The Ming Dynasty is a period when various painting styles rose and different genres of painting flourished.

In terms of the genres and subjects of painting, the traditional painting of human figures, landscapes, flowers and birds continued the trend of popularity. The literati's painting of plums, orchids, bamboos and miscellaneous subjects were also in full swing. In terms of painting skills, great achievements had been made in ink painting on landscapes and freehand brushwork of flowers and birds (traditional Chinese painting characterized by vivid expression and bold outline). In human figure paintings there also appeared transfiguration of portraits and coloring of inked bone painting. In terms of artistic schools, there emerged various schools of painting either centering on different regions or distinguished by their different styles. The main schools included the court art school succeeding the style of Southern Song Dynasty's Painting Academy, the Zhejiang school, as well as the Wumen school, the Songjiang School, the Susong School etc, which had developed the tradition of the literati painting.

The celebrated painters in the Ming Dynasty include Bian Jingzhao, Dai Jin, Tang Ying, Wen Zhengming, Xu Wei, Dong Qichang, to name just a few.