Abstract: The skill of using brush and ink has been an important criterion in judging the levels of Chinese literati’ s paintings，but most theories just stop at describing their surface features；virtually in the history of Chinese art，there has been an implied“potential perspective”or musical perspective that is applied in both the practice and research of paintings. Chinese literati's paintings have the characters of music abstraction and emotional expression. In history，since the Mid Northern Song Dynasty，literati’ s paintings have started to emphasize music spirit；the formal rhythm and the spiritual height of music is hidden behind the rhythm，melody，harmony，musical space，and emotional noumenon. The rhythm of presenting vigor in grace，the melodious“dragon vain”push-pull switching，and the harmonic but distinguishable ink，all create a music space. The musical nature of paintings reaches the depth of“emotional noumenon”and the highest state of music：vividness in the quiet depth of field.

Key words: rhythm, melody, harmony, literati’ s paintings, musical rhythm, state