TheSignificanceofChinesePaintingsA:It’sinterestingthatChinesepaintingscanbecreatedonthespot,eventhoughmostofthemhavesimilarsubjects.Peony,plumblossoms,mountains,creeksorcottagesareverypopular.Thereareoftenpaintersatsignificantcelebratoryandcommemorativeevents.B:Theireducationalfunctionis,infact,auniquefeatureofChinesepainting.Humanprofileswereusedasamethodtoeitherglorifyheroesorcondemntraitors2,000yearsago.TangDynastyofficialseventriedtobringpaintingintoConfucianideology.TheCourtoftheSongDynastypublishedanofficialguidetopaintings.Thisraisedcriterianotonlyforhumanprofilesbutalsoforlandscapeandobjectpaintings.A:Oh,whatwasthat?B:Itclassifiedpaintingsintotencategoriescoveringreligiousbeliefs,Confucianismandstatepower.Thisclassificationgaveanofficialdefinitionofthevalueandsignificanceofthepaintings.Thepurposeoflandscapepaintingswastoportraythefivemountains,whilefruitandbirdswereusedtoexemplifyoreulogizetheGods.Inthiscase,thesubjectswereusedasreferencestopeopleinordertodelivermoralmessages.Forexample,peonyandpeacocksrepresentedwealthandfortune;pinetrees,bamboo,plumblossomsandorchidsrepresentedeleganceandaccomplishment;andpinetreesandcypressessymbolizedloyalty.A:AsfarasIknow,painterswhodidnothavetomakealivingbypaintinguseddifferentskillstothosespecifiedintheguide,eventhoughtheypaintedthesamesubjects.B:Artistsareusuallyagainstpragmatism.Theyliketogivemeaningtothesubjectstheypaint.Bamboosymbolizesintegrityandsimplicity;theorchidsymbolizesmodestyandmisfortune;andpinetreessymbolizenevergivingup.Artistsalsolikelandscapes.Itdoesn’ttakealotoftrainingtopaintlandscapes.Italldependsonthepainter’spersonalityandability,aswellashisuniquetouch.Mostoftoday’snon-professionalpaintersfollowthelandscapestyle.Theobjectiveofthesepaintersispurelyentertainmentandself-satisfaction.Themoresuccessfulartistshavetheopportunitytoexhibitatpublicfunctions.Thatisprobablytheclimaxoftheirpaintingcareers.---本文来源于网络，仅供参考，勿照抄，如有侵权请联系删除---A:Whatareprofessionalpaintersdoing?B:Someofthemmakeagreatefforttoimprovetheirpaintingskills.Theywanttodevelopnewandinnovativepaintingmethodsbyborrowingfromothergenres.Othersarebusymakingmoney.Theyhavefoundwaystoproducecommerciallyattractivepaintings.Somepeoplesaytheyarenolongerartists.Insteadtheyhavebecomemanufacturersofpaintings.A：这真有意思：中国画是可以现场表演的。在一些庆典或纪念性的场合，你可以看到画家们挥毫泼墨。画的题材大致相同：牡丹、梅花、山水、林中小屋等。B：其实，这是中国画的一个特点：强调绘面的宣传功能。早在两千年前，人物画就被政府机构广泛用作宣传工具，表彰忠臣烈士，批判乱臣贼子。唐代的士大夫们甚至试图把绘画创作纳入儒家的思想体系。到了宋代，政府专门出版了官方画谱，不但对人物画的功能提出要求，对山水画和花鸟画也如此。A：都是些什么要求?B：这个画谱将绘画分为十类，涵盖宗教思想、儒家理论和政权统治，论述了各类绘画存在的价值与意义。山水画的存在价值是能描绘“五岳”；瓜果、花鸟有敬神的作用。绘画因此起到以物比人的教化作用。比如，牡丹、孔雀表现富贵；松、竹、梅、兰比喻高人雅士；松、柏象征忠贞。A：不过，据我所知，古代那些不靠绘画谋生的文人，虽然也画同样的题材，但他们的技法与官方画谱规定的不同。B：文人反对实用主义，他们的画有不同的象征意义：竹子代表正直、质朴；兰花代表谦虚和怀才不遇；松树代表自强不息。文人也喜画山水，这不需要进行长期的技巧训练，完全取决于画家的个性和修养，还有独特的笔触。今天，一些非职业画家依然沿袭古代文人的路...