The primitive rock paintings created by ancient ancestors are the earliest remains of China's paintings. Most of them are distributed in the northwest and southwest, and they are said to be made by nomadic or minority tribes. Most of the rock paintings in northwest China are carved, and the patterns are mainly animals, such as Tianshan rock paintings in Xinjiang, Yinshan rock paintings in Inner Mongolia and Heishan rock paintings in Gansu. In addition to animals, there are hunting, reproductive worship, grazing and other content, rough and unrestrained. Southwest rock paintings are mostly painted with figures, represented by Cangyuan rock paintings in Yunnan and Huashan rock paintings in Guangxi. In addition to characters, there are houses, trees, gods and other contents, which are simple and mysterious. However, whether it is line composition, chiseling or painting, most of the northern and southern rock paintings form a negative shape, full of childish exaggeration and realistic decorative beauty, which are consistent with each other.
The Three Kingdoms period (220-265) is an important development stage in China's painting history. The themes of early paintings were mainly Buddhist paintings and Taoist paintings.
During the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Chinese painting gradually evolved into a single scroll painting, becoming an independent artistic appreciation, and the theme was also expanding day by day. In addition to figures and religious themes, early landscape paintings also appeared. At the same time, the emergence of theoretical works of calligraphy and painting has guided the direction of artistic creation. The representative work of this period is Gu Kaizhi's The Goddess of Luo in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Sui is a period of connecting the past with the future. The art of painting combined the styles of the previous generation and laid the foundation for the great prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. You Chuntu by Zhan Ziqian marks the final formation of landscape painting and has far-reaching influence.
The development of China painting in Tang Dynasty was closely related to the development of social economy and culture. Since the Tang Dynasty, due to the unprecedented prosperity of economy and culture and the great achievements and influence of Tang poetry, landscape painting separated from figure painting has replaced Buddhist painting as the main theme of painting. Painting emphasizes interest, seeks artistic conception, and pursues an artistic conception of "poetry in painting", hoping to express a state of mind through painting. The lyricism pursued by literati became the mainstream of painting at that time, and literati painting rose from then on. The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of China's painting history, which opened a new era.
During the Five Dynasties, the Five Dynasties landscape painting not only changed the primary program of Jin and Tang Dynasties, but also had a complete landscape painting school. Landscape painting in the Northern Song Dynasty drifted with the tide and became more mature on the basis of the Five Dynasties. During the Five Dynasties, flower-and-bird painting broke away from the landscape of figures and became an independent painting discipline. Landscape, figures, flowers and birds all developed greatly, with a wide range of subjects, many famous artists and outstanding achievements, which had a great influence on future generations.
The prosperous Jiangnan economy after the Southern Song Dynasty promoted the prosperity of painting art, and the rise of "Four Schools in the Southern Song Dynasty" became the mainstream of painting at that time. The Song Dynasty inherited the previous dynasty and developed all kinds of paintings in an all-round way. The themes were wider and wider, and the painting schools came out together, which was unprecedented and prosperous, and it shone brilliantly for hundreds of generations. In the middle period, literati painting with ink freehand brushwork as the main body appeared, emphasizing the unity of poetry and calligraphy and paying attention to the interest of pen and ink, which is a new branch of painting school full of vitality.
Literati painting was derived in Yuan Dynasty, and ink landscape was particularly prosperous. Painting in Yuan Dynasty directly borrowed from Tang and Five Dynasties, which was a period of great development of literati painting. The integration of calligraphy into painting techniques has made new changes in pen and ink techniques and made a breakthrough in ink painting on the basis of tradition.
The early Ming Dynasty inherited the legacy of literati painting in Yuan Dynasty and gave it full play. After the Southern Song Dynasty, college sports painting rose and became very popular. Palace "courtyard painting" is popular. During the period from Jiajing to Wanli in Ming Dynasty, "Wu Pai" appeared in the south of the Yangtze River, and a variety of painting schools appeared in the later period. In the early Ming Dynasty, painters who advocated the style of painting in the Song Dynasty were all over the imperial court and the people. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, literati painting was revived in Suzhou, and in the later period, literati painting developed to express its own spirit, taking painting as a pleasure and giving it as a gift.
The "Four Heavenly Kings" in the early Qing Dynasty were all supported by the royal family. However, a group of anti-traditional painters represented by "Four Monks in the Early Qing Dynasty" and "Eight Scholars in Jinling" appeared in Jiangnan. They opposed the copying style of the "four kings" in painting art and advocated the creative significance of art, which brought great influence to the development of later painting. The formation of the "Yangzhou Painting School" in the middle of Qing Dynasty and the "Sea Painting Circle" in the late Qing Dynasty, with different styles, are like colorful stars.
Before the Opium War, the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1840) were the late feudal society in China. Although the culture tends to be conservative, there are many schools and painters with their own characteristics and distinct personalities in the field of painting, each leading the way and weaving the painting world. The reform in Ming and Qing Dynasties did not separate the painting tradition. In the Qing dynasty, there were still many painting schools, imitating the past and innovating their own ways. Literati painting and western painting also had an impact on court painting; With the development of commodity economy, literati still make a living by painting and vent their anger by painting, and the vigorous wind of epigraphy calligraphy has also been integrated into painting. Folk painting is more secularized and commercialized; As the last glory of China's ancient painting, the painting in Qing Dynasty showed a trend of extraordinary changes, which prepared for the transformation of modern Chinese painting. At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, the adherents represented by Badashan people developed literati paintings, which made literati paint by going up one flight of stairs, which had a great influence on later generations. After entering the Qing Dynasty, influenced by Dong Qichang's painting theory, the painting style is more imitation than innovation, which is called orthodoxy. In the middle period, the appearance of the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou broke this state and became an artistic innovator who expressed his opinions, broke the convention and took a clear-cut stand. At this stage, all kinds of painting themes have developed, and at the same time, Chinese and Western arts have also exchanged, which is another prosperous stage in the history of China painting.
From modern painting to the late Qing Dynasty, the rise and appearance of the maritime painting school and later Lingnan painting school made China traditional painting take on a new look on the basis of absorbing foreign culture. The appearance of Wu Changshuo and later Qi Baishi brought a new situation to freehand brushwork. In modern times, due to the appearance of a large number of overseas painters such as Xu Beihong and Lin Fengmian, China painting began a brand-new era of further integration of Chinese and Western arts.
After thousands of years of development, China's painting art has formed a unique style in the world, which has had a far-reaching impact on neighboring countries and regions, and even western painting has borrowed a lot. The formation of this feature is closely related to China's social development, national appreciation habits and traditional academic thoughts.