Traditional Chinese Painting / Chinese Brush Painting

Chinese paintings can be traced back to as early as 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, when people began to use minerals to draw simple pictures resembling animals, plants, and even human beings on rocks.

Chinese Brush Painting presents a particularly interesting challenge due to its unique elements -- the ink, paper and brush. Chinese paintings are done on silk or rice paper, which is very thin and delicate and absorbs paint easily.

As far as subject is concerned, Chinese paintings fall into several categories, such as figure paintings, landscapes, and flower-and-bird paintings.

Most Chinese paintings have a calligraphic inscription, such as a saying, beautiful poem, or poetic description of the subject. The painter "signs" the painting by adding a red seal.

The principal forms of traditional Chinese painting are the hanging scroll, album of paintings, fan surface and long horizontal scroll.

The mastery of Chinese Brush Painting requires many years of dedication, serious study and self-discipline. It is one of the world's most demanding art forms.

China's New Year Picture

Spring Festival, China's most celebrative occasion, begins its annual felicitations with the posting of New Year pictures on the walls and windows on the 24th of the 12th month in the lunar calendar according to tradition.

It originated from the peach wood charms hung on the gate early in the Zhou Dynasty (about 11th century-256 BC) as part of the Spring Festival celebrations and activities to drive away the evil spirits.

Traditional New Year pictures mainly feature local people's life and customs with intense colors and violent contrast.

Different cultures and different folk customs gestated various colorful New Year pictures. Environmental and customary differences contributed to various local flavors in color, pattern, picture formation, and function.

Nowadays, many famous places that produce New Year pictures have developed the place's culture and tourism with the support of woodblock, hence greatly enhancing the artworks' popularity and protection.

Chinese Mural Painting Art

Mural painting art, a combination of architecture and fine arts, has infinite charm.

The mural painting's content in the primeval period mainly reflected real life, such as hunting, grazing, planting, animals, festivals and even witchcraft. It is said that heroic figures and historical stories appeared in the mural paintings as early as the time of the Yellow Emperor.

Grotto and temple mural paintings of different dynasties ranging from the Wei Dynasty (220-265AD) to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties, varied a lot in composition.

Chinese Calligraphy

Chinese characters evolved from pictures and signs, and the Chinese art of calligraphy developed naturally from its unique writing system. Traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting is characterized by unique forms of expression, its roots can be traced back to paintings some 6,000 years ago.

Regarded as the most abstract and sublime form of art in Chinese culture, "Shu Fa" (calligraphy) is often thought to be most revealing of one's personality. During the imperial era, calligraphy was used as an important criterion for selection of executives to the Imperial court.

By controlling the concentration of ink, the thickness and absorptive of the paper, and the flexibility of the brush, the artist is free to produce an infinite variety of styles and forms.

Poetry

Poetry is the earliest form of Chinese literature that originated from folk songs before the written Chinese language even existed.

The earliest anthology of ancient poems, Shi Jing (Book of Poetry), which is prized by scholars for its literary and historic significance, dates back to between the 11th and 6th century BC. Instead of glorifying gods and heroes as was the case in early poems of other cultures, these poems expressed the daily lives of the peasants: their sorrows and joys, occupations and festivities. Characterized by simplicity of language and emotion, they marked the beginning of Chinese poetry.

Qu Yuan, a poet of the Chu State (4th century BC), wrote Chu Ci (Elegies of Chu), pioneering a unique form of classical Chinese poetry, both romantic and mythological.

The heyday of poetry, came in the Tang Dynasty (618 -907 AD) -- a period of general peace and prosperity. More than 50,000 poems written by 2,200 poets during these 300 years are still known today.

In the Song Dynasty (960 -1279 AD), Ci flourished. While poetry in five-syllable and seven-syllable lines, other classical forms was generally regarded as somewhat inferior.

Guo Moruo (1892 -1987) -- an ardent call for social reform and rebellion against the decadent, old regime -- is identified as the beginning of the movement from classical poetry to new poetry.