The Differences between Chinese and Western classical paintings

Abstract：This paper briefly analyzes the differences between Chinese and Western classical paintings from the perspective of cultural differences，argues that the differences in aesthetic pursuit，the concept of color and space between Chinese and Western classical paintings show different cultural connotations.As a concretized form and carrier of human culture，painting shows the influence of culture on it in various external forms.This article begins with looking for differences in the external expressions of Chinese and Western paintings，then goes deep into the cultural and aesthetic aspects，explains the reasons for the differences in expression，and focuses on the influence of Chinese and Western cultures on classical painting.

Keywords：cultural differences；aesthetic pursuit；the concept of color

1 Introduction

Culture is the behavioral habit and ideological temperament of a particular ethnic group in a certain period of time，does not shift from the subjective will of the individual，and is relatively stable in a certain period of time.It is difficult for every individual in a culture to get rid of and transcend it.It permeates people’s inner behavioral habits and ways of thinking，and is reflected in social external behavioral norms and institution.

The article is divided into two parts，from the analysis of color and other differences between Chinese and Western classical paintings to revealing the way of thinking and philosophical connotation behind them：With aesthetic pursuit as the core，the first chapter briefly describes the different aesthetic pursuits and their motivations of classical Chinese and Western paintings and points out the their influence on specific painting techniques；the second chapter focuses on the concept of color，briefly describes the development of the concept in Chinese and Western classical paintings，and points out the differences of Chinese and Western paintings in this field.

2 Aesthetic Pursuit

The aesthetic pursuit is the group’s perception of the concept of “beauty”，that is，what is beauty.All kinds of specific art techniques and expressions serve the pursuit of aesthetics，working as tools assisting artists to concretize the beautiful things they pursue.The difference in aesthetic pursuit between Chinese and Western traditional paintings is the core of the differences in other external expressions，and the first level where cultural differences permeate painting and influence the specific techniques of painting.

It is not a complicated work to find that there are obvious differences between the aesthetic pursuits of classic Chinese and Western paintings in various historical periods.And these differences can find the root of their formation in the difference between Chinese and Western philosophy.

2.1 The Aesthetic Pursuit of Classical Chinese Painting

The aesthetic pursuit of Chinese classical painting is developed around the relationship between form and spirit，and advocates to transcend the external form and pursue the inner spirit.Chinese traditional painters are often dedicated to expressing the inner spiritual features of the characters but do not deliberately pursue the precise reproduction of appearance.The painting，not limited to the reproduction of the natural landscape，often works as the carrier expressing the author’s feelings.The painting is often left with some blank which gives the viewer room for imagination.

Before the Jin Dynasty，the figure portrait is the most developed type of Chinese traditional paintings.Due to the influence of mainstream Confucianism，the figure portrait at that time worked as a Confucian tool and showed obvious functions of education and ritual.In the Jin Dynasty，along with the rise of Neo-Taoism，painting began to be freed from serving Confucianism and have its own independent aesthetic value.With the shackles of Confucian ethics gone，the Taoist，to some extent being the opposite of Confucianism and admiring being away from society，has imposed more spiritual connotations to traditional Chinese painting in the subsequent historical stages.

2.2 The Aesthetic Pursuit of Classical Western Painting

Ancient Greek philosophies believe that the essence of beauty is the numeral and proportional harmony，and human sculptures in ancient Greek is a paradigm of this.The human sculpture in ancient Greek is famous for its realistic re-enactment of the real human body，which is inseparable from the sculptors’ efforts to explore the beauty of the human body from the perspective of number and proportion，reflecting the ideal size and proportion of segments of the human body.

In Western classical painting，another aesthetic idea focuses on imitation.From Plato to Aristotle to later generations，western philosophers have expressed similar views that art is an imitation of the natural world.The emphasis on external form and imitation constitute the basic framework for the development of western classical painting.In the long development of Western painting，painters constantly enhance the realisticity of paintings.When dealing with the relationship between the external form and the gods，they put more emphasis on the rigorous re-enactment of the real objectives and pursue realistic techniques for completing this concept.

3 The Concept Color

3.1 The Concept Color of Classical Chinese Painting

In the development of color of Chinese classical paintings，multicolor and ink are of equal state.Generally speaking，before the Tang Dynasty，multicolor was the mainstream.The most commonly used colors were cinnabar，stone green，white powder，and vine green and yellow.In the Tang and Song Dynasties，the appearance of ink landscape painting replaced the position of multicolor painting.Finally，in the Yuan Dynasty，ink painting basically became the core technique.

As mentioned above，traditional Chinese painting began to produce its own independent aesthetic value during the Jin Dynasty.As the result，the color concept of Chinese classical painting began to slowly deviate from the Confucian understanding of color，and be free from the characteristics of education and ritual，being more closely connected to Taoism which advocates that “the great form is without shape” and “ the oneness of the five colors blind the eyes”.

3.2 The Concept Color of Classical Western Painting

As early as in ancient Greece，Aristotle proposed three elements of color：light，the material that conveys light，and the color of the nearby objects.Since then，Westerners have begun scientific exploration of color.

Before the appearance of Impressionism in the 19th century，the early western traditional painting concept believed that natural things themselves have inherent colors.These colors will only get lighter or darker under different illuminations instead of the change in hue.Therefore，the concept of color in that period pursue to duplicate the inherent color of objects.The Impressionist found that，different illuminations，in addition to the changes of shadow，hue of colors can also vary，which refers to the different color observed by the viewer under the combination of different light and intrinsic color.Both the intrinsic color and the conditional color reflect that western classical painting is influenced by the idea of imitation and pursues to accurately reproduce the color of the object itself.

Westerners recognize color from a scientific point of view.From the vert beginning，Aristotle discovered the meaning of light to color.Later，Newton used the prism to refract sunlight and got the spectrum.The true reproduction of natural color by western classical painting is ascribed to the development of color science.which has always accompanied the transformation of the western classical painting color concept and been an important precondition for the western classical painting to accurately imitate the natural intrinsic color and conditional color.

4 Conclusion

The aesthetic pursuit of traditional Chinese and western paintings is influenced by different philosophical thoughts and show great differences in the development of the relationship between form and spirit.They have respectively moved towards the two opposite aspects when handling the relationship of expressing inner charm and the imitation of the external form which is the basement of different art styles and corresponding art techniques.

Reference

[1]張鑫.中西古典繪畫美學比較研究[D].青島：山東大學，2011.

[2]王文娟.中西繪畫色彩觀及其抽象性問題[J].人文雜志，2007，6：108-114.

[3]郭健濂.論西方繪畫色彩[D].杭州：中國美術學院，2008.

作者簡介

趙洪霆（1994—），男，漢族，四川省宜賓市人，翻譯碩士，英語筆譯專業，單位：四川大學外國語學院；研究方向：英漢翻譯、中西文化對比。