Editing Chinese art (section)

== Painting ==
[[File:Imaginary tour through Xiao-xiang.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Part of ''[[Eight Views of Xiaoxiang]]'', an imaginary tour through [[Xiao-xiang]] by [[Li Shi (artist)|Li Shi]] ({{lang|zh|李氏}}); 12th-century; scroll, ink on paper; 30 × 400 cm; [[Tokyo National Museum]]]]
{{Main|Chinese painting}}

Traditional Chinese painting, like [[Chinese calligraphy]], is done with a
[[Ink and wash painting|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 can be mounted on scrolls, such as [[hanging scroll]]s or [[handscroll]]s. Traditional painting can also be done on album sheets, walls, [[lacquerware]], [[folding screen]]s, and other media.

The two main techniques in Chinese painting are:
* [[Gongbi|Gong-bi]] (工筆), meaning "meticulous", uses highly detailed brushstrokes that delimits details very precisely. It is often highly coloured and usually depicts figural or narrative subjects. It is often practised by artists working for the royal court or in independent workshops. [[Bird-and-flower painting]]s were often in this style.
* [[Ink and wash painting]], in Chinese ''Shui-mo'' or (水墨<ref>The Chinese character "mo" means ink and "shui" means water</ref>) also loosely termed watercolour or brush painting, and also known as "literati painting", as it was one of the "[[four arts]]" of the Chinese [[Scholar-official]] class.<ref>Sickman, 222</ref> In theory this was an art practised by gentlemen, a distinction that begins to be made in writings on art from the Song dynasty, though in fact the careers of leading exponents could benefit considerably.<ref>Rawson, 114–119; Sickman, Chapter 15</ref> This style is also referred to as "xie yi" (寫意) or freehand style.

Artists from the Han to the Tang dynasties mainly painted the human figure. Much of what is known 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. Most Chinese portraits showed a formal full-length frontal view, and were used in the family in [[ancestor veneration]]. Imperial portraits were more flexible, but were generally not seen outside the court, and portraiture formed no part of Imperial propaganda, as in other cultures.

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]], [[Li Cheng (painter)|Li Cheng]], [[Fan Kuan]], and [[Guo Xi]] painted pictures of towering mountains, using strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted brushstrokes to suggest rough rocks. In the south, Dong Yuan, [[Juran (painter)|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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File:Qian Xuan - Early Autumn.jpg|''Early Autumn''; by [[Qian Xuan]]; 13th century; ink and colors on paper scroll; 26.7 × 120.7&nbsp;cm; [[Detroit Institute of Arts]]. The decaying lotus leaves and dragonflies hovering over stagnant water are probably a veiled criticism of Mongol rule<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dia.org/the_collection/overview/viewobject.asp?objectid=57885 |title=Early Autumn (29.1) |publisher=[[Detroit Institute of Arts]] |access-date=2008-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002162351/http://www.dia.org/the_collection/overview/viewobject.asp?objectid=57885 |archive-date=October 2, 2008 |df=mdy }}</ref>
File:Zhou Jichang - Lohan manifesting himself as an eleven-headed Guanyin - Google Art Project.jpg|''Lohan manifesting himself as an eleven-headed Guanyin''; circa 1178; ink and color on silk; 111.5 × 53.1&nbsp;cm; [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]]
File:Huang Jucai - Parrot and insect among pear blossoms - Google Art Project.jpg|Parrot and insect among pear blossoms; by [[Huang Jucai]]; second half of the 13th century; ink and colour on silk; 27.6 × 27.6&nbsp;cm; Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)
File:Ch'ien Hsüan 001.jpg|''[[Wang Xizhi]] watching geese''; by [[Qian Xuan]]; 1235 – before 1307; handscroll (ink, color and gold on paper); [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)
File:Anonymous - The Eight Hosts of Deva, Naga, and Yakshi - 1973.70.2 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tiff|The eight hosts of Deva, Naga and Yakshi; 1454; hanging scroll, ink and color on silk; dimensions of the painting: 140.2 × 78.8&nbsp;cm; [[Cleveland Museum of Art]]
File:Portrait_assis_de_l'empereur_Tianqi.jpg|Portrait of [[Tianqi Emperor|Zhu Youjiao]]; after 1620; painting; [[National Palace Museum]], Taipei
File:清 陸漢 山水八開 冊-Eight Landscapes MET DP154485.jpg|Landscape, part of an album of eight leaves; by Lu Han; 1699; ink and color on paper; image: 30.5 × 22.9&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:清 陸漢 山水八開 冊-Eight Landscapes MET DP154488.jpg|Another landscape, part of the same album of eight leaves; by Lu Han; 1699; ink and color on paper; image: 30.5 × 22.9&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:MET DP165697.jpg|Landscape; by Dong Yuan; turn of the 18/19th century; handscroll, ink on silk; 39.1 × 717.6&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:MET DP160940.jpg|Portrait; early 20th century (?); album of twenty leaves, ink and color on silk; 28.3 × 22.2&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Chinese Painting- Traveling on the Road.jpg|Chinese Painting – Traveling on the Road.
File:北宋 徽宗 竹禽圖 卷-Finches and bamboo MET DP151504.jpg|Northern Song dynasty-Finches and bamboo
File:Stroll About InSpring.jpg|Strolling About in Spring, by Zhan Ziqian, artist of the Sui dynasty (581–618).
File:Court Ladies of the Former Shu by Tang Yin.jpg|Court Ladies of the Former Shu by [[Tang Yin]]
File:Tang Yin - The Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion - 1941.1021 - Art Institute of Chicago.jpg|Tang Yin – The Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion
File:Tang Yin - A Beautiful Woman - 27.076 - Rhode Island School of Design Museum.jpg|Tang Yin – A beauty – Rhode Island School of Design Museum
File:Tang Yin - Making the Bride's Gown - Walters 3520.jpg|Tang Yin – Making the Bride's Gown – Walters
File:Brooklyn Museum - The Chinese Buddhist Pilgrim Hsuan-Tsang.jpg|Brooklyn Museum – The Chinese Buddhist Pilgrim [[Xuanzang]]
File:China, Qing dynasty - Portrait of Buddhist Monks of Obaku Sect - 2003.352 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|China, Qing dynasty – Portrait of Buddhist Monks of Obaku Sect – Cleveland Museum of Art
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