In traditional Chinese painting, paintings created with ink and color on a horizontal scroll are called handscroll paintings.
A handscroll is viewed from right to left in sections, with the viewer unrolling one portion while rolling up the part already seen. This format lets a painter present a continuous landscape, narrative, or sequence of scenes across a long horizontal surface. The work is not normally displayed fully open at once.
Handscrolls often combine images with calligraphy, inscriptions, seals, and colophons added by later owners. They differ from hanging scrolls, which are displayed vertically and usually seen in their entirety. Famous examples include Along the River During the Qingming Festival and The Night Revels of Han Xizai, although those specific works are not the only examples of the format.