Ink wash

Ink wash painting
Pine Trees (right screen) by Hasegawa Tōhaku (1539–1610). The painting has been designated as National Treasure.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese	水墨画
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shuǐ Mò Huà
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	Tranh thuỷ mặc
Chữ Nôm	幀水墨
Korean name
Hangul	수묵화
Hanja	水墨畵
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Sumukhwa McCune–Reischauer Sumukhwa
Japanese name
Kanji	1. 水墨画 2. 墨絵
Hiragana	1. すいぼくが 2. すみえ
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn 1. suibokuga 2. sumie

Ink wash painting, also known as literati painting, is an East Asian type of brush painting of Chinese origin that uses black ink—the same as used in East Asian calligraphy, in various concentrations. For centuries, this most prestigious form of Chinese art was practiced by highly educated scholar gentlemen or literati.

Names used in the cultures concerned include: in Chinese shuǐ mò huà (水墨畫), in Japanese sumi-e (墨絵) or suibokuga (水墨画^?), in Korean sumukhwa (수묵화), and in Vietnamese tranh thuỷ mặc (幀水墨).

Textual evidence suggests that Shan shui style painting existed during China's Liu Song dynasty of the fifth century. Ink wash painting developed further during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The 8th-century poet/painter Wang Wei is generally credited as the painter who applied color to existing ink wash paintings. The art was further developed into a more polished style during the Song Dynasty (960–1279). It was introduced to Korea shortly after China's discovery of the ink.

Asian aesthetic writing is generally consistent in stating the goal of ink and wash painting is not simply to reproduce the appearance of the subject, but to capture its spirit. To paint a horse, the ink wash painting artist must understand its temperament better than its muscles and bones. To paint a flower, there is no need to perfectly match its petals and colors, but it is essential to convey its liveliness and fragrance. East Asian ink wash painting may be regarded as a form of expressionistic art that captures the unseen.