Traditional Chinese

Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as guó huà (simplified Chinese: 国画; traditional Chinese: 國畫), meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western styles of art which became popular in China in the 20th century.

Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as calligraphy and is done with a brush dipped in black ink or coloured pigments and oils typically are not used. As with calligraphy, the most popular materials on which paintings are made are paper and silk.