I told you about the tools used by Chinese artists (ink, brushes, paper), how they frame finished paintings. The question arises: well, how do the paintings differ? Answer: the difference is almost everywhere! Let's begin with the things that are immediately evident. On a Chinese painting in addition to the image there are two compulsory elements: calligraphy and a red seal. I'll note that it applies to works in the style of se-i (painting of ideas). Ceremonial, decorative works in the style of gunby (careful work) usually have only image. Here are se i and gunby pictures with one theme.

Actually, there is another element that is not obvious to those who are not familiar with the Chinese language. Calligraphy is not simply a set of squiggles, it is a text. Often it is a popular expression or a quote from a Taoist or a Buddhist treatise, but more often it is a line from a poem. The bare minimum is the name of the work and the date of its creation (for example, the year of the earth dog, spring), many painters also write their names.

The second element is calligraphy, that is, how the text is written. There are five calligraphy styles that look completely different. Calligraphy is a special art that underlies the Chinese culture. This is a huge and interesting topic, I plan to write about it separately. An artist chooses the style for writing his work, it strongly influences the perception of the work. If a picture is evaluated by the Chinese, they look primarily at calligraphy. If the works are selected for an exhibition, they will rather select the one with good calligraphy, than a beautiful image with an average calligraphy. Here are some works with orchids, let's see how different the signatures of these paintings are.

These two paintings are signed by the same poem

A very different impression of the work, right?

And finally, the seal. The thing that was created more than two thousand years ago as an attribute of power (and it exists today in Russian and I think in all other countries), in China it has become a real art. There is a lot to say about the cutting of the seals and their meaning. There are signature seals with the artist's name and auspicious seals with a variety of beautiful statements. Seals are cut from stone, and the press is made with red cinnabar paste.

There may be a few stamps on a picture, but ancient works have much more of them, as each new owner added their stamp to the masterpiece!

A Chinese painting is a synthesis of fine art, calligraphy and literature. In the old days, many artists did everything by themselves: wrote poems, drew pictures, signed them in the selected style, cut a seal. They were the officials-intellectuals who practiced three excellences: calligraphy, poetry and painting in their off-work time; again, this is a topic for another story.

Now, looking at a Chinese painting, you can pay attention not only to the image but also to other components! And ahead there is a story about other (most important!) features of Chinese painting, Chinese poetry, calligraphy, seals, artists-officials and many amazing manifestations of Chinese culture.