Wang Wei's approach was pulled into the mainstream, thereby laying the foundation for a Chinese aesthetic unique in the world's history of the arts. The emergence of this new aesthetic was closely related to developments in philosophy at the time.
不過到了宋朝，中國繪畫漸漸從「寫實」轉向「寫意」、從「寫境」轉向「造境」，王維的畫論反倒躍居主流，奠定了綿延千年、在世界美術史上獨樹一幟的中國美學觀。