Chinese art has varied throughout its ancient history, divided into periods by the ruling dynasties of China and changing technology. It encompasses fine arts, folk arts and performance arts that have been influenced by great philosophers, teachers, religious figures and even political leaders. In the Song Dynasty, a ruling dynasty in China between 960–1279 who was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money and the first Chinese policy to establish a permanent standing navy, poetry was marked by a lyric poetry known as Ci which expressed feelings of desire, often in an adopted persona. In addition, paintings of more subtle expression of landscapes appeared, with blurred outlines and mountain contours which conveyed distance through an impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena.
