Tracing back to the origin of painting, we will first think of the decorative patterns painted on pottery in prehistoric times. It is precisely because of the exquisite decorative patterns painted on the surface of pottery that archaeologists call these pottery painted pottery. These painted pottery were made 3000 to 5000 years ago. They are mainly distributed in the Yellow River basin, and the most concentrated areas are Qinghai, Gansu, southwestern Shaanxi and northern Henan. Painted pottery is mostly red pottery containers such as pots, bottles, plates and beans. Primitive artists used a brush to draw black, white and red on the table. There are two kinds of painted pottery patterns, one is abstract patterns, and the other is concrete images of people, animals or insects. There are a lot of patterns and patterns. There are more than a dozen common patterns, such as water ripples, rotating patterns, circular patterns, sawtooth patterns, reticulate patterns and so on. The lines are drawn neatly and smoothly, and the organization of the pattern pays attention to symmetry, balance and change, and the density is appropriate, with certain procedures and rules. The painted pottery of Majiayao type found in Majiayao area of Gansu Province mostly depicts water ripples and rotating patterns. These patterns are symmetrical, smooth and wonderful. They really look like flowing water, which makes people feel relaxed, lively, peaceful and kind. Faced with these historical relics of 5,000 years ago, we can easily imagine the scenes of primitive clan society described in history: men farming, hunting and fishing, and women doing housework or gathering. No exploitation, no slavery, an equal and harmonious social scene. Later, the decorative patterns of painted pottery in Mid-Levels and Racecourse have changed, and those sawtooth patterns, four-circle patterns and frog patterns appear ups and downs, rough and fierce, and even grotesque and mysterious. At that time, primitive society was about to disintegrate, society changed, and anxiety such as war and turmoil also emerged in the pattern. The association caused by painted pottery patterns is not a romantic subjective imagination. In the patterns and pictures of the past dynasties, the tone of the social outlook at that time and the main spirit of the times were reflected implicitly or explicitly. This point will be seen by art in different times in the future.

Those figurative painted pottery patterns are more noticeable. Although the animal patterns on painted pottery unearthed from Xi 'an banpo village site are very simple, they are very vivid: fish swim freely, deer run, and dogs stand and bark, as if they were frightened. It shows the ability of ancient artists to capture the instantaneous characteristics of animals. On a pottery basin in Shangsunjiazhai, Datong County, Qinghai Province, five dancers lined up hand in hand, which is not only a picture depicting the dance, but also a pattern suitable for the pattern.

Primitive artists in banpo village have begun to transform concrete objects into decorative patterns and inject some ideas into them. They divided the side of a fish into head, body and fins, which were represented by straight lines, solitary lines, triangles and circles, which was a great creation. There is also a fish pattern on the painted pottery basin on the half slope. The fish pattern is combined with the human face to form a regular pattern, and there is a fish swimming next to it. This rigorous and slightly mysterious figure makes archaeologists quite puzzled. They suspect that this is not only about beautifying objects, but also related to the sacrificial activities to celebrate the arrival of spring and pray for a bumper harvest. If so, then this is the earliest artistic work with primitive religious significance in the history of art.