Abstract: In the Ming Dynasty， Zou Dezhong’s Compilation of Painting Things and Pointing To Enlightenment is the first known traditional figure painting book containing “18 etc. of ancient and modern depictions”. These “Eighteen Strokes” are the summaries of the line drawing techniques of the characters from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Yuan Dynasty summarized and sorted out by Zou Dezhong， referred to as “Eighteen Strokes”. Later， after the continuous addition and interpretation of the Ming and Qing dynasties， the “Eighteen Strokes” type of painting spectrum evolved into a three-in-one style consisting of the description name， the description interpretation and the spectrum schema. This paper examines the rheological changes of the “Eighteen Strokes” of the Ming and Qing dynasties by using the historical document method， and tries to clearly establish a research framework for the inheritance and evolution of such paintings， aiming to reveal how the names of “Strokes”， the interpretation of the descriptions， and patterns have changed.
这幅画是我在少年时初学中国人物画时，临摹的一幅唐代永乐宫壁画的一个局部。原画是工笔重彩，我勾勒完线条之后，老师说，你不要忙着着色，就保持白描状态，这样容易看出毛病来。老师说得极是。中国人物画是讲究用线的，假如着色之后，色彩掩盖了勾线的毛病。
