Literati Painting vs Nanga / Bunjinga
文人画 / 南画・文人画（日本）
Both sit in East Asian Painting, so the question is not what they belong to but how they behave. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Literati Painting
A Chinese painting tradition that values scholarly cultivation and personal expression. Brushwork relates to character and the study of earlier paintings, while image, poetry, calligraphy and seals interact. Detail, colour and professional practice vary by artist and period; the tradition is not limited to unpaid work by nonprofessional painters.
Nanga / Bunjinga
An Edo-period Japanese movement developed through Chinese literati paintings, manuals and poetry. Mountains, flowers and writing are composed through layered strokes, dots and open space. Its practitioners had varied social backgrounds; the name does not mean painting from southern Japan, and its Japanese reception distinguishes it from the broader Chinese literati tradition.
| Literati Painting | Nanga / Bunjinga | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 11th century– | 18th–19th centuries |
| Family | East Asian Painting | East Asian Painting |
| Kind | Style | Style |
| Cues | Calligraphic brushwork and references to earlier painting / Relations among image, poetry, calligraphy and seals / Ink tones and, in some works, light colour / Personal expression through subject and brushwork | Mountains and trees built from strokes, dots and washes / Poetry and painting share a surface / Imagined and observed landscapes interact / Individual brush rhythms in flowers and landscapes |
| Best used for | Making an image that puts attitude ahead of skill · Placing writing and image on one sheet at the same rank | Explaining the reception of Chinese literati painting in Japan through manuals and works · Comparing writing, landscape, dense brushwork and open space in a publication |
| Type | Treat calligraphy as part of the picture and use the seal as the keystone of the composition. | Distinguish original poetry from editorial notes; do not substitute meaningless invented writing. |
| Composition | Let the void take the lead role and push the subject into a corner. | Build groups of mountains or trees in ink layers, arranging writing and open space together. |
| Material | Hold the gradations to a minimum with a dry brush and pale ink. | Test wet and dry strokes and dot density, retaining an ink structure when using light colour. |
| Caution | Dry ink or apparent awkwardness alone does not identify literati painting. Check cultivation, earlier models and calligraphy; do not assume every artist was nonprofessional or every work unsold. | Not every ink landscape is Nanga. Identify Japanese reception, artists and exchanges rather than duplicating Chinese literati painting under another name. |