What is the earliest existing landscape painting in China?

You Chuntu is a painting created by Zhan Ziqian, a painter in Sui Dynasty. Green silk book with the words "Zhan Ziqian and You Chuntu" inscribed by Song Huizong. Now it is in the gallery of the Palace Museum in Beijing. It is very representative in early landscape paintings, and it is the only work handed down by Zhan Ziqian, and it is also the oldest picture scroll so far.

The earliest existing landscape painting in China is

This painting gives a panoramic view of a vast landscape. In addition to the landscape trees and stones, it also depicts the white clouds coming out of the cave, pavilions, courtyards, small bridges and boats, dotted with people enjoying spring, showing a scene of apricot blossoms, green grass, water waves and spring breeze.

You Chuntu.

You Chuntu is a painting created by Zhan Ziqian, a painter in Sui Dynasty. Green silk book with the words "Zhan Ziqian and You Chuntu" inscribed by Song Huizong. Now it is in the gallery of the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Painters attach importance to mountains and rivers with turquoise, depict foothills with clay gold, dye trunks with ochre, take a panoramic view from a distance, and arrange figures properly, which is the first in the Tang Dynasty and is very representative in early landscape painting. This painting is Zhan Ziqian's only work handed down from generation to generation, and it is also the oldest picture scroll preserved so far.

The picture shows the connection between water and sky. There are green mountains and green waters, lush lakes, literati riding horses or stopping by the lake, and beautiful women boating on the water. Warm and windy, water and microwave shine, peach blossoms and apricot blossoms bloom on the shore, and the vegetation is lush.

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The influence of later generations

You Chuntu, existing in the Palace Museum, is the only masterpiece handed down by Zhan Ziqian and the earliest picture scroll in the world. Its existence plays an extremely important role in the history of painting art in China and even in the world.

Before the appearance of You Chuntu, the early landscape paintings in China were usually "there are more people than mountains, and water can't be flooded". In other words, the characters in the painting are bigger than the mountains, but for watercolor painting, there will never be a sparkling form, but will stay on the canvas like a stagnant water.

It can be seen that there are still many shortcomings in Zhan Ziqian's landscape paintings before, especially in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. These painters usually can't grasp the proportional relationship between landscape and characters, and can't perfectly and vividly express the elegant feeling of landscape. However, after the appearance of You Chuntu, this restriction was broken, and the arrangement of characters and landscapes was very appropriate, showing the alternation, exchange and overlap of nature.

You Chuntu can become a masterpiece of China's landscape painting, not only because of the content presented in the picture, but also because it is different from the previous creative techniques and aesthetic orientation, showing the artistic characteristics of showing thousands of miles in one inch.

The composition of "You Chuntu" is magnificent and quiet, colorful and rich in decorative meaning, which embodies the style of connecting the preceding with the following, and also marks that landscape painting is about to enter a mature stage. His achievements and painting methods in landscape painting directly initiated Li Sixun and Li Zhaodao's painting of Jinbi landscape painting in Tang Dynasty.

1on may 27th, 980, when Hua Guofeng paid an official visit to Japan, one of the gifts for the Japanese emperor was You Chuntu copied by a modern female painter in China.