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Culture Origins of Western Oil Painting and Ancient Chinese 
Poetry 

 -- Taking Idyllic and Patriotic Themes as Examples 
Yiyuan Wang 

School of Art and Design; Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, China 

Abstract. A strikingly similar picture of reality is found in different backgrounds between Western oil 
painting and Chinese poetry in light of the collision and comparison between Chinese and Western 
cultures in Western oil painting and Chinese poetry. One using poetry and the other using painting, 
though separated by thousands of years and thousands of mountains. It demonstrates how cultural 
profundity and tolerance bring different forms of expression to art. We hope to encourage the 
development of future research, as well as the different forms of artistic expression of culture, 
anticipating future breakthroughs in art.  

Keywords: Western oil painting; Chinese poetry; Cultural origin. 

1. The East-West Culture Origins in the Idyllic Theme 
1.1 Miller's "The Gleaners" and Bai Juyi's "Watching the Mowing of the Wheat"  
1.1.1 Biography of the painter and poet 

“The Gleaners" is the work of the talented French artist JeanFrançois Millet, who was born in the 
Normandy peninsula of France in 1814 and died in the town of Barbizon near Fontainebleau in 1875 
at the age of sixty-one. He was one of the most popular artists among the lower and middle classes in 
China in the past hundred years. He depicted rural life, depicted their truth, goodness and beauty in 
detail, persistently based on the grassroots and strived to express the realistic and objective rural life. 
His creations are strongly characterized by the times and are supported by ordinary people and small, 
tenacious and hard-working rural people, whose vitality was first noticed by people all over the world 
in the hands of this painter.  

The poem "Watching the Mowing of the Wheat" was written by Bai Juyi when he was a lieutenant 
in Shaanxi Province's Zhouzhi County, feeling that the local people were working hard and living in 
poverty. As Bai Juyi was in charge of this matter, the county lieutenant was responsible for the arrest 
of pirates and the payment of taxes in the county, so he had a better understanding of the losses 
suffered by the people in this area. He is deeply ashamed of his own lack of merit and virtue, and of 
his difficulty in working to feed and clothe the people, demonstrating the humanitarian spirit of a 
conscientious feudal bureaucrat.  
1.1.2 The same humanistic sentiment of Western paintings and Chinese poems 

The act of "gleaning" in "The Gleaners" is the deep imprint of agricultural civilization that 
mankind has been carrying since ancient times. Whether at the beginning people were picking up 
grains of rice that fell quietly in the soil, or later picking up the sparse ears of rice scattered in the 
field, each bowing process represents not only the hardships of people's lives at that time, but also 
their humility towards the land and nature. Our 9th century Tang poet Bai Juyi and 19th century 
French painter Millet, one with poetry and the other with painting, although separated by thousands 
of years and thousands of mountains, both with different artistic and artistic expressions. The poem 
"Watching the Mowing of Wheat" depicts a strikingly similar picture of the real life of wheat farmers. 
A line from Bai Juyi's poem "His right arm holds the dropped sheaves of wheat, while his left arm 
hangs a shabby basket. Whoever hears his words will be sad about it. There was not much left in the 
family field for taxes, so he picked up the wheat from the ground to feed his hunger. How fortunate 
were I to be free from farming at present? The official's salary was 300 dan, with a surplus of food at 



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the end of the year.". The poem reflects the thoughts and emotions of the working people, and cries 
out the voice of the working people,  depicting in detail the scenes of real life as shown in Figure 
(1), choosing scenes of the busy life of the family and the miserable food. In his writing style, the 
poet combines panoramic portrayal with specific character descriptions, making the whole poem an 
organic whole. Although he does not write much, he portrays the hard work and hardships of the 
wheat cutters and gleaners at the time of the autumn harvest in a vivid and realistic way, as if it were 
a painting, writing not only about the events, but also about the heart, the writer's own heart and the 
hearts of the working people. Many people think that "gleaning" only belongs to the ancient times, 
but if we look at its meaning, "gleaners" can still be found everywhere in our affluent society.  

