Small knowledge of painting and calligraphy, the four treasures of the study, and schools of thought

I. Schools

1. Six Dynasties Four Masters: The Six Dynasties refer to the Eastern Wu of the Three Kingdoms, the Eastern Jin, and the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen of the Southern Dynasties. All had their capitals at Jiankang (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu). The four masters refer to Cao Buxing of Eastern Wu, Gu Kaizhi of Eastern Jin, Lu Tanwei, and Zhang Sengyao of the Southern Dynasties.

2. Four Masters of the Southern Song: Refers collectively to the four landscape painters Li Tang, Liu Songnian, Ma Yuan, and Xia Gui of the Southern Song Academy.

3. Four Masters of the Yuan: A collective term for four Yuan dynasty landscape painters. There are mainly two theories: one refers to Zhao Mengfu, Wu Zhen, Huang Gongwang, and Wang Meng; the other refers to Huang Gongwang, Wang Meng, Ni Zan, and Wu Zhen. The second theory is more popular.

4. Four Masters of the Ming: A collective term for Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin, and Qiu Ying from the mid-Ming Dynasty. They were either teachers or friends, closely related in art style, each having a unique style with significant influence on later generations.

5. Four Wangs of the Qing: A collective term for Wang Shimin, Wang Jian, Wang Hui, and Wang Yuanqi among the "Six Masters of the Qing". They had teacher-student or kinship relationships, influenced by Dong Qichang in painting style and artistic thought. Their paintings emphasize brushwork techniques, have deep skills, revere ancient works, and many works tend towards standardization, having a profound impact on Qing dynasty landscape painting.

6. Four Monks of the Qing: Refers to Hongren (Jianjiang), Kun Can (Shixi), Bada Shanren (Zhu Da), and Shitao (Yuan Ji). They were all remnants of the Ming Dynasty, well-versed in Zen, expressing emotions through calligraphy and painting, each having unique achievements. Bada Shanren and Shitao were of the Ming imperial family and later became monks. Kun Can was known as Shixi, and he and Shitao were called the "Two Stones".

7. Eight Masters of Jinling: A collective term for Gong Xian, Fan Qi, Gao Cen, Zou Zhe, Wu Hong, Ye Xin, Hu Zao, and Xie Sun during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Their painting themes and styles were not entirely the same, but since they all resided in Jinling (present-day Nanjing), they all enjoyed a certain reputation at the time, hence called the eight masters.

8. Six Masters of the Qing: A collective term for the early Qing painters Wang Shimin, Wang Jian, Wang Hui, Wang Yuanqi, Wu Li, and Yun Shouping.

9. Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou: A general term for eight representative painters who lived in Yangzhou, Jiangsu during the Qing Qianlong period. They were Wang Shishen, Huang Shen, Jin Nong, Gao Xiang, Li Shaotang, Zheng Xie, Li Fangying, and Luo Pin. In fact, there were more than eight, including Gao Fenghan, Bian Shoumin, Min Zhen, etc., with differing views. They mostly used flowers as subjects, also painted landscapes and figures, breaking away from previous conventions, innovating boldly, expressing genuine emotions, skilled in poetry, calligraphy, and seal carving, emphasizing the combination of poetry, calligraphy, and painting. This school had a considerable influence on the interest and technique of freehand brushwork flowers in modern Chinese painting.

10. Shanghai School: Abbreviated as "Hai Pai". Its characteristics are based on tradition, breaking conventions and innovating, with distinct personalities, diverse styles, emphasis on scholarly cultivation, connection with folk art, appreciation by both refined and common tastes, and good at borrowing and absorbing foreign art. Representative painters include Zhao Zhiqian, Xu Gu, Ren Bonian, Wu Changshuo, and Huang Binhong.

II. Types of Painting

1. Chinese Painting: Abbreviated as "Guo Hua", it is one of China's traditional figurative arts, forming its own system in the world of fine arts. Categories include figures, landscapes, architectural drawings, flowers, fruits, birds, animals, fish, insects, etc. Techniques include meticulous, freehand, outline drawing, color application, ink wash. Color application can be divided into gold-green, large and small green-blue, boneless, splashed color, light ochre, etc.

2. Ink Wash Painting: A type of Chinese painting using ink only. It emphasizes simplicity, symbolism, and naturalness. It is said to have started in the Tang Dynasty, matured in the Five Dynasties, flourished in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and continued to develop since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Focused on brushwork, it fully utilizes the functionality of ink. "Ink is color" refers to the changes in ink concentration representing changes in color levels. "Ink has five colors" means that vibrant colors can be replaced by multiple layers of ink tones. Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty proposed "ink as supreme", and ink wash painting has held an important position in the history of Chinese painting.

III. Techniques

1. Brush and Ink: A term in Chinese painting, also referring to the general techniques of Chinese painting today. In terms of technique, "brush" usually refers to outlining, sketching, texturing, wiping, and dotting methods. "Ink" refers to shading, dyeing, breaking, splashing, and accumulating ink methods. In theory, it emphasizes that brush leads, ink follows, mutually dependent, perfectly depicting objects and expressing the artistic conception to achieve an effect of both form and spirit.

IV. Art Supplies

1. Writing Brush: Made from animal hair, mostly sheep or weasel hair, used for writing and painting.

2. Four Treasures of the Study: Refers to brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, the general term for calligraphy and painting tools.

And so forth...