich history of art criticism, trends and debates.

Painting’s function and status has varied at different times. 

Outside factors, such economic or political change, can sometimes be directly or indirectly attributed to this.

Other times, as with Western painting, profound artistic breakthroughs appear to come out of nowhere

Before we look more closely at traditional Chinese painting, we should look at a few key features.

Chinese painting’s tools of the trade

Chinese painting tools are one of the main features distinguishing it from painting from the West or elsewhere (aside from other East Asian countries that learned from China).

Up until the 20^th century, the Chinese primarily wrote and painted with the four treasures of the study:

1. Paper. This was invented in China in the second century AD. Before that, bamboo, bone, and silk were variously used. (Silk continued to be used, too.)
2. Brush. Chinese brushes are different from Western paintbrushes. They are made from bamboo and animal fur, with tips are uniquely shaped for writing. 
3. Inkstick. Chinese ink was traditionally made from residue left over when pine was burned. This residue (known as lampblack in English) was then mixed with glue and cast in a rectangular block.
4. Inkstone. An inkstone is a small, hollowed out ceramic or stone object where inksticks are ground down and mixed with water. They are sometimes treated as objects of art themselves. 

Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting

In China, calligraphy is considered a fine art. 

Painting approached the same distinction around the Song dynasty (960 – 1279 AD).

This can be tracked by the wages and privileges members of the imperial Academy of Calligraphy had in contrast to those of the Academy of Painting. And by writings from the times.

Part of the reason for this is that a higher level of education is required to master calligraphy.

The Three Perfections

The Three Perfections (calligraphy, poetry, and painting) are the three main arts China’s elite practiced have practiced for thousands of years.

Chinese paintings often feature poems written in fine calligraphy.

This began in the Yuan dynasty (1271 AD – 1368 AD). But it echoes a principle present much longer in Chinese history: a gentleman was expected to be someone who was good at many things.

A brief timeline of Chinese painting

Earliest Chinese painting

As with most (if not all) civilisations, painting began in China before writing did.

The earliest examples of Chinese painting are decorative painting found on pottery and walls around 3,000 years ago.

Soon after, the written Chinese language then began to develop. Its earliest forms are preserved today on animal bones and shells.

As Chinese writing become more sophisticated, so too did the technology for it.

Palaeolithic period (? – 10,000 BC) period

Chinese painting technically started in the Palaeolithic (or old stone age) period over 11,000 years ago, with paintings discovered in caves and on cliffs.

Thereafter, it appeared on pottery and walls of buildings. Archaeologists have found many examples of this across China.

Eastern Zhou period (770 – 256 BC)

The Eastern Zhou period is divided into two main parts: 

• The Spring and Autumn period (770 BC – 481 BC) 
• The Warring states period (ca. 481 – ~401 BC).

Some of China’s most influential figures appeared during this time, including Laozi, Confucius, Zhuangzi and Mencius. 

And the latter period was the first – brief – unified dynasty in China’s long history.

A recognisably Chinese culture existed in several competing and warring states during this time.

One example of a painting from this time is A Gentleman Riding a Dragon (人物御龙画) by an unknown artist, painted on silk banners sometime during the 3rd century BC.

It was likely used a likeness of a deceased person used at their funeral (other paintings have been found at burial sites).

It’s style is now noted as being of the ‘floating silk threads from antiquity‘ (高古游丝描). 

This is a subtle, elegant style that often featured people in profile with flowing silk gowns.

Qin dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC) to the Tang dynasty (618 – 907 AD)

The Qin dynasty only lasted 15 years, but it set a landmark precedent as the first unified dynasty in Chinese history.

There were 10 different dynasties between the Qin and the Tang dynasty. During this time, Chinese culture developed in many ways.

One example of painting from this period was a mural found in a tomb the city of Jiuquan, Gansu Prince from the 4th or 5th century.

In the sixth century, painter and art historian Xiu He also recorded his famous ‘six principles for judging paintings‘.

The Tang dynasty is still regarded by many as one of the high points of Chinese culture, especially poetry. 

One of its most famous poets, Wang Wei (ca. 701 – 761 AD) was both a painter and a poet. Later on, he would become an important figure to the literati (educated scholars).

味摩诘之诗，诗中有画；观摩诘之画，画中有诗
In every poem by Wang Wei, the is a painting; and in every one of his paintings, there is poem.

– Su Shi

Wang was known for his landscape paintings (and poetry). However, throughout most of the dynasty, figure painting was still the most prestigious form of painting.

Five Dynasties period (907 – 960 AD)

The Five dynasties period was brief and violent.

Despite this, it gave birth to an artistic revolution.

Five dynasties landscape painting remains some of the most important and influential work ever done.

The work of many separate brilliant artists from this era laid the foundations of this genre for the Song dynasty.

Song dynasty (960 – 1279 AD)

During the Song dynasty, China’s artistic culture flourished.

It was during this time, for example, that literati painting and many other distinct features and philosophies of Chinese painting emerged.

Today, Song dynasty landscape painting is considered one of the most important artistic developments in all painting history.

It can be divided into two main periods.

The Northern Song period (960 – 1127)

During the Northern Song period, the Song dynasty ruled most of the traditional Chinese empire.

