Although the best specimens of Chinese paintings do not command the prices paid for the best porcelains and bronzes,there are many which are valued at tens of thousands of dollars.Very often this value is determined not so much by the quality of the painting itself as by the history of the painting itself.It is the custom for owners of pictures to inscribe on the margins,poemsor epigrams the pictures have inspired.In a famous collection one will often see pictures which are embellished by the poems or comments of a half dozen men famous in different centuries.Thus the picture acquires a great value through historical association.One may be able to visualize this by conjecturing the value of a Ruben painting which had been in the possession of Queen Elizabeth,Shakespeare,Washington, Napoleon and Queen Victoria and embellished by the comments and autographs of each of the famous owners. 绘画的年代通常比绘画的质量更能决定其价值
Although the best specimens of Chinese paintings do not command the prices paid for the best porcelains and bronzes, there are many which are valued at tens of thousands of dollars. Very often this value is determined not so much by the quality of the painting itself as by the history of the painting itself. It is the custom for owners of pictures to inscribe on the margins, poemsor epigrams the pictures have inspired. In a famous collection one will often see pictures which are embellished by the poems or comments of a half dozen men famous in different centuries. Thus the picture acquires a great value through historical association. One may be able to visualize this by conjecturing the value of a Ruben painting which had been in the possession of Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare, Washington, Napoleon and Queen Victoria and embellished by the comments and autographs of each of the famous owners. 绘画的年代通常比绘画的质量更能决定其价值
All Chinese paintings are on silk or paper scrolls,rolled and stored in cabinets.The affinity between pictures and writing is exemplified again in this for paintings are preserved like books.Instead of being hung on walls as part of the furniture of a house,they are put away and only brought out for the edification of those who are especially interested.It is for this reason that many fine Chinese paintings hundreds of years old appear by the freshness of the colors to have been painted but yesterday. 绘画没有被当作房间的摆设挂在墙上，而是被收藏起来， 只是为了那些对此特别感兴趣的人的鉴赏才被拿出来
All Chinese paintings are on silk or paper scrolls, rolled and stored in cabinets. The affinity between pictures and writing is exemplified again in this for paintings are preserved like books. Instead of being hung on walls as part of the furniture of a house, they are put away and only brought out for the edification of those who are especially interested. It is for this reason that many fine Chinese paintings hundreds of years old appear by the freshness of the colors to have been painted but yesterday. 绘画没有被当作房间的摆设挂在墙上，而是被收藏起来， 只是为了那些对此特别感兴趣的人的鉴赏才被拿出来