In the blank space of Chinese painting, a poem is often written by the painter himself or others. The content of the poem either expresses the author's feelings, or talks about artistic sentiment, or sings the artistic conception of the picture. Just as Xun said, "If you have high feelings and easy thinking, if you don't have enough paintings, the topic will be published" (Shan Jutu). This kind of poem inscribed on a painting is called a painting poem.
Poetry and painting are sister arts, which are related by blood and have the subtleties of mutual infiltration. So there is a saying that poetry is an invisible painting and painting is a silent poem. Since the Tang Dynasty, especially since the development of literati painting in the Song Dynasty, poems on paintings have become increasingly colorful.
There are many paintings by famous poets, but they often write another book, which is not directly centered on painting, so most of them are "painting poems" or simply "painting poems". His poems praise painting walls, painting fans, or commenting on painting bamboo horses.
Painting poetry is a part of painting;
Through calligraphy in painting, the beauty of poetry, calligraphy and painting are skillfully combined, reflecting and enriching each other, enhancing the formal beauty of works and forming the artistic characteristics of Chinese painting.
In addition, before the Song Dynasty, many poems praising painting or expressing painting feelings were paintings in a broad sense, although there were no paintings.