In ancient China, there are two main relevant propositions about the relationship of poetry and painting. One is about the homology of poetry and painting, the other is the uniformity of poetry and painting. In Ming and Qing dynasties, the former evolved into“calligraphy of painting”and the latter evolved into“writing poem in painting ”. Poetry and painting are two different kinds of art and each of them has its own internal tension. Poetry and painting, or the interaction of literature and image, build the common scenario of inter-textual expression, and they form the tensional expressions of image-text relation. Taking relationship of poetry and painting as the starting point, the current image-text relation at the level of theoretical origin was studied. It would contribute to the understanding of academic position of image-text dispute and constructional logic of its inter-textuality.