Ink, brush, and the discipline of leaving space empty hold the older half of this tradition together. The newer half is drawn on a tablet, in a hundred layers, at three in the morning after an episode airs.
The classical split runs through technique. Gongbi (工笔, meticulous) builds an image line by line and rewards patience over gesture. Xieyi (写意, freehand) works in a few decisive movements that cannot be corrected afterwards. Mogu (没骨, “boneless”) drops the outline and lets washes of colour carry the form, while baimiao (白描) keeps the line and refuses colour. Subject matter divides it again: figures, landscape, bird-and-flower.
Format matters too. A handscroll is unrolled at arm’s length. A hanging scroll is seen whole. A fan compresses a landscape into something held in the hand. Silk and paper behave differently under the same brush, and mineral pigments such as azurite, malachite and cinnabar age into colours the painter never saw.
The contemporary side is where this archive grows fastest. Guofeng illustration, hanfu character art, fan-made portraits of drama leads, anime-style line work and digital painting all sit here, because they inherit the same problems: how to hold a silhouette, how to suggest cloth under movement, how a face carries emotion without a caption.
You will also find the workshops behind Dunhuang’s murals, thangka painters working to canon, and exhibition news as it lands.
Calligraphy shares the same tools and belongs with our wider art and craft coverage.
1. Nature Landscaping and Hanfu Comments Erna · Amazing combination! Shelly · It’s really incredible. magπ · what a gorgeous and creative technique! 2. Traditional Outfit Painting The colors and patterns are so intricate and beautiful. I love how detailed it is. Anyone else a fan of traditional art? Comments Malisa · Cool design👍 magπ […]
For centuries, studies of Yuan (1271–1368), Ming (1368–1644), and Qing (1644–1912) dynasty art have orbited around Wenrenhua (literati painting), a genre dominated by scholar-officials who fused poetry, calligraphy, and ink landscapes. While masterpieces by iconic figures like Ni Zan or Wang Meng remain celebrated, this narrow focus has flattened our understanding of China’s visual culture. […]
1. Hanfu boy painting, ukiyo-e style Comments Pendergrass · Great painting👍 SeveralOnions · Wooahh! So pretty! 2. What’s the difference? Japanese traditional clothing seems to be very similar to Hanfu Comments Merriel · Hi, where does the image come from? I mean from which anime? The character could be wearing hanfu, even from a japanese […]
It’s funny how we throw around the word “Dunhuang” like it’s a single, well-defined thing. For most people, it’s synonymous with the Mogao Caves—those dusty, majestic Buddhist grottos in the far-flung desert of northwestern China. But Dunhuang (敦煌) is less of a place and more of a time capsule layered with over a thousand years […]
Every artist faces the same dilemma: what to include and what to exclude. This choice defines a work’s power. In Chinese painting, this deliberate selection—known as “qu she” (取舍)—isn’t just technique; it’s philosophy. It transforms clutter into clarity and noise into meaning. Master painters wield omission like a brushstroke, understanding that absence speaks louder than […]
The caves with undulating heights and depths are truly spectacular; the exquisitely crafted statues are vivid and lifelike; the colorful and dazzling murals. For a thousand years, time has silently passed over this desert, proclaiming to the world the former prosperity and bustle of this place. Among them, murals are the most widespread and deeply […]
In the bustling parks and festive streets of Mianzhu (绵竹), a city in Sichuan province, clusters of children often gather around small, foldable tables, their eyes wide with anticipation. Here, a sugar painting artist works with simple tools: a smooth marble slab, a rotating disc adorned with patterns of flowers, birds, fish, and mythical dragons, […]
A thematic exhibition on Chinese fan painting opened on October 12 on the 39th floor of the National Financial Information Building in Beijing, in the Xinhua News Agency Art Museum. Xinhua Finance and the China Fortune Network reported the opening. Titled “Fans Through the Seasons,” the show gathers more than 200 fan paintings by over […]
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