 Chinese painting during the Song dynasty reached a new level of sophistication with further development of landscape painting . The shan shui style painting — " shan " meaning mountain , and " shui " meaning river — became prominent features in Chinese landscape art . The emphasis laid upon landscape painting in the Song period was grounded in Chinese philosophy ; Taoism stressed that humans were but tiny specks amongst 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 making of glazed and translucent porcelain and celadon wares with complex use of enamels was also developed further during the Song period . Longquan celadon wares were particularly popular in the Song period . Black and red lacquerwares of the Song period featured beautifully carved artwork of miniature nature scenes , landscapes , or simple decorative motifs . However , even though intricate bronze @-@ casting , ceramics and lacquerware , jade carving , sculpture , architecture , and the painting of portraits and closely viewed objects like birds on branches were held in high esteem by the Song Chinese , landscape painting was paramount . By the beginning of the Song dynasty a distinctive landscape style had emerged . Artists mastered the formula of creating 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 . 
