Starting around 4,000 B.C., traditional Chinese brush painting has developed continuously over a period of more than six thousand years. __41__
During the 1st century A.D., the art of painting religious murals gradually gained in prominence, with the introduction of Buddhism to China and the consequent building of temples. __42__ For example, paintings of historical characters and stories of everyday life became extremely popular. Besides historical figures, landscape painting was also common in Chinese brush painting. By the 4th century, this particular type of painting had already established itself as an independent form of expression. __43__ The blue-and-green landscape used bright blue, green and red pigments derived from minerals to create a richly decorative style; the ink-and-wash landscape relied on vivid brushwork and various intensity of ink to express the artist’s conception of nature as well as his own emotions. __44__ A great many artists in the 9th century painted in this genre and their subject matters included a rich variety of flowers, fruits, birds, insects, and fish.
Since the turn of the 20th century, painters have often mixed several colors on one brush or mixed their colors with black inks. __45__ Such techniques have been widely adopted and further developed in the contemporary period.
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