Title: Traditional Chinese Painting: History, Styles, Examples
Headings: Traditional Chinese Painting: History, Styles, Examples
Traditional Chinese Painting: History, Styles, Examples
From Meticulous to Freehand: Painting Techniques
History in a Nutshell
Landscapes That Grace Chinese Paintings
Related Tours
The Yellow Mountains (Huangshan in Chinese)
Guilin

Content: It is often used for portraits or narrative subjects. Xieyi (写意 /sshyeah-ee/ 'writing' ), meaning “freehand", is a looser style of painting, and usually used in landscapes. Xieyi often features exaggerated forms, and expresses the artist’s feelings. It is also called shuimo (水墨 /shway-mor/ 'water-ink'), meaning 'watercolor and ink'. History in a Nutshell
From the Han (206 BC - 220 AD) to Tang (618-907) dynasties, artists painted many detailed, elaborate portraits of the royal court. Some of the ancient works depicting court lives of emperors, their ladies, and imperial horses have been preserved in tombs and burial sites. Tang Dynasty also saw the beginning of landscape paintings, often referred to as shanshui (山水 /shan-shway/ 'mountain-water') paintings. These are less precise and allowed for individual freedom in interpreting the subjects. The time from the Five Dynasties period (907-960) to the Northern Song period (960-1127) is known as the “Golden Age of Chinese Landscape Painting”. Using bold strokes and black lines, artists depicted rolling hills, rivers and stones.