A Brief Introduction of Chinese Painting

中国画简介

Chinese Painting has got an age of more than 2 000 years old. Three major kinds of subject matter dominate Chinese painting. They are birds and flowers； figures； and landscapes of the countryside, mountains and sea. Chinese painting is also closely related to the art of fine handwriting called calligraphy¹. Chinese painters use black ink to produce different tones and a brush to make many kinds of lines. Even when they added color, the ink drawing remained the basic of the design. In judging paintings, the Chinese paid more attention to the brushstrokes than to the subject matter. Chinese painting，also known as the traditional national painting，one of the traditional fine paintings with a long history, has its unique and independent system in the world's fine arts field. Using brushes, ink, and Chinese pigments², a painting is drawn³ on a special kind of paper (Xuan pa-or silk). The traditional subjects are figures, landscapes，flowers and birds. They are divided into two different styles ： one is Gongbi，or meticulous⁴ painting, the traditional realistic style characterized by fine brushwork and close attention to detail, the other is Xieyi，or impressionist painting, the freehand brushwork style characterized by vivid expression and bold and vigorous outlines. The forms of painting include wall paintings, screens, scrolls⁵, albums, and fan covers. There is also unique mounting and paper hanging skill for paintings.

中国画已经有超过2000年的历史。三大类主题的主宰中国画。他们分别是花鸟画、人物画以及乡村地区，高山和大海的山水画。中国画与好的书写艺术也就是书法也密切相关。中国画家用黑色墨水画出不同的色调和用画笔画出多种线条。即使他们增添了色彩，墨水仍然是设计的基本。在判断画作时，中国人更注重笔触，而不是主题。中国画，也被称为民族传统绘画，传统的书画精品具有悠久历史，在世界美术领域中有其独特的和独立的系统。用毛笔，墨水和中国颜料，画在一种特殊的纸上（宣纸-或丝绸）。传统的主题是人物，山水和花鸟。它们被分为两种不同的风格：一种是工笔画，或实意画，传统的现实主义风格的特点是工笔，并密切注意细节，另一种是写意，或者说是印象派绘画，其特点是生动的表情和大胆有力的轮廓，绘画的形式包括：壁画，屏风，卷轴，影集和扇画，还有独特的装配和裱装纸的技能。