<P> During the Tang dynasty, figure painting flourished at the royal court . Artists such as Zhou Fang depicted the splendor of court life in paintings of emperors, palace ladies, and imperial horses . Figure painting reached the height of elegant realism in the art of the court of Southern Tang (937--975). </P> <P> Most of the Tang artists outlined figures with fine black lines and used brilliant color and elaborate detail . However, one Tang artist, the master Wu Daozi, used only black ink and freely painted brushstrokes to create ink paintings that were so exciting that crowds gathered to watch him work . From his time on, ink paintings were no longer thought to be preliminary sketches or outlines to be filled in with color . Instead, they were valued as finished works of art . </P> <P> Beginning in the Tang Dynasty, many paintings were landscapes, often shanshui (山水, "mountain water") paintings . In these landscapes, monochromatic and sparse (a style that is collectively called shuimohua), the purpose was not to reproduce the appearance of nature exactly (realism) but rather to grasp an emotion or atmosphere, as if catching the "rhythm" of nature . </P> <P> Painting during the Song dynasty (960--1279) reached a further development of landscape painting; immeasurable distances were conveyed through the use of blurred outlines, mountain contours disappearing into the mist, and impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena . The shan shui style painting--"shan" meaning mountain, and "shui" meaning river--became prominent in Chinese landscape art . The emphasis laid upon landscape was grounded in Chinese philosophy; Taoism stressed that humans were but tiny specks in the vast and greater cosmos, while Neo-Confucianist writers often pursued the discovery of patterns and principles that they believed caused all social and natural phenomena . The painting of portraits and closely viewed objects like birds on branches were held in high esteem, but landscape painting was paramount . By the beginning of the Song Dynasty a distinctive landscape style had emerged . Artists mastered the formula of intricate and realistic scenes placed in the foreground, while the background retained qualities of vast and infinite space . Distant mountain peaks rise out of high clouds and mist, while streaming rivers run from afar into the foreground . </P>

It is the highest form of chinese painting