Chinese figure painting is one of the major branches of Chinese painting, appearing earlier than landscape painting and flower and bird painting. Figure painting strives to portray characters in a realistic way with vividness and unity of form and spirit. Therefore, in Chinese painting theory, figure painting is also called "transmission of spirit." The book "Han Feizi" in the Warring States Period records the touching love story of the painter of the king of Chu. Because of the material issue, the earliest figure paintings we can see today are mostly from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, such as Gu Kaizhi's "Nymph of the Luo River" and so on. During the Tang Dynasty, the creation of portrait paintings gradually increased, forming different categories such as paintings of Taoism and Buddhism, paintings of ladies, portraits, and paintings of customs and historical stories, etc. During the Northern Song Dynasty, many professional painters specializing in figure painting emerged. Among them, the most famous ones are "Han Xizhai's Night Banquet" by Gu Hongzhong of the Southern Tang Dynasty, "A Portrait of Vimalakirti" by Li Gonglin of the Northern Song Dynasty, and "Caiwei" by Li Tang of the Southern Song Dynasty, etc. In "Huangting Jing's Scroll of Statues of Gods" by Liang Kai of the Southern Song Dynasty, there are also scenes of painters painting portraits of people.
Speaking of "professional portraits" a thousand years ago, the literati of the Song Dynasty were specially fond of hiring painters to draw their own portraits. The famous painter Li Gonglin was a friend of Su Shi, and according to historical records, when he painted Su Shi's portrait, he also added a small portrait of himself next to Su Shi’s. When Su's disciple Huang Tingjian and others saw this portrait, they also asked Li Gonglin to paint their portraits as well.
In the Song Dynasty, self-portraits were also popular among the literati circle. Taking the meaning of "I will reflect on myself three times a day," they would frame their self-portrait and hang it in the study or living room for self-examination. In the small painting "Lofty Scholars" by an anonymous painter of Song Dynasty, a portrait of the owner is hung on the screen. They would also wrote a paragraph on their portraits, mostly self-evaluation and encouragement, called "praise of portraits." Su Shi wrote in a self-praise poem: "People ask me about my life achievements, they are in Huangzhou, Huizhou and Danzhou."
In addition to hanging paintings at home, the Song people also loved to "hang paintings" for appreciation when they gathered together. In the elegant events of the literati in the Song Dynasty, evaluation of calligraphy and paintings was the most basic cultivation, and the literati and scholar-officials at that time loved to collect the famous calligraphy and paintings of all dynasties, and the calligrapher Mi Fu said, "When I see ancient artifacts, calligraphy and paintings, I will try my best to get them, and I won’t stop until I get them." Whenever there was an elegant gathering, the literati would take out their favorite paintings to appreciate them together and talk about them. After Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of Song Dynasty, retired to Deshou Palace, Emperor Xiaozong would come to appreciate with his father once he had collected good paintings. Thus it became a trend. Whenever the Song people got a new painting or calligraphy of a famous artist, they would launch an elegant gathering. They would place the collection in a few cases and invite their friends to appreciate and comment on it, and write and read poems. This was a great pleasure for the literati in the Song Dynasty.
In order to attract customers, tea houses and restaurants in the Song Dynasty would also try all possible means to obtain famous paintings and calligraphy and hang them in their stores, and publicize this to attract people who love painting to come to consume. People who love painting would also come to banquets specially for the paintings hanging on the walls.
Most of the existing paintings of the Song Dynasty are small in size, indicating that the style of large frescoes prevalent in previous dynasties has changed into small scrolls of literati paintings, where the use of brushes and the expression of interest have been greatly developed, and the traces of the "Four Leisure Things" are commonly seen in the paintings. These paintings all reflect the painter's careful observation of life and handy ability to express art, with their realistic and naturalistic portrayal of characters' demeanor and movements. The form of expression of traditional Chinese painting also gradually developed and matured in the Song Dynasty.
The "Four Leisure Things" - hanging paintings, making tea, burning incense and arranging flowers were collectively called the "Four Arts" by the Song people, and were part of the elegant life pursued by the ancient literati. These four arts savor the flavor of daily life through the sense of smell, taste, touch and sight, and contain the elegant life pleasures of the literati and the rich connotation of Chinese culture.