What is the origin of traditional Chinese painting？
2 min readWhen did Chinese painting start？Who started Chinese painting？It is hard to trace it back to its roots.For thousands of years，this issue has puzzled historians and scholars in the field of the history of Chinese arts.Many historians think that Chinese character writing and painting have the same origin.In ancient China，characters began as simple drawings of natural objects-trees，water，mountains，horses and human beings.They were engraved on pottery，bones，bronzes or mountain rocks.Some pottery vessels were painted with decorative patterns or human faces，animals and plants.Experts believe that these pictographic symbols may be the earliest forms of Chinese written characters.According to this view，these symbols constituted primitive Chinese painting and date from the Neolithic Period，around 6，000 to 7，000 years old ago.
Records of Famous Paintings of Dynasties by Zhang Yanyuan of the Tang Dynasty said that Chinese painting originated in the legendary period and that pictographic symbols unified painting and character writing.In his view，only when pictographic symbols and character-writing split，did Chinese painting start to become an independent art.
What is the influence of calligraphy on painting？
Chinese calligraphy was a separate art form in ancient China，and it exerted great influence on literati painting.Beginning with the period of the Six Dynasties（222-589），expressing oneself through distinctive written characters constituted an important characteristic of being a well-bred member of the elite.A number of men became famous for their fine calligraphy，and examples of their styles were preserved through carvings，which traced their brushstroke in stone.Over time，men of literary learning tried to master one or more of these classical styles and improve their unique individuality on them.This medium of handwriting became an important way of expressing one’s nature and reading the character of others.
