Top Ten Famous Landscape Paintings of Chinese

1. Spring Outing by Zhan Ziqian (Sui Dynasty)

  • Status: The earliest existing scroll landscape painting in China, and also the earliest independent landscape painting. It marks the separation of landscape painting from being a background element in figure paintings to becoming an independent genre.
  • Features: Dominated by a green-and-blue color palette, the painting depicts nobles and scholars on a spring outing. In terms of composition, it achieves the effect of "distant mountains and rivers condensed within a small scroll" and employs "scattered-point perspective" for the first time to present spatial layers. The proportions of trees, rocks, and human figures are well-balanced, with concise yet vibrant brushwork—laying the foundation for green-and-blue landscape painting in the Tang Dynasty.
  • Current Location: Collected at the Palace Museum in Beijing (Song Dynasty copy; the original work has been lost).

2. Pavilions by the River with Sailing Boats by Li Sixun (Tang Dynasty)

  • Status: A representative work of green-and-blue landscape painting in the Tang Dynasty. Li Sixun is honored as the "Founder of the Northern School of Landscape Painting," and his painting style established norms for subsequent green-and-blue landscape creations.
  • Features: Painted with intense mineral pigments (lapis lazuli blue and malachite green), the work showcases river scenes, pavilions, and boats with figures. Rocks are outlined using the "small axe-cut texturing" technique, featuring bold and forceful lines. The rich and magnificent colors combine realism with decorative appeal, reflecting the grandeur of court landscape painting in the Tang Dynasty and conveying the artistic conception of "magnificent mountains and rivers, and a prosperous and peaceful nation."
  • Current Location: Collected at the National Palace Museum in Taipei (attributed to Li Sixun; some argue it was painted by his son Li Zhaodao).

3. Wangchuan Villa by Wang Wei (Tang Dynasty)

  • Status: The pioneering work of ink-wash landscape painting in the Tang Dynasty. Wang Wei proposed the concept of "poetry in painting, painting in poetry," initiating the tradition of literati painting that "values ink wash above all else"—an influence that endured for millennia.
  • Features: Based on Wang Wei's retreat at Wangchuan Villa, the painting depicts twenty scenic spots in the landscape. Centered on ink wash, it features concise and subtle brushwork, emphasizing the creation of artistic conception over realistic representation. It highlights "blank space" and "freehand brushwork," integrating poetic charm into the landscape. This established the elegant style of the "Southern School of Landscape Painting," revered as a model by later literati painters.
  • Current Location: The original work has been lost; various Song and Yuan Dynasty copies exist (e.g., the Song copy preserved at Shōfuku-ji Temple in Japan).

4. Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains by Huang Gongwang (Yuan Dynasty)

  • Status: The pinnacle of Yuan Dynasty landscape painting, ranked among China's "Top Ten 传世 Masterpieces." Huang Gongwang is also regarded as the leader of the "Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty" (Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen, Ni Zan, and Wang Meng).
  • Features: Created by Huang Gongwang at the age of 82 for his friend Wuyong Shi, the painting took seven years to complete. Using light crimson and light ink (shallow crimson wash technique), it depicts the autumn scenery along both banks of the Fuchun River. The delicate and smooth "hemp-fiber texturing" brushwork creates rich layers of rocks, trees, and rivers. The composition balances density and sparsity, exuding a serene and distant artistic conception—fully embodying the "elegant beauty" of literati painting. Due to historical reasons, the painting was split into two parts: Remaining Mountain Scroll and Wuyong Scroll.
  • Current Location: Remaining Mountain Scroll is collected at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum; Wuyong Scroll is housed at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

5. Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains by Zhao Mengfu (Yuan Dynasty)

  • Status: A representative work of "ancient-style" landscape painting in the Yuan Dynasty. As the spiritual leader of the "Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty," Zhao Mengfu advocated "valuing ancient elegance in painting," reversing the realistic trend of Song Dynasty court painting and promoting the maturity of literati painting.
  • Features: The painting portrays the autumn scenery of Qiao Mountain and Huabuzhu Mountain in Jinan. The composition is broad and distant, combining "meticulous brushwork" and "freehand brushwork." Rocks are rendered with "lotus leaf texturing," trees are outlined concisely, and the color palette is dominated by shallow crimson—presenting an elegant and fresh style. Integrating calligraphic brushwork into painting, the lines are both forceful and flexible, embodying the concept of "painting and calligraphy sharing the same origin" and brimming with literati refinement.
  • Current Location: Collected at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

6. Hermitage in the Qingbian Mountains by Wang Meng (Yuan Dynasty)

  • Status: The ultimate work of "dense landscape painting" in the Yuan Dynasty. Wang Meng's unique "unraveled rope texturing" and "ox-hair texturing" techniques were unparalleled in the art world, demonstrating the complexity of brushwork and ink in landscape painting.
  • Features: Depicting the scenery of a hermitage in Qingbian Mountain (Zhejiang Province), the painting features a "dense yet well-structured" composition. Rocks are layered with multiple texturing techniques, with interweaving lines like unraveled ropes. Dense trees dot the scene, and thatched cottages and hermits are scattered among the mountains—conveying both the depth of the forest and the transcendence of literati. The vigorous and flexible brushwork, combined with rich variations in ink density, led Dong Qichang (Ming Dynasty) to praise it as "the finest landscape painting under heaven."
  • Current Location: Collected at the Shanghai Museum.