This period is marked by the surge in popularity and status painting achieved. 6,387 paintings from this era have been recorded.

The list of great artists from this period is too long to place here. But Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, Su Shi, Wang Shen, and Yan Wengui are just a few examples.

And Landscape painting, figure painting, and architectural painting styles all evolved, too.

Painting is generally seen to have reached the level of importance its sister arts (calligraphy and poetry) had achieved, too.

The first recorded evidence of this can be found in words written by the scholar Zhang Shunmin (1034? – 1100):

古人送行赠以言，李君送行兼以画。
When the ancients were seeing off a traveller, they presented him with words; When Master Li [Li Gonglin] gives a parting gift, he also gives a painting.

– Zhang Shunmin

Here is perhaps one of the greatest paintings from that period by Li Cheng (919 – 967 AD), A Solitary Temple by Amid Clearing Peaks (晴朗萧寺 [Qínglǎng xiàosī]).

The sense of layered perspective and detail in this work help it attain a certain level of harmony that many Chinese paintings seek.

Southern Song period (1127 – 1279)

The Song royal court moved south when Northern Jurchen forces established their Jin Dynasty (1115 – 1234 AD) over much of Northern China.

The Song still ruled most of China south of the Huai river, until the Mongol invasion that established the Yuan dynasty (1271 – 1368 AD).

It was a period of great political turmoil. So, perhaps unsurprisingly, not much innovation is noted to have taken place.

However, great artists and painting still appeared.

Yuan dynasty (1279 – 1368)

The Yuan dynasty was a Mongol-run dynasty. It is one of many Chinese dynasties over the past millennia that was run by non-Chinese peoples.

The Mongols (originally led by the great Khubilai Khan) justified their rule by stating that they had in fact united factored Chinese territories.

Despite resistance (both physical and ‘spiritual’ for want of a better phrase) from some, many Chinese still participated in the empire and maintained their culture.

One of these was Zicong, Khubilai’s trusted Chinese advisor.

Artists were no different. The Mongol rulers were naturally less interested in Chinese art than Song dynasty emperors had been.

However, some Chinese artists began to work with them, whilst others relied on patronage from fellow Chinese elites or former elites.

Three Friends of the Cold Season

Subtle resistance themes emerged in the latter groups’ work.

Subjects such as bamboo were commonly chosen to symbolise the artist’s feelings about resistance and perseverance. (Bamboo is known for its strength and flexibility).

These themes could easily be displayed in plain sight in paintings of peaceful scenes of rolling hills…

One example is a painting by Zhao Mengjian (1199 – 1295 AD): Three friends of the Cold Season (岁寒三友). 

These ‘three friends’ (pine, bamboo, and blossoming plum) represented or symbolised survival during harsh (winter) conditions.

Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644)

China’s Ming dynasty was a return of Chinese rule over the empire. It was a remarkable period of cultural, commercial and population growth.

Like the Song, the Ming promoted Chinese painting, calligraphy and culture. Court artists painted for the imperial court, and even some emperors themselves painted.

Literati painting continued to develop, too.

And as the late Ming state lost its grip, literati painting style become more prestigious than professional painting.

Many innovative new schools (i.e., groups or movements) of painting emerged.

The Zhe School

The Zhe School (the ‘Zhe’ of Zhejiang province) of painting was founded by the artist Dai Jin (1388 – 1462 AD).

The philosophy behind the school was to revive and develop Song dynasty art style.

Most of the painters from this movement were from Zhejiang and Fujian. They were inspired by Song dynasty painting and favoured relatively fragmented images as well as simple and easy-to-understand ones.

Other famous Zhe School painters included Wu Wei (1459 – 1509 AD) and Chen Hongshou (1598 – 1652).

The school’s painting style also influenced Choson dynasty (1392 – 1910 AD) artists in Korea and Muromachi period (1393 – 1573 AD) artists in Japan.

Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911)

The Qing dynasty was, like the Yuan, ruled by non-Chinese: the Manchus (formerly known as the Jurchens).

Qing rulers had taken over China shortly after the Chinese rebel Li Zecheng had toppled the Ming dynasty. 

The last Ming emperor, the Chongzhen Emporer (1627 – 1644 AD), hanged himself in April 1644 in the Imperial Garden just outside the imperial palace (the Forbidden City) in Beijing. 

It is said that just before, he had rung a bell to summon his ministers for advice on what to do about the rebels that had entered the city, but no one had arrived. 

During the early Qing dynasty, remnants of the Ming royal court controlled parts of Southern China.

Some Ming loyalists, including many intellectuals (called ‘leftover subjects’ [移民]), followed them, others quietly withdrew from society more quietly or adapted to being Qing subjects.

There were draconian rules on Chinese society, such as forcing Chinese men to shave the front of their hair and tie the back into a queue (a pig-tail).

But the Qing elite soon became enthusiastic patrons and even participants in many aspects of Chinese culture.

The Kangxi Emperor (1654 – 1722), for example, was a keen scholar of Chinese classics, painting and calligraphy.

It was during this time that Chinese artists become increasingly familiar with western painting.

But the influence went the other way, too. Here, for example, is a painting of the Qianlong Emperor (1711 – 1799 AD) by Jesuit court painter Giuseppe Castiglione (1688 – 1766 AD).