Jiehua (simplified Chinese: 界画; traditional Chinese: 界畫, pinyin: jièhuà) painting, sometimes translated as “border painting,” “boundary painting,” or “ruled-line painting,” is a field within Chinese visual art that describes paintings featuring detailed renderings of architecture with shan shui (mountains and rivers) backgrounds and figures, boats, and carts as embellishments. Referring to this style with the term jiehua instead of a direct translation is commonly agreed to be the most accurate, as the word jie (界) refers to a device called jiechi (界尺) which was a ruler with marks or grooves that helped Chinese painters draw the straight lines necessary to depict architectural detail. These paintings are characterized by their meticulous attention to detail, technical consideration, and mechanical perfection, distinguishing jiehua from other painting genres.