 
Figure 1. Scene from "Watching the Mowing of Wheat" 

 
Figure 2. The Gleaners 

1.2 Van Gogh's "Harvest Scene" and Tao Yuanming's "A Residence in the Countryside-one" 
1.2.1 Biography of the painter and poet  

Van Gogh, the representative painter of Dutch Impressionism, was the pioneer of Expressionism 
and had a deep and direct influence on the art of the entire twentieth century, especially Fauvism and 
German Expressionism. His best works, including Starry Night, Sunflowers and Crow in the Rye are 
now among the world's most famous and widely known artworks. The "Harvest Scene" was painted 
by Van Gogh in February 1888, when he arrived in Arles from France and quickly fell in love with 
the fields, under the blinding wheat fields and the strong sunlight, bringing his "crazy" moment to its 
peak. He was deeply influenced by the French impressionists and Japanese ukiyo-e. He was not 
satisfied with the mere rational "external image of simulated events", but wanted to express his main 
idea and life emotion through painting, and his love for nature and life made his paintings personal 
and unique. Therefore, the painting adopts a more traditional realistic tone, and the whole painting is 
enveloped in warm tones. The use of a distant view gives the background a flat and distant feel.  

However, Tao Yuanming has made the greatest contribution to the writing of idyllic poems and 
other poems in total. The poems fully demonstrate Tao Yuanming's noble moral integrity, his feelings 
for the pure rural life, his deep understanding of the value of labor, and his affection for the working 



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people; it shows the lyricist's desire and longing for an ideal world. As a literary scholar, such thoughts 
and feelings and such connotations are unprecedented in the history of Chinese literature, especially 
in the feudal system of gatekeepers and the strict class concept of Chinese society, it is particularly 
precious.  

 
Figure 3. Harvest Scene 

1.2.2 Same poetic and pictorial mood of Western paintings and Chinese poems 
Tao Yuanming's poem "A Residence in the Countryside-one" saying that, "I have no rhyme for 

the vulgar, but I love hills and mountains by nature," and the last two lines of Tao Yuanming's "A 
Residence in the Countryside" are "I have been in a cage for a long time, but I have returned to 
nature." The so-called "nature" does not only refer to the nature of the countryside, but also to the 
way of living in nature. In Tao Yuanming's eyes, the pursuit of wealth and fame is a distortion of life 
and the loss of one's own values, as well as the pursuit of social values as one's own standard of 
behavior. The real way of survival is to be satisfied with a frugal existence and to give up the 
competition and struggle between human beings and the world. However, it was after painting The 
White Orchard that Van Gogh's Harvest Scene was brought back to life on the canvas of the idyllic 
and harvesting scenes in the suburbs of Arles. Having lived in the dark and gloomy climate of northern 
France, Van Gogh was overjoyed to see the bright and vibrant southern France. He wrote in the 497th 
letter: "In the pure turquoise blue sky, reflecting the ruddy gold, bronze and brass, this is called 
Ganymede and Delacroix colors." Apart from the strong colors, the landscape is surrounded by a flat 
and endless field. These landscapes have always made him miss the Netherlands (the Netherlands of 
Rüsseldahl's time). The painting is firmly written with a sharp tonal contrast and a precise method of 
distance and proximity. The view extends from a distance, bringing Van Gogh fully into the bosom 
of nature. The two works of art, both in the idyllic style, although far apart from the changes of the 
times and the different backgrounds of life, have such a mood, conveyed in different ways, expressing 
the poet and painter in the same idyllic, poetic and pictorial mood. 

2. The East-West Culture Origins in the patriotic themes  
2.1 Sulikov's "Morning of the Execution by the Streltsy" and Wen Tianxiang's "Sailing on 

lonely ocean"  
2.1.1 Biography of the painter and poet  

"Morning of the Execution by the Streltsy" is a work of art by Vasily Ivanovich Surikov, one of 
the leading artists at the end of the Russian Tsarist reign, which had a significant and far-reaching 
impact on the "traveling school of painting". Sulikov focused his pictures on socio-historical themes, 
which provided a lively picture of the historical reality of Russian society at a certain stage of 
development. He depicted the historical reality of Russia's social development at a certain stage of 
development in a vivid and lively manner. However, in "Morning of the Execution by the Streltsy", 
he chose the history of the suppression of the mutiny of the Praetorian Guard by Peter the Great in 

