Co-authored by Ning Lizheng and Feng Fengju, this article examines the concept of “image colour” in Chinese painting and its development from antiquity to the present. Contrasting the Western view of colour, grounded in scientific and visual reproduction of the objective world, with the Chinese view, the authors argue that colour in Chinese painting expresses emotion and meaning rather than imitating appearances. They trace its philosophical roots to Confucian thought (“the plain ground first, then colour”), to the preference of Laozi and Zhuangzi for simplicity, to the integration of calligraphy and painting, to Chan Buddhist ideas, and to Xie He’s principle of “applying colour according to type”. The article then surveys debates on ink and colour, from Dong Qichang’s preference for ink and Zou Yigui’s restraint to the balance sought by Sheng Dashi, Zhang Daqian’s splashed colour, Ren Bonian’s absorption of Western colour, and the contributions of Lin Fengmian, Li Keran, Wu Guanzhong, the Lingnan school and the Lijiang school. Defining image colour as a fusion of feeling and scene, the authors conclude that Chinese painting may absorb foreign influences, but its colour must remain an expression of the painter’s inner emotion and cultivation.