Chinese art and craft words

What are the styles of Chinese painting?

Traditional Chinese painting is 国画 (guóhuà), most of it ink-wash painting, 水墨画 (shuǐmòhuà). It has two brush styles: 工笔 (gōngbǐ), meticulous and detailed, and 写意 (xiěyì), freehand and expressive. Its best-loved subject is the landscape, 山水画 (shānshuǐhuà), literally a painting of mountains and water.

What are the four treasures of the study?

文房四宝 (wénfáng sìbǎo) are the four things a scholar writes and paints with: the brush 毛笔 (máobǐ), the ink stick 墨 (mò), paper 宣纸 (xuānzhǐ) and the inkstone 砚台 (yàntai). A finished work is signed with a seal, 印章 (yìnzhāng), carved in the art of 篆刻 (zhuànkè).

What is Chinese paper cutting called?

剪纸 (jiǎnzhǐ). At New Year, red paper cuts on windows are 窗花 (chuānghuā), window flowers, and go up with the couplets 春联 (chūnlián) and the New Year pictures 年画 (niánhuà).

What are the parts of Chinese architecture called?

The courtyard house of old Beijing is a 四合院 (sìhéyuàn). Roofs rest on 斗拱 (dǒugǒng), interlocking wooden brackets, curve up at the corners into 飞檐 (fēiyán), upturned eaves, and are covered in 琉璃瓦 (liúlíwǎ), glazed tiles. A garden, 园林 (yuánlín), has a pavilion, 亭子 (tíngzi), and a pagoda is a 宝塔 (bǎotǎ).

What is Chinese porcelain called?

瓷器 (cíqì); in English it took the name china from the country it came from. The best known kinds are blue-and-white 青花瓷 (qīnghuācí), the three-colour glazed pottery of the Tang, 唐三彩 (Táng sāncǎi), and cloisonné enamel, 景泰蓝 (jǐngtàilán).

Can’t hear it?

Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each character in our recorded voice instead.

More Chinese culture

• Chinese calligraphy generator
• Peking opera words
• Chinese landmarks
• Chinese festivals