Xu Beihong is a famous modern painter and educator but his distinctive concept of arts and crafts remain little known. XuBeihong emphasized “national urgency and practical needs” as the main theme of learning and introducing modern Western arts andcrafts the content of his arts and crafts concept encompass three key aspects advocating for arts and crafts based on academic principlesand national needs explaining the practicality of arts and crafts with pure art as a reference and proposing development strategiesfor arts and crafts with a pragmatic attitude These perceptions of arts and crafts are an integral part of the “Art of Wisdom” advocatedby Xu Beihong holding significant implications for the history of Chinese arts and crafts as well as for teaching and research.