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the late seventeenth century. The work depicts the historical events that led to the suppression of the 
mutiny of the Praetorian Guard in the late 17th century. It is a realistic and realistic work that depicts 
the husbands of the guards bidding farewell to their loved ones at the guillotine, full of melancholy 
and desolation. The expression of the mourning and the generosity of the soldiers of the Praetorian 
Guard in their fight for justice are a reflection of the resilient national character of the Soviet people, 
so we can assume that Sulikov used the historical events to give a high degree of understanding and 
praise to the national heroes who fought against Tsarist Russia.  

"Sailing on lonely ocean" is an ode to the ideal life written by Wen Tianxiang with his blood and 
soul. He was a great minority figure and a great patriotic writer during the Southern Song Dynasty in 
1744. He was appointed as a chancellor and deputy privy counsellor, and was appointed as the Duke 
of Xin Guo. His reign coincided with the southern invasion of the Yuan and Mongolian armies, which 
brought the Southern Song Dynasty to the brink of extinction. In order to save the Southern Song 
Dynasty, he took the initiative to join the resistance, but he was defeated and captured, and finally 
died a heroic death. The poem demonstrates the writer's noble patriotism and noble national morale. 
In the first two lines of the poem, the writer reminisces about his life; the middle four lines follow 
"the weapons are scarce", clearly showing the artist's profound understanding of the current situation 
in China; the last two lines are the artist's unhesitating judgment of his own future. By reviewing his 
own suffering in the resistance against the Yuan, he expresses his sorrow for his country and his 
passionate ambition to die for his country and his life's desire to sacrifice his life for the sake of his 
country, which is a noble expression of the spirit of propaganda and education for the Chinese nation. 
2.1.2 Western paintings share the same warrior generosity as ancient poetry  

The poet Wen Tianxiang wrote this poem"Sailing on lonely ocean", which is his emotional 
keynote.If the poet was in the enemy's camp, he would face the situation that the country was divided 
and in turmoil. In the Imperial Court, he also lost his foothold, his lifelong dream, and his ambition 
to seek happiness for the people. The phrase "Who does not die in life, but leaves a patriotic heart in 
the history books" has been passed down for thousands of years, and people can see the poet's mood, 
his righteousness, his strong attachment to the motherland, his great national morale and his view of 
life and death. The work "Morning of the Execution by the Streltsy" focuses on the situation when 
Tsar Peter the Great, as a member of the Praetorian Guard, opposed to the revolution, carried out the 
suppression. The family members of the Praetorians and the Praetorians are included as the most 
important structural elements of the work, and the families of the Praetorians and the civilians 
gathered to watch the execution occupy almost half of the painting, which shows that Peter the Great 
was indeed a determined reformer, but only in the execution of the revolution. This painting is 
intended to show the absolute authority of Tsarist Russia and its determination to implement the 
innovations. There is another dimension, however, in which the Praetorian Guard can be seen In spite 
of the strong protest against the reforms, the Praetorian Guard still had a heroic spirit of his own. The 
scene is even more tragic and emotionally penetrating. 

 
Figure 4. "Morning of the Execution by the Streltsy" 

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2.2 Sulikov's "Suvorov Crosses the Alps" and Wang Changling's "The Fourth of Seven 
Poems from the March of the Army"  

2.2.1 Introduction to the works of the painter and the life of the poet  
Sulikov, who excelled in expressing the theme of historical tragedy, has brilliantly celebrated the 

patriotic spirit of this martyr of the Russian minority and the people in the painting "Suvorov Crosses 
the Alps". The scene of the Tsarist soldier Suvorov crossing the Alps on his way to Italy with his 
troops is clearly reflected in the painting. However, instead of portraying the Russian commander and 
soldiers during the encounter between the two armies, the artist chose to portray the fearless morale 
displayed during the fight against the treacherous Alps. This is an expression of the eagle's morale, 
which is invincible against any strong enemy. The painter chose steep mountains and steep ravines 
where the sky is not visible from above and the ground is not visible from below. Suvorov is sitting 
on a horse on the top of a snowy mountain and leading his army forward, with a calm demeanor, 
confidence and joy in his grim eyes, leading the way and going forward. In Surikov's mind, Suvorov 
was a national hero and an easy-going military commander, while some of the soldiers were ordinary 
people who represented the spirit of the people of the Russian Federation and showed a strong national 
dignity. In turn, Surikov's historical works are full of trust and love for the people of the Russian 
Federation, people who believed in his historical abilities and loved his human nature.  
2.2.1 The patriotic spirit of the painter's western works in line with ancient poems  

