What are China's Ten Most Famous Traditional Paintings?

"Nymph of the Luo River"

• Author: Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Most of the existing ones are copies from the Song Dynasty.

• Content: Created based on Cao Zhi's "Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River", the whole scroll is divided into three parts, depicting the love story between Cao Zhi and the nymph of the Luo River, such as the scenes of their first encounter, separation, and longing. The arrangement of figures and landscapes is well-proportioned, showing the beauty of time and space interlacing.

• Artistic Features: The brushstrokes are fine, vigorous and simple, like "silkworms spinning silk". The painting techniques for mountains, rivers, trees and stones are rather primitive and simple, reflecting the characteristics of early landscape paintings where "people are bigger than mountains and there is hardly any space for water to flow" in early landscape paintings.

 

"Emperor Taizong Receiving the Tibetan Envoy"

• Author: Yan Liben of the Tang Dynasty.
• Content: Taking the historical event of the marriage alliance between Songtsen Gampo, the leader of the Tubo Kingdom, and Princess Wencheng in the fifteenth year of Zhenguan as the theme, it depicts the scene where Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty received Ludongzan, the envoy of the Tubo Kingdom, showing the historical event and the status of the characters at that time.
• Artistic Features: The lines of the figures are fluent, skillful and expressive, and the story of the painting is shown through the expressions, costumes and actions of the figures.
  

 

"Noble Ladies in Tang Dynasty"

• Authors: Zhang Xuan, Zhou Fang and others in the Tang Dynasty.
• Content: It is a collective term for a group of five paintings, including "Ladies of the Guo State on a Spring Outing", "Pounding Silk", "Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers", "Ladies with Fans" and "Ladies in the Palace Enjoying Music". They mainly depict the lifestyle and sentiment of noblewomen in the Tang Dynasty, such as scenes of spring outings, pounding silk, and adorning hair with flowers.
• Artistic Features: The figures have different postures, some are graceful and noble, some are slender and charming, and some look languid, vividly reflecting the social features and aesthetic tastes of the Tang Dynasty and embodying the artistic characteristics of paintings of palace ladies in the Tang Dynasty.
  
  

"Five Oxen"

• Author: Han Huang of the Tang Dynasty.
• Content: It depicts five sturdy old oxen. Their postures and expressions are vivid, with some lowering their heads to graze and some raising their heads upwards. It embodies the hardworking and diligent spirit.
• Artistic Features: With simple lines and delicate brushstrokes, it demonstrates the superb painting skills of the Tang Dynasty in the subject of animals and also contains certain symbolic meanings.

 

"The Night Revels of Han Xizai"

• Author: Gu Hongzhong of the Five Dynasties.
• Content: In the form of a continuous long scroll, it depicts the grand banquet held in the home of Han Xizai, a powerful official in the Southern Tang Dynasty. The whole scroll is divided into five parts, successively depicting scenes such as Han Xizai and his guests listening to a female musician playing the pipa, Han Xizai beating the drum for the dancing girls, the break during the banquet, Han Xizai sitting and listening to wind instruments, and the guests chatting with the female musicians, vividly showing the banquet scene and the expressions of the characters.
• Artistic Features: The brushstrokes are fine, smooth, round and vigorous, and the coloring is rich and gorgeous. The figures are clear, handsome and vivid.
  
  

"A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains"

• Author: Wang Ximeng of the Northern Song Dynasty.
• Content: In the form of a long scroll, it depicts continuous rivers, lakes and magnificent mountains, showing the beautiful and magnificent natural landscapes as well as the vitality of life. It is a masterpiece of blue-green landscape paintings.
• Artistic Features: The colors on the painting are bright, with azurite and malachite green as the main tones. The composition is rigorous, fully demonstrating the artistic achievements of blue-green landscape paintings in the Song Dynasty.

 

"Along the River During the Qingming Festival"

• Author: Zhang Zeduan of the Northern Song Dynasty.
• Content: Recorded with elaborate fine brushwork the architecture and people's livelihood on both sides of the Bian River in the suburbs and within the city of Bianjing at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. It depicts the prosperous scenes and natural landscapes during the Qingming Festival, including the spring scenery in the suburbs of Bianjing, the busy docks along the Bian River, and the lively streets in the urban area. There are numerous figures with various occupations.
• Artistic Features: It adopts the composition method of scattered perspective, incorporating complex scenes into a unified picture. It pays attention to the dramatic effect, with a well-proportioned composition of density and sparseness, and the techniques of brushwork and composition are ingenious, possessing extremely high historical and artistic values.

 

"Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains"

• Author: Huang Gongwang of the Yuan Dynasty.
• Content: Taking the landscapes along the Fuchun River in Zhejiang Province as the theme, it shows the beautiful and peaceful landscapes of the south of the Yangtze River, skillfully integrating mountains, forests, cottages and fishing boats.
• Artistic Features: It adopts the method of scattered perspective, with clear and moist brushstrokes and a simple and distant artistic conception, achieving the realm of "mountains and rivers being thick and solid, and plants being lush and flourishing", which is the pinnacle of ancient Chinese ink landscape paintings.
  
  

"Spring Morning in the Han Palace"

• Author: Qiu Ying of the Ming Dynasty.
• Content: It is the longest scroll painting of ladies in heavy colors in China, depicting the daily life of imperial concubines in the Han Dynasty palace, such as dressing up, singing and dancing, and playing musical instruments, with a large number of figures.
• Artistic Features: The outlines are drawn vigorously and gracefully, and the coloring is elegant and gorgeous. By taking advantage of the grandeur of the imperial gardens and palaces, it uses magnificent brushwork to depict, with accurate figure modeling, smooth lines and meticulous depiction, becoming a model of the beauty of ladies in that era.

 

"Hundred Horses"

• Author: Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shining) of the Qing Dynasty.
• Content: It depicts the scene of one hundred horses with different postures grazing and resting, with horses standing, lying down, eating grass or playing around.
• Artistic Features: Integrating Chinese and Western painting techniques, using Chinese soft brushes and adopting Western perspective and light and shadow techniques, it forms a unique painting style that is fine, realistic, rich in colors, complex in composition and has pioneering significance for the development of traditional Chinese painting.