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 Chinese
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Chinese Painting
Chinese traditional painting dated back to the Neolithic Period about
eight thousand years ago. The colored pottery with painted animals,
fish, deer and frogs excavated in the 1920's indicated that during
the Neolithic Period the Chinese had already started to use brushes
to paint.
Chinese traditional painting is highly regarded throughout the world
for its theory, expression, and techniques. Different from Western
painting, a Chinese painting is not restricted by the focal point
in its perspective. The artist may paint on a long and narrow piece
of paper or silk all the scenes along the Yangtze River. The picture
Mulan Returns Home provides an example. It is based on an old story
in which Mulan disguised as a boy, joint the army in her father's
stead and returned home after the war was won. In the picture one
can see what people are doing both outside and inside the courtyard
and the house. It can be said that the adoption of shifting perspective
is one of the characteristics of Chinese painting. Why do the Chinese
artists emphasize the shifting perspective? They want to break away
from the restriction of time and space and include in their pictures
both things which are far and things which are near. Also, the artist
found that in life people view their surroundings from a mobile focal
point. The shifting perspective enables the artists to express freely
what he wants.
Chinese paintings are divided into two major categories: free hand
brushwork (xieyi) and detailed brushwork (gongbi). The former is characterized
by simple and bold strokes intended to represent the exaggerated likenesses
of the objects, while the latter by fine brushwork and close attention
to detail. Employing different techniques, the two schools try to
achieve the same end, the creation of beauty.
Traditional Chinese painting is a combination in the same picture
of the arts of poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal engraving. To
the Chinese, "painting in poetry and poetry in painting"
has been one of the criteria for excellent works of art. Inscription
and seal impressions help to explain the painter's ideas and sentiments
and also add decorative beauty to the painting.
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