Chinese Art

What is the reason why classical Chinese art scrolls down?

The questions is basically referring to the philosophical aspect, and may not necessarily concern any scientific aspect for that matter… (>_<)

Actually, Chinese scrolls roll both down and from side-to-side. It just depends on what type of scroll you’re looking at.

You have to remember that classic Mandarin (as is much of Chinese/Mandarin today) reads from right to left and from top to bottom, so most scrolls meant to be displayed rolls down since it hangs more easily. Since art scrolls are meant to be hanged for display, it just makes more sense to roll it from top to bottom. Try hanging a rolled up piece of paper sideways without driving nails or taping the corners down and you’ll know what a pain that can be, so rolling it downwards makes sense, as well making it look aesthetically pleasing.

Before the days of bound books, most written documents were in scroll form, and if you look at history most Chinese scrolls used for reading or documentation were actually rolled from side to side. Since the flow of the Mandarin written language goes from right to left, that just made more sense for scrolls in the day.

Demystify Chinese painting