CHINESE PAINTING

国画
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today
in Chinese as guóhuà (国画).
In China, Chinese people normally draw and paint about nature and landscapes (animal, plant, waterfall).
History of Chinese
Painting
Early Periods

- Mainly painted the human figure.

- 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.
Sui and Tang Dynasty

- Many paintings were landscapes, often shanshui (山水, "mountain water") paintings.
- In these landscapes, monochromaticand sparse (a style that is collectively called shuimohua)
- The purpose was not to reproduce the appearance of nature exactly but rather to grasp an emotion or atmosphere, as if
catching the "rhythm" of nature.
Qing Dynasty

- 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.
Modern Painting

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.
- How do they make Chinese
Painting?
- What kind of art do they want
to illustrate?
- And how is it different from
the western’s?
Chinese artists use their imaginations to paint expressive interpretations of nature, staying true to the Taoist philosophy of
achieving harmony with nature.
Taoist philosophy refers to the various philosophical currents of Taoism, a tradition of Chinese origin which
emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao.
Chinese artists imagine themselves flying over mountains like birds to observe landscapes, creating a moving perspective. The
goal is to invite the viewers to wander over and through the landscape.
Chinese artists use simplified, minimal brushstrokes to delineate subjects as they see and feel them.
Chinese artists rely on the power of suggestion to depict night and rain scenes. A night or rain scene would be the same as a
daytime scene, simply adding a moon or umbrella to distinguish the scene.
Western artists attempt to capture the night scene as dark, using glittering lights to suggest stars, moons, and night lights, and
similarly, using water in action to depict rain.
Western artists render objects according to light source to describe an object’s surface, using more technical brushstrokes.
While, western artists rely on shapes, colors, lights, and shadows to convey a scene. They also like to draw paintings about
special event that occurred.
 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.
 Main Differences Between

Chinese Paintings Western Paintings

1. Chinese artists use their imaginations to paint 1. Western artists rely on shapes, colors, lights, and
expressive interpretations of nature, staying true to the shadows to convey a scene.
Taoist philosophy of achieving harmony with nature.

2. Chinese artists imagine themselves flying over 2. Western landscape paintings usually have one-, two-,
mountains like birds to observe landscapes, creating a or three-point perspectives that attempt to accurately
moving perspective. depict a scene as it might be captured in a photograph.

3. Chinese artists use simplified, minimal brushstrokes 3. Western artists render objects according to light
to delineate subjects as they see and feel them. source to depict an object’s surface, using more
technical brushstrokes.

4. Chinese landscape paintings usually have a lot of 4. Western landscapes sometimes do not leave whites.
unpainted areas.

5. Chinese artists rely on the power of suggestion to 5. Western artists attempt to capture
depict night and rain scenes. scenes using things that occured in real life such as
natural phenomenons, etc.
 谢谢！
Pratch (军师) 1010
Petepat (Pete) 1010