What is the earliest existing landscape painting in China?

The earliest existing landscape painting in China is Morikuan's 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. 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.

You Chuntu is 43 cm long and 80.5 cm wide. This painting depicts people going for an outing on the hillside in sunny spring. The whole painting is dominated by natural scenery, in which characters are dotted. This winding path extends to a quiet valley. People ride horses or take a walk, enjoying the beautiful scenery of green mountains and green waters, birds and flowers.

Picture scroll appreciation

The painter outlined the object with thin and powerful lines. Although the characters are as small as beans, they are meticulous and complete in form. Rocks and trees are only painted with lines, and we can see the changes of the weight, thickness, frustration and turning point of lines, but we have not seen the rubbing technique in paintings after the Tang Dynasty.

The works are rich in color and heavy. Rocks and trees are colored with azurite and turquoise pigments made of minerals, with turquoise as the main tone, and red and white colors are used between buildings, people and horses, which are unified, harmonious and full of changes. Bright colors also better set off the spring atmosphere of great rivers and mountains.