Abstract. The article examines the prerequisites for the formation of art education in Ancient China, the first government institutions aimed at uniting artists at the imperial court and training novice painters in fine arts, as well as changes in the structure of institutions under the influence of historical events. The author studies the history of the penetration of European and Western painting into the Chinese cultural and educational space, the emergence of the division of painting into traditional Chinese (guohua) and Western (xianghua) branches, and touches upon the modern trends and the current situation of art education in China.
Keywords: art education, China, guohua, xianghua, traditional Chinese painting, modern Chinese painting, history of education