“中国画与中医、京剧在一起，被誉为中国的“三大国粹”。按内容分，主要有人物画、山水画、花鸟画三大类。
战国时，中国就以有比较成熟的人物画，唐代达到顶峰。著名的人物画家有顾恺之、吴道子等。山水画产生于秦代，宋代达到很高水平。著名的山水画家有唐代的李思训、王维和明代唐寅。花鸟画画的是自然界中的花卉、鸟兽、鱼虫。南北朝时出现了花鸟画，宋代走向成熟。著名的花鸟画家有擅长画花鸟的朱耷，擅长画竹子的郑燮、擅长画鱼虾的齐白石。
按画法，中国画主要有工笔画和写意画。工笔画的特点是按照事物原来的样子，一笔一笔画的非常细致，尤其注重细节的描绘；写意画是一种夸张的画法，要求用简单的笔墨画出事物的神韵，虽然笔墨简单，但意趣生动，表现力很强。
Traditional Chinese painting is regarded as " three major treasures of Chines culture" together with traditional Chinese medicine and Beijing opera. If divided by content, traditional Chinese painting can be classified into three categories, namely, figurine, landscape, and flower and bird.
Painting of figurines matured as early as the Warring States Period and reached its peak during the Tang Dynasty. The famous artists in figurines include Gu Kaizhi and Wu Daozi. Painting of landscape first appeared in Qin Dynasty and had reached a very high level by the time of Song Dynasty. The representative artists of this category include Li Sixun and Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Yin of the Ming Dynasty. Paintings of flowers and birds focus on flowers, birds, fish and insects in the natural world. It came into being in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and became a mature art during the Song Dynasty. Celebrate artists of this category include Zhu Da of the early Qing Dynasty who excelled in execution of flowers and birds, Zheng Xie of the Qing Dynasty, who was good at painting bamboo, and Qi Baishi, who excelled in fish and shrimp.
Divided by styles of brushwork, traditional Chinese painting can be categorized into gongbi, realistic painting characterized by fine brushwork and close attention to details, and xieyi, freehand brushwork aimed at catching the spirit of the object and expressing the author's impression or mood. In the latter, brushworks may be brief and simple, but they are powerful in expression.