Calligraphy and painting are regarded as two treasures in China. Togethered with Qin, the ancient Zheng, and Qi, the chess, they formed the four skills for a learned and elegant scholar to pursue in the ancient times. They were also held as a good exercise to cultivate one's temperament.

Traditional Chinese Painting is famous for its original style and distinctive national features in the world. Over the centuries, the practice of countless artists made it an art subdivided into a multitude of schools with some traits in common.

In terms of mode of expression, traditional Chinese painting mainly falls into two schools. The Xieyi School, literally 'painting the feeling', marked by exaggeration of form and liberal use of ink; another school called Gongbi, meaning meticulous brushwork, characterized by strict and detailed representation of the subject.

As to the subject, the most popular ones have been landscapes, human figures, animals, fishes, birds and flowers. Hence, there are 'figure painting','flower and bird painting' and 'mountain and river painting'. The interesting thing is the symbolism used in the painting that often puzzles the westerners' eye. Mountains, rivers, plants, animals, birds, flowers, etc, can all be chosen for their traditional association as much as for their inherent beauty. For example, the pine trees represent the uprightness and immortality. Together with the bamboo and prunes, they are known as ‘the three friends of winter'. The orchid, a modest flower, is often used to describe the virtuous artists and scholars. Anther much depicted group of flowers are the ‘flowers of the four seasons'. They are the peony, standing for the riches and honors; the lotus, coming out of the mire without being smeared, for purity; the chrysanthemum, for elegance, righteousness and longevity; and the prunes, for bravery and the messenger of spring.

The writing brushes are adapted to a certain purpose such as painting or calligraphy, and for desired effect to be achieved such as clearly defined characters or blurred ones. In addition, unlike pens with a metal point, the writing brush is made of fine and soft animal hair. The resulting flexibility of the point of the brush is perhaps its most unique feature. A writing brush can be manipulated not only to the left and right on a two-dimensional plane, but can also be raised up and down, creating lines of varying thickness and endless variations. Many aspects of Chinese painting and calligraphy developed because of the special characteristics of the writing brush.

The writing brushes are classified by the types of hair including goat hair, wolf hair, and purple hair. Wolf hairbrushes are actually made of weasel hair and purple hair brushes from rabbit hair. Goat hairbrushes are soft,flexible, and absorbent. Purple hairbrushes produce bold lines and are best suited to calligraphy. Sometimes, to achieve a balance between steely and feathery lines, a brush that combines hair from two different types of animals is used.

The ink stick is a unique pigment of Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy. At the beginning, natural ink or half-natural ink was widely used. The artificial ink appeared during the Han Dynasty. At that time, the most famous ink-stick was ‘Yumi-mo' produced at Qi anyang and Shaanxi. The raw materials of ink stick were pine, oil and lacquer.

Seal plays an important role in Chinese culture, which has been used for official and private in the last 3,000 years. The earliest example of seal come from the Shang Dynasty (1600 B.C. - 1100 B.C.) ruins at Anyang . According to a Han Dynasty legend, the first seal was given to the Yellow Emperor by a yellow dragon with a chart on its back. The other says that the seal was given to Emperor Yao by a phoenix as Yao was sitting in a boat. In ancient China , the receipt of the seal signifies the conferral of the Mandate of Heaven. He who has the seal possesses the Mandate of Heaven, in other words, he has been given the right to rule the empire. Hence, the seal is regarded as the symbol of power. Seals can be divided into three categories, the imperial seal, the official seals and the private seals according to their usage. Different Dynasties have different styles of their seals, including the inscription, design and so on.

During the Warring States (476B.C.-221B.C.), there was only one way of calling seals, both official and private, regardless of their usage and material. The name was Xi, which in the following periods gradually became the name of imperial seals. According to the historical records of Tang Dynasty, Empress Wu Zetian changed the name of seal ‘Xi' into ‘Bao', meaning treasure in Chinese. Because she disliked the pronunciation of Xi, which sounds like death in Chinese. But when Emperor Zhongzong resumed the throne in 705, he changed the name for imperial seals back to Xi. In subsequent centuries, the two words were used alternatively. In Han Dynasty, the emperor had six seals. During the Tang Dynasty, the number began eight, during the Ming Dynasty, the emperor had more than a dozen, and by the time of the Qing Dynasty, there were several dozens of official imperial seals. The inscription on these seals usually refers to receiving the Mandate of Heaven or being the successor of Heaven. Another type of imperial seal was the seal the emperor used to issue certain document written in his own handwriting. Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) in Qing Dynasty, for example, was famous for his literary talent and calligraphy, so he left a large amount of articles and writings affixed with his seal.

The official seals were served as a token of office and authority. These seals were usually made small so that the officials could carry on their belts. The seal were made of gold, copper or jade with the handles shaped of turtle, camel and so on. Up to the Eastern Han Dynasty ( 25 A .D. -220A .D.), the color of ink used to affix official seals was depending on the official ranks of its owner, some used green ink, some purple and some yellow, etc. The calligraphy of the inscription had changed a lot as the civilization advanced. In the Han Dynasty, the characters on the seal are thick and angular. In the Sui Dynasty ( 581A .D. -618A .D.), they became round and thinner, and during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the spectacular nine-folded script came into being. When it moved on to the Qing Dynasty, most official seals are bilingual with the Chinese inscription on the right side and the Manchu on the left.

As to the private seals, they show the grate diversities in content, shape, size, material and calligraphy. Despite their differences, the private seals can be divided according to their different usages. Seals with names, pen names and others were used as a signature. This is the way artists sign their works and letters. For many Chinese artists usually used different pen names on their works, identifying the authors from the seal is not that easy. Collector seals were primarily used for authenticating pieces of art masterpieces. Thus, a seal of a famous collector would become an integral part of a work and could substantially raise its value. So, one can see some Chinese paintings or calligraphies covered by a dozen of different seals. The rest of private seals can be regarded as leisure seals. The inscriptions on these seals usually quote from a famous writing or saying, which can show the owner's taste.

The logo of 2008 Beijing Olympics was designed as a Chinese seal. According to its designer Guo Chunning, the inspiration came from Chinese traditional culture. The logo is the combination of Olympic spirits and Chinese profound culture. Chinese character and seals both are the quintessence of our country. What's more, they are a perfect pair. Guo designed the character ‘Jing' in Seal Style, and then personalize it into a running person. The whole logo is in a great harmony after endowed with red color.