7. Travellers Among Mountains and Streams by Fan Kuan (Song Dynasty)

  • Status: The pinnacle of the "Northern School of Landscape Painting" in the Northern Song Dynasty. Together with Li Cheng's "distant cold forests" and Guan Tong's "Guanzhong landscapes," Fan Kuan's works are known as the "Three Great Masters of the Northern Song Dynasty," and this painting is hailed as "the supreme masterpiece of Northern Song landscape painting."
  • Features: Based on Mount Zhongnan and Mount Hua (Shaanxi Province), the work depicts majestic and precipitous mountains alongside a team of travelers. The dominant element is a towering main peak, rendered with "raindrop texturing" to emphasize the texture of rocks. The brushwork is heavy and forceful, with deep and vigorous ink tones. The composition of "a prominent main peak surrounded by other mountains" fully embodies the grandeur of northern landscapes. The artist's signature "Fan Kuan" is hidden in the lower right corner—key evidence for later confirmation of the painter's identity.
  • Current Location: Collected at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

8. Early Spring by Guo Xi (Song Dynasty)

  • Status: A representative work of Northern Song court landscape painting. Guo Xi's Linquan Gaozhi (Treatise on Painting from the Forest and Spring) is China's first systematic treatise on landscape painting, and his "Three Distances" (high distance, deep distance, and level distance) became a classic principle for landscape composition.
  • Features: Depicting the scenery of early spring, the painting combines "high distance" and "deep distance" in its composition, showcasing layered mountains, gurgling streams, and sprouting vegetation—all radiating vitality. Rocks are rendered with "rolling cloud texturing," featuring flexible lines like swirling clouds. The striking contrast between dry and wet ink, and light and dark tones, embodies both the exquisiteness of court painting and the artistic conception of literati painting, making it regarded as "the standard model of Song Dynasty landscape painting."
  • Current Location: Collected at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

9. A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains by Wang Ximeng (Song Dynasty)

  • Status: The pinnacle of green-and-blue landscape painting in the Northern Song Dynasty. Created when Wang Ximeng was only 18 years old, it is hailed as a "masterpiece by a genius" and is the longest ancient green-and-blue landscape scroll in China.
  • Features: Painted with "rich green-and-blue colors" using mineral pigments such as lapis lazuli blue, malachite green, and cinnabar, the work presents a magnificent panorama of a thousand li of rivers and mountains. The composition achieves "a thousand li of scenery condensed in a scroll," encompassing mountains, rivers, villages, bridges, and pavilions. The brushwork is extremely meticulous, and rocks are rendered with a combination of "hemp-fiber texturing" and "axe-cut texturing"—conveying both the grandeur of the landscape and the delicacy of details, fully demonstrating the extraordinary talent of this young Song Dynasty painter.
  • Current Location: Collected at the Palace Museum in Beijing.

10. Sketching from Nature: Capturing Myriad Peaks by Shi Tao (Qing Dynasty)

  • Status: A representative work of the "Four Monks" (Shi Tao, Bada Shanren, Kun Can, and Hong Ren)—a group that stood apart from the orthodox "Four Wangs and Wu Li" of the Qing Dynasty. Shi Tao advocated "sketching from nature to capture myriad peaks" and "brushwork and ink should keep pace with the times," breaking the rigid conventions of traditional landscape painting and laying the foundation for the innovation of later landscape art.
  • Features: Combining "teaching sketches" and creative works, the painting focuses on ink wash with touches of shallow crimson. It depicts various exotic peaks, strange rocks, waterfalls, and streams. The brushwork is free and unrestrained, with diverse texturing techniques (integrating hemp-fiber, unraveled rope, and axe-cut texturing). The composition breaks free from the traditional "Three Distances" principle, brimming with dynamism and variation. It embodies the creative concept of "learning from nature" and highlights the "uninhibited elegance" of literati painting.
  • Current Location: Collected at the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Supplementary Note

The above works span key periods in the development of landscape painting, including the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Qing dynasties. They encompass both the grandeur and exquisiteness of court painting and the elegance of literati painting; both the majesty of northern landscapes and the grace of southern scenery. Not only are they pinnacles of artistic creation, but they also carry the spiritual essence of traditional Chinese culture—such as "harmony between humans and nature" and "expressing emotions through landscapes." To this day, they remain important carriers for studying the history of Chinese painting and culture.
For a deeper understanding, one can explore the works' creative backgrounds (e.g., the story of the split of Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains), technical characteristics (e.g., the evolution of "texturing techniques" and "color application"), and painting theories (e.g., Guo Xi's Linquan Gaozhi and Shi Tao's The Monk Bitter Melon's Commentary on Painting), which will further reveal the profound charm of Chinese landscape painting.
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