The Nationality Of Chinese Painting's Line

The art of line drawing in Chinese painting was bred and has ever developed in the soil of the Chinese traditional culture and various traditional thoughts. As an art language, line drawing in Chinese painting has transcended far beyond its practical function of forming patterns or designs, but has become an important embodiment of a Chinese cultural spirit--技近乎道(perfect skills are close to Tao) and道法自然(Tao follows nation). The art of drawing lines in Chinese paintings bears unique Chinese characteristics, combining the external skills and inner cultural spirit, which is an essential part of national characters and Chinese cultural spirit. It makes distinctive contributions to world art treasure. If losing it, Chinese paintings would be deprived of its vitality and impetus for development and innovation. The very reason for this essay to put forward with traditional cultural aspects of line drawing in Chinese painting is the fact that in an era of diversified aesthetic values, Chinese painting with lines being the main technique of expression have been gradually losing its spiritual richness. Zhang Yanyuan, a master of Chinese painting and critic living in Tang Dynasty, said in his A Record of Masterpieces of Past Dynasties《(历代名画记》) that"Painters today are not as good at painting landscapes and figures as before. They only capture the form while missing the spiritual vitality, and preserve colors while weak in brushwork. How can you call their works paintings?"Zhang's words points out that painters of that time failed to grasp the essence of the brushstroke art in Chinese paintings, preserving only the form and appearance but loosing the spiritual richness of drawing. In our present age, when different cultures and arts have continuously exchanged and merged together, we must preserve the nationality of Chinese painting's lines and take it as a prerequisite when we absorb the nutrients of other cultures and arts. Only when we inherit and further develop the spiritual richness of the line drawing art in Chinese painting, can any innovation and breakthrough be made in this field.Drawing on the studies of predecessors, this article is devoted to an exploration of inner spiritual connotation of line drawing in Chinese painting in a comparative and contrastive method. It also presents a deep probe into the cultural root from which the art of drawing lines is derived. Chapter one in this essay focuses on an analysis of the specialty of line drawing in Chinese painting by comparing it with the line drawing features of other countries. The conclusion made in this chapter is 1) through a long-time evolution, line drawing in Chinese painting bears a spiritual richness and 2) there is a well-developed theoretical system of line drawing in Chinese painting. Chapter two is devoted to an illustration of the relationship between Chinese culture and line drawing in Chinese painting from the aesthetic perspective. Chapter three makes the conclusion for the art of line drawing in Chinese painting, namely, it is a carrier of the spirit in a freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting, as well as an embodiment of energy and vitality embedded in a work of art.