KUNG-PI

Pinyin Gongbi, in Chinese painting, meticulous brush technique that delimits details very precisely and without independent or expressive variation. It is often highly coloured and usually depicts figural or narrative subjects. The term kung-pi is also used to refer to paintings that are generally more descriptive than interpretive. Kung-pi paintings are considered to be the opposite of more freely and quickly sketched paintings called hsieh-i, or sketching thoughts. A term related to kung-pi, chieh-hua, or boundary painting, refers to the accurate depiction of architectural forms with the aid of a ruler. One of the masters of kung-pi is the 16th-century painter Ch'iu Ying (q.v.).