Blue-green shan shui

The blue-green shan shui, is a Chinese painting style of "shan shui". It tends to refer to an "ancient style" rather than modern ones. The main colours of the paintings are blues and greens, and in the early period it was painted using mineral dyes. This style was first formulated by Li Sixun, a general, politician and famous painter in the Tang dynasty.

History and sub-styles
Similar styles appeared before the Tang dynasty, especially in the period of the Six Dynasties. Many historic records show that Li father and sons – Li Sixun (father) and Li Zhaodao (son,, son of Li Sixun), largely developed the painting techniques and formulated the style.

There are mainly two styles of this painting:
 * Shibi Qingyuan
 * Yibi Qingyuan

Schools
Tang dynasty: Late Northern Song dynasty: Yuan dynasty, Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty:
 * General blue-green shan shui.
 * Bright green shan shui
 * Great blue-green shan shui
 * Little blue-green shan shui
 * The little blue-green shan shui is the dominant style/school. Especially in the Late Ming dynasty, the painter Lan Ying (Chinese: 蓝瑛; Pinyin: Lán Yīng) from Zhe School (Chinese: 浙派) developed the style to an historic climax.