(描绘北宋汴京的清明上河图) 5 min read   Along the River during the Qingming Festival (清明上河图) is one of the most celebrated masterpieces of traditional Chinese painting. Created during the Northern Song dynasty (北宋) and presented to Emperor Huizong (宋徽宗) in the early 12th century, it is a monumental handscroll measuring 25 × 529 cm. The painting presents […]

(山水画中的 “自然模仿艺术”) 4 min read In Chinese art, landscapes (shanshui, 山水, “mountain and water”) express the artist’s inner mind and cultivated spirit rather than literal depictions of specific places. They are valued not only for their beauty but also for their cultural and philosophical depth. The following masterpieces illustrate how landscape art shaped China’s artistic

(年画的魅力) 3 min read   One of the traditional practices for celebrating the Chinese New Year is decorating one’s home with New Year woodblock prints known as nianhua (年画). Blending folk art, popular belief, and cultural symbolism, nianhua has remained popular for more than a millennium and continues to be appreciated today.   Symbolic motifs

(画里的秘密) 3 min read   The painting Night Revelry of Han Xizai (韩熙载夜宴图) is set in the waning years of the Southern Tang dynasty (937–975), a time of political instability and impending crisis. It was commissioned by Li Yu (李煜, 937–978), ruler of the Southern Tang, who considered appointing Han Xizai (韩熙载) chancellor after ascending

(魏晋墓砖画的生活写照) 4 min read   In the vast desert 20 kilometers northeast of the city of Jiayuguan (嘉峪关)—which shares its name with the western terminus of the Great Wall—lies a complex of more than 1,400 underground tombs decorated with painted bricks from the Wei and Jin Dynasties (魏晋), dating from the 3rd to the 5th