CHINESE PAINTING 

 
 
Made By: 
Pratch Chaiyawat (军师) 
Petepat Harnpraween (Pete) 
1010 
 
Presenting: 
Ms. Lin Cai 
   
Chinese Painting (国画)​ ​is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the
traditional style is known today in Chinese as ​guóhuà​, 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 ink​ or ​coloured
pigments​; oils are not used. As with calligraphy, the most popular materials on which paintings are made
are paper and silk. The finished work can be mounted on scrolls, such as ​hanging scrolls​ or ​handscrolls​.
Traditional painting can also be done on album sheets, walls, ​lacquerware​, ​folding screens​, and other
media. ​In China, Chinese people normally draw and paint about nature and landscapes (animal, plant,
waterfall).

History of Chinese Painting

The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather
than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals. It was only during the
Warring States period​ (475–221 BC) that artists began to represent the world around them. In imperial
times (beginning with the ​Eastern Jin dynasty​), painting and ​calligraphy​ in China were among the most
highly appreciated arts in the court and they were often practiced by amateurs—aristocrats and
scholar-officials—who had the leisure time necessary to perfect the technique and sensibility necessary for
great brushwork. Calligraphy and painting were thought to be the purest forms of art. 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 AD,
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.
Artists from the ​Han​ (206 BC – 220 AD) 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 to get to paradise. Others illustrated the teachings of the Chinese
philosopher ​Confucius​ or showed scenes of daily life.
During the ​Tang dynasty​, figure painting flourished at the royal court. Artists such as ​Zhou Fang​ depicted
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 the appearance of nature exactly (​realism​) but rather to grasp an emotion
or atmosphere, as if catching the "rhythm" of nature.

Painting during the Song dynasty (960–1279) reached a further development of landscape painting;
immeasurable distances were conveyed through the use of blurred outlines, mountain contours
disappearing into the mist, and impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena. The ​shan shui​ style
painting—"shan" meaning mountain, and "shui" meaning river—became prominent in Chinese landscape
art. The emphasis laid upon landscape was grounded in ​Chinese philosophy​; ​Taoism​ stressed that humans
were but tiny specks in the vast and greater cosmos, while ​Neo-Confucianist​ writers often pursued the
discovery of patterns and principles that they believed caused all social and natural phenomena. The
painting of portraits and closely viewed objects like birds on branches were held in high esteem, but
landscape painting was paramount. By the beginning of the Song Dynasty a distinctive ​landscape style​ had
emerged. Artists mastered the formula of intricate and realistic scenes placed in the foreground, while the
background retained qualities of vast and infinite space. Distant mountain peaks rise out of high clouds and
mist, while streaming rivers run from afar into the foreground.

"​Jieziyuan Huazhuan​ Lotus Flowers", Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual

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 18th and 19th centuries, great commercial cities such as ​Yangzhou​ and ​Shanghai​ became art centers
where wealthy merchant-patrons encouraged artists to produce bold new works. However, similar to the
phenomenon of key lineages producing, many well-known artists came from established artistic families.
Such families were concentrated in the ​Jiangnan​ region and produced painters such as ​Ma Quan​, ​Jiang
Tingxi​, and ​Yun Zhu​.

Beginning with the ​New Culture Movement​, Chinese artists started to adopt using Western techniques.
Prominent Chinese artists who studied Western painting include ​Li Tiefu​, ​Yan Wenliang​, ​Xu Beihong​, ​Lin
Fengmian​, ​Fang Ganmin​ and ​Liu Haisu​.

An ​Honourable Mention​ certificate ​Yan Wenliang​ received during his Paris years at the ​Salon de 1929

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.

Differences between Chinese painting and Western painting

1. Chinese artists use their imaginations to paint expressive interpretations of nature, staying true to
the Taoist philosophy of achieving harmony with nature. While, western artists rely on shapes,
colors, lights, and shadows to convey a scene.
2. Chinese artists imagine themselves flying over mountains like birds to observe landscapes,
creating a moving perspective.​ ​Western landscape paintings usually have one-, two-, or three-point
perspectives that attempt to accurately depict a scene as it might be captured in a photograph.
3. Chinese artists use simplified, minimal brushstrokes to delineate subjects as they see and feel
them.​ ​Western artists render objects according to light source to depict an object’s surface, using
more technical brushstrokes.
4. Chinese landscape paintings usually have a lot of unpainted areas. While western paintings does
not.
5. Chinese artists rely on the power of suggestion to depict night and rain scenes.Western artists
attempt to capture ​scenes using things that occured in real life such as natural phenomenons, etc.

Influence of Chinese and Western painting to Thai painting

Traditional Thai painting is primarily composed of ​Buddhist art​ and scenes from the China epics.
It almost exclusively depicts ​images of the Buddha​, being very similar with the other styles from ​East
Asia​, such as Japan and China. Traditional Thai ​paintings​ usually consist of book illustrations, and painted
decoration of buildings such as ​palaces​ and ​temples​. Over time, Thai art was influenced by the other Asian
styles, most by ​Indian​ and ​Khmer​. Thai sculpture and painting, and the royal courts provided patronage,
erecting temples and other religious shrines as acts of merit or to commemorate important events. In
contrast, Thai painting and Western Painting does not have any similar things at all (In content) except
some tools and color that Thailand had receive from the Western such as brushstroke and chemical color.