--- title: "Chinese Art Names: Painting Styles, the Four Treasures, Paper Cutting and Architecture, With Pinyin" description: "52 Chinese art and craft words: painting styles from 国画 and 水墨画 to 工笔 and 写意, the four treasures of the study, folk crafts like 剪纸 and 皮影戏, porcelain from 青花瓷 to 唐三彩, and architecture from 四合院 to 斗拱 and 飞檐, each with pinyin, meaning and sound." canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-art-words" author: "Mandarin The Wild" --- Free · 52 words # Chinese art and craft words [Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E5%9B%BD%E7%94%BB%20%E6%B0%B4%E5%A2%A8%E7%94%BB%20%E5%B1%B1%E6%B0%B4%E7%94%BB%20%E5%B7%A5%E7%AC%94%20%E5%86%99%E6%84%8F%20%E4%B9%A6%E7%94%BB%20%E7%94%BB%E5%AE%B6%20%E5%B9%B4%E7%94%BB%20%E6%96%87%E6%88%BF%E5%9B%9B%E5%AE%9D%20%E6%AF%9B%E7%AC%94%20%E5%A2%A8%20%E5%AE%A3%E7%BA%B8%20%E7%A0%9A%E5%8F%B0%20%E4%B9%A6%E6%B3%95%20%E4%B9%A6%E6%B3%95%E5%AE%B6%20%E7%AF%86%E5%88%BB%20%E5%8D%B0%E7%AB%A0%20%E5%89%AA%E7%BA%B8%20%E7%AA%97%E8%8A%B1%20%E5%88%BA%E7%BB%A3%20%E8%8B%8F%E7%BB%A3%20%E7%9A%AE%E5%BD%B1%E6%88%8F%20%E9%A3%8E%E7%AD%9D%20%E6%B3%A5%E4%BA%BA%20%E6%89%87%E5%AD%90%20%E6%8A%98%E6%89%87%20%E5%9B%A2%E6%89%87%20%E7%81%AF%E7%AC%BC%20%E6%89%8B%E5%B7%A5%E8%89%BA%20%E9%9D%9E%E9%81%97%20%E9%99%B6%E7%93%B7%20%E7%93%B7%E5%99%A8%20%E9%9D%92%E8%8A%B1%E7%93%B7%20%E5%94%90%E4%B8%89%E5%BD%A9%20%E6%99%AF%E6%B3%B0%E8%93%9D%20%E6%BC%86%E5%99%A8%20%E7%8E%89%E5%99%A8%20%E5%85%B5%E9%A9%AC%E4%BF%91%20%E5%9B%9B%E5%90%88%E9%99%A2%20%E5%BA%AD%E9%99%A2%20%E5%9B%AD%E6%9E%97%20%E4%BA%AD%E5%AD%90%20%E5%AE%9D%E5%A1%94%20%E7%89%8C%E5%9D%8A%20%E6%96%97%E6%8B%B1%20%E9%A3%9E%E6%AA%90%20%E7%90%89%E7%92%83%E7%93%A6%20%E6%8B%B1%E6%A1%A5%20%E5%B1%8F%E9%A3%8E%20%E5%AE%AB%E6%AE%BF%20%E5%AF%BA%E5%BA%99%20%E7%9F%B3%E7%8B%AE) Speed ## The four treasures of the study (文房四宝) | | Character | The word | What it is | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Brush | 笔 bǐ | 毛笔 máobǐ | The writing brush, for calligraphy and painting | | Ink | 墨 mò | 墨 mò | The ink stick, ground with water on the inkstone | | Paper | 纸 zhǐ | 宣纸 xuānzhǐ | Xuan paper, made for calligraphy and painting | | Inkstone | 砚 yàn | 砚台 yàntai | The stone the ink is ground on | ## Painting guó国huà画 traditional Chinese painting shuǐ水mò墨huà画 ink-wash painting shān山shuǐ水huà画 landscape painting (Chinese style) gōng工bǐ笔 meticulous brush style (Chinese painting) xiě写yì意 freehand style (Chinese painting) shū书huà画 calligraphy and painting huà画jiā家 painter; artist nián年huà画 New Year picture ## The four treasures of the study wén文fáng房sì四bǎo宝 the four treasures of the study (brush, ink, paper and inkstone) máo毛bǐ笔 writing brush mò墨 ink; ink stick xuān宣zhǐ纸 Xuan paper (for calligraphy and painting) yàn砚tai台 inkstone shū书fǎ法 calligraphy shū书fǎ法jiā家 calligrapher zhuàn篆kè刻 seal carving; seal engraving yìn印zhāng章 seal; stamp ## Folk crafts jiǎn剪zhǐ纸 paper-cut; paper cutting (folk art) chuāng窗huā花 paper window decoration cì刺xiù绣 embroidery sū苏xiù绣 Suzhou embroidery pí皮yǐng影xì戏 shadow puppet show fēng风zheng筝 kite ní泥rén人 clay figurine shàn扇zi子 fan zhé折shàn扇 folding fan tuán团shàn扇 round fan (of silk) dēng灯long笼 lantern shǒu手gōng工yì艺 handicraft; craftwork fēi非yí遗 intangible cultural heritage (short for 非物质文化遗产) ## Porcelain and treasures táo陶cí瓷 ceramics; pottery and porcelain cí瓷qì器 porcelain; chinaware qīng青huā花cí瓷 blue-and-white porcelain táng唐sān三cǎi彩 Tang tri-color glazed pottery jǐng景tài泰lán蓝 cloisonné enamel qī漆qì器 lacquerware yù玉qì器 jade article; jadeware bīng兵mǎ马yǒng俑 terracotta warriors; Terracotta Army ## Architecture sì四hé合yuàn院 siheyuan; courtyard house (traditional Beijing residence) tíng庭yuàn院 courtyard yuán园lín林 garden; park tíng亭zi子 pavilion; kiosk bǎo宝tǎ塔 pagoda pái牌fāng坊 memorial archway; decorative gateway dǒu斗gǒng拱 dougong (interlocking wooden brackets in Chinese architecture) fēi飞yán檐 upturned eaves liú琉lí璃wǎ瓦 glazed tile gǒng拱qiáo桥 arch bridge píng屏fēng风 folding screen; screen gōng宫diàn殿 palace sì寺miào庙 temple; monastery shí石shī狮 stone lion ## 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](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-calligraphy-generator) - [Peking opera words](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-opera-words) - [Chinese landmarks](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-landmarks) - [Chinese festivals](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-festivals) Words, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary.