元画以其幽寂简远、枯淡空灵的意境,标新立异,显于后世,被明清画坛视为高格。尤其元四家的山水画,藉笔墨以抒性灵,挥洒自如,凭意虚构,充分发挥了文人画抒情写意的功能,使之达到理想的审美境界。 “元四大家”的提法,初以赵孟頫冠其首,明初王世贞《艺苑言》云:“赵松雪孟頫、梅道人吴镇仲圭、大痴老人黄公望子久、黄鹤山樵王蒙叔明,元四大家也。”明末董其昌则以倪瓒替代赵孟頫,将黄、王、倪、吴作为元四大家,其《画旨》云:“文人之画,自王右丞始。其始董源、巨然、李成、范宽为嫡子。李龙眠、王晋卿、米南宫（米芾）及虎儿（米友仁）皆从董、巨得来。直至元四大家黄子久、王叔 Yuan painting with its quiet simplicity, ethereal dry mood, unconventional, was shown in later generations, as the Ming and Qing painting circles considered high grid. In particular, the four landscape paintings of Yuan dynasty borrowed ink and brush to express their spirituality and give full play to the lyrical and emotional functions of literati painting so that they can reach the ideal aesthetic level. “Four elements of the yuan,” the reference to the beginning of Zhao Meng overlooking the crown, the early Ming Wang Shizhen “Art Yuan Yan,” said: “Song Songxue Meng, Mei Road, Wu Zhen Zhonggui, , Yuan four everybody also. ”Dong Qichang in the Ming dynasty is to replace Ni Zhao Zhao Mengfu, Huang, Wang, Ni, Wu as a member of the four, the“ painting purpose ”cloud:" The literati’s painting, Li Ranmian, Wang Jinqing, Micronesia (Miriam) and Tiger (Miyoshi) are from Dong, Giants come. Until the four members of the Yellow Emperor for a long time, Wang Shu