However, in our ancient poetry, there are countless patriotic sentiments glorifying the brave 
soldiers. Wang Changling once wrote in "The Fourth of Seven Poems from the March of the Army": 
"The long clouds in the blue sea darken the snowy mountains, staring at the lonely city looks from 
the Jade Gate Pass. A hundred battles in the yellow sand wear the golden armor, and I will not return 
until I breakthrough Lou Lan. The poem is rich in emotions, including the concern of the border 
guards for the border defense, and their pride that they are responsible for protecting the country. A 
hundred battles in the yellow sand wear the golden armor, and never return until the Lou Lan is 
broken." The two scenes are interwoven with the environment depicted into the intuitive expression. 
Yellow sand hundred battles wear golden armor" is a very strong summary of the poem. Although 
the golden armor wears out, the soldiers' ambition to serve the country does not wear out, but becomes 
stronger and in the sand and wind of the desert. The words "I will not return until I have broken 
Loulan" are a magnificent declaration to the soldiers who have experienced many battles. The more 
the previous sentence is written about the hardships of war and the tedium of battle, the more 
resounding and powerful this paragraph becomes. A hundred battles in the yellow sand wear the 
golden armor, and will not return until the Lou Lan is broken." Although the golden armor wears out, 
but the officers and soldiers of the national ambition i s n o t worn out, they have become increasingly 
tough in the desert sand.  

3. The expression of cultural fusion between East and West in modern art  

3.1 The fusion of Chinese and Western cultures in film  
In the mid-nineteenth century, the French artist François Millet created a pictorial work of art 

called "The Gleaners". In the midnineteenth century, French artist François Millet created a pictorial 
work of art called "The Gleaner". Inspired by this work of art, the French writer-director Agnès Varda 
produced a film called The Gleaner and I (Figure 4). It was a film that was completely out of step 
with the mainstream of the film market at the time, and everything was simple and casual. Filmed in 
2000, "The Gleaners and I" is both a documentary and a road movie, in which the director Valda 
takes the camera in a small car from France, first north and then south, filming and interviewing 
gleaners in different corners of the world along the way. Some of them were farmers searching for 
crops in the fields, some were indigenous people searching for food in the garbage, and some were 
artists searching for various kinds of artworks to be made. This film highly glorifies the action of 



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"gleaning", reverses the world's prejudice against scavengers, is full of humanistic care, and explores 
the story behind scavenging. "The Gleaner and I" (Figure 5) is presented in the form of a vlog similar 
to the one that is very popular nowadays, and she is also the supporting character of the whole film. 
From time to time, she joins the ranks of the scavengers, holding the camera or walking into it, and 
communicates with them to deepen her understanding of the social phenomenon of scavenging.  

 
Figure 5. "The Gleaners and I" 

The Gleaners and I" itself is an art work featuring people on the margins of society, which also 
explores the relationship between scavenging and art from the macro perspective of the meaning of 
scavenging. Whether it is a scavenging artist who is passionate about turning waste into treasure or 
an art school that trains a group of children to explore the value of scraps, Varda cleverly raises 
scavenging to an artistic level. For example (Figure 6) the form of documentary film is used to give 
a new concept a new art form. Miller's "Gleaners" is in the industrial age and life is forced on the 
gleaners of the fallen. However, Agnès Varda's The Gleaner and the Gleaner However, Agnès Varda's 
"The Gleaners and I", based on oil painting, gives a new meaning to the times and a new vitality to 
pay tribute to the history and develop a new life of contemporary art, and at the same time fits in with 
the poem of "Watching the Mowing of the Wheat".  

