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| Autumn Rains in Taihang |
The biggest difference between traditional Chinese painting and that of other cultures, many would believe, is that Chinese painting is seen as a channel of self-expression rather than depicting nature. Wenrenhua, or "intellectual painting", which has dominated Chinese painting for centuries, is the best illustration of this difference.
In Wenrenhua, painters express their feelings, often about certain setbacks or disappointments they have suffered. A painting may illustrate the depression of not being "recognized" by the ruling class, or failing to win a promotion to officialdom, losing a chance to win respect for their family. Feeling this way, Wenrenhua artists would turn to poetry, calligraphy and painting.
A piece of bamboo, a plum or a pine tree in a Chinese painting is symbolic of an elegant gentleman; a distant mountain, perhaps with a scholar walking along a narrow path by side of waterfall, represents a gentleman, deserving of respect, enjoying his easy and quiet spiritual world, away from the bustling and hustling of the world, a world the noble man would like to hide away from.
It is perhaps because of all this widely-respected tradition among the Chinese intellectuals, most, if not all Chinese paintings carry a kind of world-wariness or pessimistic feeling.
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