The term "literati" is a translation from the Chinese term, wenren. It means "a man of letters."

wen (writing, literature)	ren (person)

Wenren, or literati, were first of all scholars trained in the Confucian classics, poetry, and history – required subjects for the official civil service exam. Many literati spent their younger years in government service and their older years as retired gentlemen (see the example of the painter Gao Qibei on page 4). In retirement, literati could devote their energies full-time to painting, poetry, calligraphy or the collection of old books, antiques, or maintaining their garden.

What was essential about the literati was not their learning or their status, but their spirit. It is a spirit that continually reflects upon the past while creating new forms of expression in the present. References to poets, philosophers or painters of the past give literati art a depth of meaning. A literati painting is rarely about the self alone, but the self in the context of Chinese history and culture, or the self in relation to a figure in the past one admires and has learned from.

Cultivation of the mind was more important than perfection of form in literati art. This is why they refer to themselves as "amateur" painters. For the literati, brush and ink became essential means of self-expression. Literati painters and calligraphers sought to unite their thoughts with the movement of the brush with the goal of infusing the art with their thought and personality.

The brush must be free and unhindered,
In order to achieve its greatest potential.
That accomplishment can only be attained,
Outside of the inkwell (in the mind of the artist).