Chinese Painting: Reciting a Thousand Years in Silent Poetry: Japanese

Author: Zhuang Jiayi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-06-01
Features: The origins of ancient Chinese painting date back very early. Six to five thousand years ago, ancestors used mineral colors to paint crude depictions of animals, plants, and human figures on rocks, and adorned pottery with various beautiful patterns and designs. Later, they carved and cast intricate and mysterious motifs and other graphics on bronze vessels. Due to the passage of time, only a few of these works have been preserved, yet they allow us to glimpse the appearance of early painting. The earliest independent painting works drawn on paper and silk that we can see today were unearthed from tombs as burial items, with a history of over 2,000 years. Early Chinese painting was categorized into several genres based on the subject matter, such as figure painting, landscape painting, and flower-and-bird painting. Around the 17th century, European painting was introduced to China. To distinguish it from the local traditional painting, the imported European works were named "Western painting," and the indigenous painting naturally became known as "Chinese painting." Therefore, the term "Chinese painting" is relative to Western painting (referring to European painting). Note: This book is in Japanese. This book, in Japanese form, introduces various aspects of Chinese painting—the "silent poetry that recites the ages."