Traditional Chinese painting

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Apparently, the emergence and development of ink-and-wash painting is closely related to technology, materials and artistic traditions. Ink and wash is usually done on paper or silk, with paper being the main material. Chinese papermaking technology was highly developed, and different types of paper with fine textures and absorbent functions provided a solid foundation for the emergence of this painting genre. At the same time, the tradition of Chinese calligraphy exerted a direct influence on it. However, it was more the ideological factors-rather than the factors listed above-that were the main spur for its emergence and development.

Chinese artists have a special, fervent love for the black-and-white world featured simply with black ink on white paper or silk.A white-and-black world, to Chinese people, is a colorless world without bright, gorgeous colors. Chinesepainting basically attached great importance to color.A good example is that, in the early days, paintings were called “red and green color”in China. Chinese artists used to advocate”applying color to depict color”-given the diverselycolorful world, it is the artist’s responsibility to reproduce the world with variegated colors. Yet the ink-and-wash painting triumphed over this tradition to become superior to all other genres of traditional Chinese fine arts.

Actually, in Chinese culture there has always been a cautious attitude toward very bright colors. If a person fixes his eyes on bright colors for a long time, he will be drawn into them and feel dizzy. Moreover, splendid colors can arouse people’s desires and disturb their peace of mind. According to Chinesephilosophy, external splendor and prosperity cannot necessarily represent the truth of the world. If one wants to know the real meaning of the world, one must look beyond superficial phenomena. These thoughts have directly affected the ways of artistic expression in Chinese painting-ink and wash replacing bright colors.”Extreme splendor ends in commonness”represents an important view in Chinese fine arts. The unadorned, common-looking black-and-white world well expresses people’s yearning for a pure and simple world.

Chinese artists believe that”the use of ink can express the five colors”-the application of ink producing the feel of different colors, as well as feelings that color cannot convey. Dong Qichang (1555-1636),a famous Ming-dynasty

(1368-1644) artist, once said to his students as he pointed to an ink-and-wash painting,”This is the most fascinating world.”After the birth of ink and wash, Chinese paintings quickly broke away from seeking likeness in form.”The world through the eye”gave way to”the world through the mind,”a practice that has become the common pursuit of Chinese artists.