 
Figure 6. Scavenger artwork  

3.2 The fusion of Chinese and Western cultures in posters  
The basic functions of advertising can be summarized as follows: (1) the visual medium of film 

and television content as the main medium, through the shape, connotation and color image of the 
way to show the key content of the film, and pave the relevant content to show the main idea; (2) the 
transmission of artistic visual information as a way to diffuse thinking, communication ideas for the 
purpose of meeting the aesthetic needs of the audience, and then to achieve the publicity effect. (3) 
advertising communication has become an inseparable part of the industrial chain, and the 
compatibility of technology also determines the inclusiveness and complexity of advertising graphic 
design. Nowadays, the poster design industry has become a new type of industry, which requires 



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designers with high professional knowledge and a broad international perspective. In view of the 
differences between Chinese and Western cultures, the only way to truly develop oneself in the 
exchange of ideas between Chinese and Western cultures is to absorb the content and essence of the 
ancient Chinese culture and the essence of the Chinese nation according to one's own practice, and at 
the same time to learn from the excellent foreign ideas and culture and science and technology, to 
constantly transform oneself and push out new ideas, so that the Chinese poster design can highlight 
its own artistic characteristics, but also in the forest of international posters In order to truly open the 
door to the world, we will combine our traditional culture with the creative combination of Western 
oil painting to develop a series of paintings and poetry mood, composition, attitude consistent with 
the approach to show the closeness of Chinese and Western culture.  

4. Summary 
Same moods and humanistic feelings can be found in the understanding of Western paintings and 

the charm of Chinese poetry through the study of the relevant areas of the subject. In the context of 
different times, Chinese and Western cultures have different national characters and national 
temperaments. But the inclusiveness of art allows the collision and comparison of art, giving our 
culture a gift of different forms of expression. With the development of the times, we can use a new 
form to convey the historical heritage and cultural development of our predecessors and promote 
cultural intermingling through our own field and fusion of expression according to the different forms 
of Chinese and Western communication. 

References 
[1] Chen P. History of Western Art. China Academy of Art Press. 2008. 135-137  
[2] Ju Xiumei. Human Beauty - Instinctive Beauty - Real Beauty - A Brief Discussion on the Charm of 

Hidden Artistic Beauty in the Oil Painting "The Gleaner". [J] Art View, 2015, (05).  
[3] Li Junfeng: A comparative study of the artistic and aesthetic characteristics of Chinese paintings and 

Western oil paintings [J]. Art Science Technology,2016,29(10). 
[4] Liu Fang. Artistic and aesthetic analysis of Chinese paintings and Western oil paintings [J]. Art and 

Design (Theory), 2013(7):120-122.  
[5] Ma Yaya explores the paths of transmitting and expressing family feelings in ancient poems. [J]. 

Examination Weekly. 2021.  


	1. The East-West Culture Origins in the Idyllic Theme
	1.1 Miller's "The Gleaners" and Bai Juyi's "Watching the Mowing of the Wheat"
	1.1.1 Biography of the painter and poet
	1.1.2 The same humanistic sentiment of Western paintings and Chinese poems

	1.2 Van Gogh's "Harvest Scene" and Tao Yuanming's "A Residence in the Countryside-one"
	1.2.2 Same poetic and pictorial mood of Western paintings and Chinese poems


	2. The East-West Culture Origins in the patriotic themes
	2.1 Sulikov's "Morning of the Execution by the Streltsy" and Wen Tianxiang's "Sailing on lonely ocean"
	2.1.1 Biography of the painter and poet
	2.1.2 Western paintings share the same warrior generosity as ancient poetry

	2.2 Sulikov's "Suvorov Crosses the Alps" and Wang Changling's "The Fourth of Seven Poems from the March of the Army"
	2.2.1 Introduction to the works of the painter and the life of the poet
	2.2.1 The patriotic spirit of the painter's western works in line with ancient poems


	3. The expression of cultural fusion between East and West in modern art
	3.1 The fusion of Chinese and Western cultures in film
	3.2 The fusion of Chinese and Western cultures in posters

	4. Summary
	References