First of all, the ancestor who originated from human beings is Fu. Fuxi married Nu Wa and gave birth to human beings. Fu wrote Gossip. Some people think that "gossip" is the embryonic form of China's painting.
Second, it began in the era of the Yellow Emperor. People who hold this view agree on the time when painting came into being, but disagree on who is the ancestor of painting.
One view is that the Yellow Emperor is the ancestor of painting. Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor is the same ancestor of all ethnic groups in the Central Plains. He once painted the portraits of Shen Tu and Lei Yu, who were good at punishing evil spirits, on a mahogany board and hung them outside the door to prevent ghosts from haunting (see Yi Tong Sacrifice Code). Accordingly, some scholars later thought that this portrait similar to the "door god" was the earliest painting in China.
Another view is that Shi Huang is the pioneer of painting. "Seven Stars Cloud" said: "The Yellow Emperor began to paint when he had ministers and emperors."
Some people think that Cang Xie is the originator of painting. Legend has it that Cang Xie is the historian of the Yellow Emperor and the creator of Chinese characters. Most scholars in China believe in "the same origin of calligraphy and painting". For example, Zhang Yanyuan in the Tang Dynasty put forward the theory that "calligraphy and painting have different names but the same body" and "the same origin but different streams".
Others say that they created words and paintings with Qin Shihuang. According to legend, the Yellow Emperor once got a red-textured painting from a turtle in Luoshui, and ordered Shi Huang and Cang Xie to paint this painting, which was the earliest writing and painting (see "Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties" and other books).
Third, it came into being during the Shunnian period. Legend has it that Shun was the leader of the last patriarchal clan tribal alliance. Shun has a sister named Yong. Li is the ancestor of painting, so it is also called "painting Li" (see History of Painting).
Fourth, it began in Yangshao culture period. Some modern scholars believe that the development of China's painting should originate from painted pottery unearthed in Yangshao.
The above views vary from person to person. So the origin of painting is still a mystery.