Landscape Painting - China's Best Contribution to Art

Article by Vampire

Painting was no longer concerning the description with the visible world; it became a means of conveying the inner landscape from the artist's heart and thoughts.

Landscape painting continues to be called "China's greatest contribution to the art with the world", and owes its unique character towards the Taoist (Daoist) tradition in Chinese culture. You will find more and more sophisticated landscape backgrounds to figure subjects showing hunting, farming or animals from the Han dynasty onwards, with surviving examples mostly in stone or clay reliefs from tombs, which are presumed to stick to the prevailing designs in painting, no doubt without having capturing the full effect with the original paintings. The precise status from the later copies of reputed functions by renowned painters (several of whom are recorded in literature) prior to the 10th century is unclear.

One particular instance can be a popular within the National Palace Museum in Taipei. This exhibits the entourage riding by means of vertiginous mountains from the kind normal of later paintings, but is in complete color "producing an overall pattern that is practically Persian", in what was evidently a popular and stylish court style.

By the late Tang dynasty, landscape painting had become a completely independent genre that embodied the universal longing of cultivated guys to escape their quotidian world to commune with nature. Such pictures may also convey specific social, philosophical, or political convictions. As the Tang dynasty disintegrated, the idea of withdrawal in to the natural globe became a significant thematic focus of poets and painters. Faced together with the failure in the human order, discovered men sought permanence inside of the natural globe, retreating into the mountains to find a sanctuary from the chaos of dynastic collapse.

In the course of the earlier Song dynasty, visions with the all-natural hierarchy became metaphors for that well-regulated state. Concurrently, pictures in th! e privat e retreat proliferated amongst a brand new class of scholar-officials. These males extolled the virtues of self-cultivation and often in response to political setbacks or profession disappointments and asserted their identity as literati by means of poetry, calligraphy, as well as a new style of painting that employed calligraphic brushwork for self-expressive ends. The monochrome photos of old trees, bamboo, rocks, and retirement retreats produced by these scholar-artists grew to become emblems of their character and spirit.

Underneath the Mongol Yuan dynasty, when a lot of educated Chinese were barred from government service, the model of the Song literati retreat evolved into a full-blown alternative culture as this disenfranchised elite transformed their estates into sites for literary gatherings and other cultural pursuits. These gatherings were frequently commemorated in paintings that, as opposed to presenting a practical depiction of an actual location, conveyed the shared cultural ideals of a reclusive world by means of symbolic shorthand that a villa might be represented by a humble thatched hut. Since a man's studio or garden might be viewed as a part of himself, paintings of this kind of places often served to convey the values of their owner.

The Yuan dynasty also witnessed the burgeoning of a second variety of cultivated landscape, the "mind landscape," which embodied the two discovered references towards the types of earlier masters and, through calligraphic brushwork, the inner spirit of the artist. Going beyond representation, scholar-artists imbued their paintings with private emotions. By evoking pick antique styles, they could also identify themselves with all the values linked with the old masters. Painting was no longer about the description of the visible globe; it became a sign of conveying the inner landscape of the artist's heart and thoughts.

During the Ming dynasty, when native Chinese rule was restored, court artists made conservative pictures that revived t! he Song metaphor for that state as a well-ordered imperial garden, while literati painters pursued self-expressive targets by way of the stylistic language of Yuan scholar-artists. Shen Zhou, the patriarch in the Wu School of painting centered within the cosmopolitan city of Suzhou, and his preeminent follower Wen Zhengming exemplified Ming literati ideals. Each man chose to reside at property in lieu of follow official careers, devoting themselves to self-cultivation through a lifetime spent reinterpreting the designs of Yuan scholar-painters.

Morally charged photos of reclusion remained a potent political symbol throughout the early many years from the Manchu Qing dynasty, a period of time in which several Ming loyalists lived in self-enforced retirement. Usually lacking access to critical collections of old masters, loyalist artists drew inspiration from the organic elegance with the regional scenery.

Pictures of nature have remained a potent source of inspiration for artists down towards the current day. Although the Chinese landscape has been transformed by millennia of human occupation, Chinese artistic expression has also been deeply imprinted with photos with the organic world. Viewing Chinese landscape paintings, it really is clear that Chinese depictions of nature are seldom mere representations from the external world. Rather, they're expressions with the mind and heart in the individual artists cultivated landscapes that embody the culture and cultivation with their masters.

