The Chinese landscape-painting tradition whose name literally means “mountain-water” is shan shui. The term combines shan, meaning mountain, and shui, meaning water, the two central elements of the genre.
Shan shui developed especially strongly during the Northern Song period, when painters treated landscape as a subject with philosophical and spiritual meaning. Rather than simply copying a view, artists arranged mountains, rivers, trees, buildings, and people to express harmony, movement, and the relationship between humanity and nature.
Brushwork, ink tones, shifting perspectives, and empty space are essential features. A single painting may suggest several viewpoints instead of presenting one fixed optical scene. Inscriptions and seals often add poetry, commentary, or information about ownership.
Shan shui is different from gongbi, a precise, detailed painting technique, and from flower-and-bird painting, another major Chinese category. Its landscapes can be imaginary or based on real places, but their artistic goal extends beyond topographical accuracy.