Chinese art and painting place great emphasis on nature, balance, and harmony between humanity and the natural world. Landscape painting is considered the highest form, and paintings often feature landscapes, flowers, birds, and other natural subjects. Key principles that guide Chinese painting include observing rhythm and movement in nature, using space and brushwork effectively, and drawing from artistic traditions. Calligraphy, paper cutting, kite making, and knot tying are examples of Chinese folk art forms that live on today.

1. Chinese Art

2. Chinese Painting
 Landscape painting was regarded as the highest
form of Chinese painting.
 They also consider the three concepts of
their arts: Nature, Heaven and Humankind
(Yin-Yang).
 The Han court eunuch, Cai Lun, invented the
paper in the 1st Century AD it provided not only
a cheap and widespread medium for writing but
painting became more economical.
 Chinese art expresses the human understanding
of the relationship between nature and human.
 This might be called the metaphysical, Daoist
aspect of Chinese painting.

3. Painting subjects and Theme
 1. Flowers and birds
 2. Landscapes
 3. Palaces and Temples
 4. Human Figures
 5. Animals
 6. Bamboos and Stones

4. 6 Principles
 To make make your painting interesting and
realistic apply these Six Principles of Chinese
Painting established by Xie He, a writer, art
historian and critic in 5th century China.
 1. Observe rhythm and movements
 2. Leave spaces for the eyes to rest
 3. Use brush in calligraphy
 4. Use colors correctly
 5. Live up to tradition by copying the master’s
artwork.
 6. Copy the correct proportion of the objects
and nature.

5. Calligraphy
 It is the art of beautiful handwriting.
 In calligraphy, the popular materials
which paintings are made of are
paper and silk.

6. Three main types of roofs in
traditional Chinese architecture
 Straight inclined -more economical for common
Chinese architecture .
 Multi-inclined -Roofs with two or more sections of
incline. These roofs are used for residences of wealthy
Chinese.
 Sweeping -has curves that rise at the corners of the
roof. These are
usually reserved for temples and palaces.

7. Peking Opera
 Peking opera face-painting or Jingju Lianpu is done
with different colors in accordance with the performing
characters’ personality and historical assessment.
 Lianpu is called the false mask.

8. MEANING OF COLORS FOR FACE
PAINTING
 Guan Ju - Red indicates devotion, courage, bravery,
uprightness and loyalty.
 Huang Pang - Yellow signifies fierceness, ambition and
cool-headedness.
 Zhu Wen - A green face tells the audience that the
character
is not only impulsive and violent, he also lacks self-
restraint.
 Zhang Fei - Black symbolizes roughness and fierceness.
The black face indicates either a rough and bold
character or an impartial and selfless personality.

9.  Lian Po - Purple stands for uprightness and cool-
headedness.
While a reddish purple face indicates a just and noble
character.
 Cao Cao - white suggests treachery, suspiciousness
and craftiness. It is common to see the white face of
the
powerful villain on stage.
 Jiang Gan - The clown or chou in Chinese Opera has
special makeup patterns called xiaohualian (the petty
painted face). Sometimes a small patch of chalk is
painted around the nose to show a mean and
secretive character.
 Gold and silver colors are usually used for gods
and spirits.

11. Chinese Folk Art
 In China, traditional funerals include burning yuanbao
which is a folded paper that look like gold nuggets or
ingots called Sycee. Also in Ghost Festival.
 A sycee is a type of silver or gold ingot currency used in
China.
 Gold sycees -are used as a symbol of prosperity.

12. Paper Cutting
 Chinese paper cuttings are usually symmetrical in design
when unfolded and adapt the 12 animals of the Chinese
Zodiac as themes and motifs and mostly choose the red
color.
 The earliest use of paper was made as a pattern for
lacquers, decoration on windows, doors, and walls.
 Jianzhi is the first type of paper cutting design,
since paper was invented by the Chinese.
 They are sometimes referred to "chuāng huā",
meaning Window Flower.

13. Chinese Kite
 Chinese Kites originated in WeiFang, Sandong, China
(City of Kites)
 Chinese kites may be differentiated into four main
categories:
1. Centipede
2. Hard-Winged Kites
3. Soft-Winged Kites
4. Flat Kites

15. Knot Tying
Zhongguo is the Chinese
decorative handicraft art that
began as a form of Chinese folk art
in the Tang and Song Dynasty
(960-1279 AD) in China.