Amy drawing a panda bear with Chinese painting brush on a piece of rice paper with silver flakes

This video comes in two parts: the first half is Amy drawing a panda bear with Chinese painting brush on a piece of rice paper with silver flakes, and the second half is some video fortages we took at a panda reservation center in China. Hope this video will give you some inspiration to paint panda and bamboo in Chinese painting style. You may order bear brush, rice paper and ink from our online store at www.blueheronarts.com Brushes: large wolf hair brush and a soft combination brush. Paper: Xuan rice paper with golden flakes Ink: Ground ink(leftover) from inkstick and inkstone Happy Earth Day! (04/22/2010)

Video Rating: 5 / 5

Folk Genre Painting (Culture of China) (Chinese Edition)

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The Way of the Brush: Painting Techniques of China and Japan (No Series)

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The Dynasties of China: A History

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Yuan Mei: Eighteenth Century Chinese Poet (China: History, Philosophy, Economics)

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In the Realm of the Flower Phoenix

The Flower Phoenix is an ancient handscroll which has been created through generations of women artists. The original page of the handscroll was created by China's Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. The Tang Dynasty is considered by many to be the height of Chinese artistic culture, and Li Bai is China's most renowned ancient poet. Li Bai was inspired by the beauty of Yang Mei. Yang Mei inspires the master painter Wu Daozi. Wu Daozi creates the second page of the Flower Phoenix handscroll. Legends say that Wu Daozi was a mystical painter, who at the end of his life painted a doorway in the side of a mountain, opened the door and disappeared forever.

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Hand scroll paintings were rolled from one side to the other and as each painted section was revealed, the story of the imagery was viewed and discussed. The book unfolds over many generations and the lives of the long line of women artists who created the Flower Phoenix are brought to life by the telling.The Flower Phoenix is an ancient handscroll which has been created through generations of women artists. The original page of the handscroll was created by China's Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. The Tang Dynasty is considered by many to be the height of Chinese artistic culture, and Li Bai is China's most renowned ancient poet. Li Bai was inspired by the beauty of Yang Mei. Yang Mei inspires the master painter Wu Daozi. Wu Daozi creates the second page of the Flower Phoenix handscroll. Legends say that Wu Daozi was a mystical painter, who at the end of his life painted a doorway in the side of a mountain, opened the door and disappe! ared for ever.

Each generation creates panels in the book. By telling the story, the storyteller creates a portal into the Realm of the Flower Phoenix. The "storybearer" reads the story and summons the power of the energy of all the generations.

The story opens with Mable "Peach Blossom" Yang's one hundredth birthday celebration. She is going to pass the book on to the next generation. Mable is the most potent storybearer in the family line.

Hand scroll paintings were rolled from one side to the other and as each painted section was revealed, the story of the imagery was viewed and discussed. The book unfolds over many generations and the lives of the long line of women artists who created the Flower Phoenix are brought to life by the telling.

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  • Vintage
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  • 13" wide x 13" deep x 16.5" high
Chinese painted fancy food basket with carved images of bats of happiness and deer on lid and other Chinese symbols on the bottom rim. Reed handles and red lacquered finish.

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Chinese calligraphy writing and brush painting / sumi set

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  • Size: 8.5" x 6"
  • Made in China
Chinese character writing is a highly evolved discipline that relies as much on artistic craftsmanship, as it does on literary composition. Our basic writing set comes with two brushes, a black ink stick, ink stone and red ink for the "chop" or signature stamp. The ink is made by gently rubbing the ink stick in a small pool of water in the ink stone. This ancient method allows for very little waste. The same bushes and inks may be used both for writing and painting, as the two art forms are so closely linked. Our writing set comes from Shanghai, the literary capital of China. Also available on Amazon from REORIENT, is the traditional rice paper used for painting and writing.

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Treasury of Chinese Folk Tales: Beloved Myths and Legends from the Middle Kingdom (No Series)

Everyone is interested in China these days, and that includes kids. Tuttle Publishing's Treasury of Chinese Folk Tales is a wonderful collection of seven classic Chinese stories that make for great reading adventures. From the stories of Pan Gu and Nu Wo, creators of the world, to Bai Su-Tzin, a snake who took on human form and found true love, this mesmerizing book includes myths of creation, mortality and love.

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