Western Han rulers attached great importance to paintings that could serve their political propaganda and moral preaching. During the periods of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Zhao and Xuan Di in the Western Han Dynasty, painting became an effective way to praise heroes, and palace murals made extraordinary achievements.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, murals were painted not only in palaces, but also in aristocratic palaces. There are pictures in the Lingguang Hall of Wang Liuyu of the Principality of Lu, including images of heaven and earth, mountain gods, sea gods, ancient emperors, loyal ministers, dutiful sons, martyrs and virgins. Liu Qu, the king of Guang Chuan, also painted a portrait of Jing Ke with a short coat and a long sword.

The residences of ordinary bureaucrats are also painted with murals of mountain gods, sea gods and rare birds and animals. In the Han Dynasty, prefectures and counties also used murals to draw the deeds of local officials, taking "remembering their advance and retreat" as a warning, and also used murals to commend officials for political propaganda.

According to "Liu Chuan in the Later Han Dynasty", during the period of offering a reward for the capture of Liu Chuan, Wang Mang ordered that "Chang 'an Central Government Hall and Tianxia Township Pavilion should all be painted as scholars and shot immediately".

Of course, the use of murals to uphold justice is also seen in historical records. For example, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Du Yan died because of a partisan struggle, and his villagers painted his portrait in Quyuan Temple to show their admiration for the remains of murals in the Qin and Han Dynasties.

In order to consolidate the world and control people's hearts, the Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty also vigorously advocated the theory of "the unity of heaven and man" and "Fu Rui", flaunting auspicious images and historical stories of loyalty, filial piety and righteousness as the common creative theme of painters.

In the third year of Emperor Yongping in Rudong, that is, in 60 AD, Emperor Liu Zhuang ordered the portrait of 28 generals in Yuntai Pavilion in Nangong. Known as the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai. These 28 people were the most meritorious generals in the process of establishing the Eastern Han Dynasty by Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty.

Emperor Ling also painted portraits of Confucius and seventy-two disciples of Hongdumen School. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, murals were painted not only in palaces, but also in aristocratic palaces.

In addition to murals, you can also see exquisite paintings on horses, chariots, clothes and utensils of aristocratic bureaucrats on the screen of the palace. There were also some movable paintings in the Han Dynasty. These paintings made on wooden boards or silk were given away or even bought and sold, which was the origin of the later popular scroll paintings.

According to records, in his later years, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked Huangmen painter to paint the story of Fuxi becoming a king for Huo Guang. Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty met his liege at a banquet, and was attracted by the photo of a martyr on the screen beside him, "looking at it more". Queen Liang "often put the photos of martyrs on the left and right sides as a warning".

The screen fu contained in Xijing Miscellanies describes the decoration of the screen as follows: brocade decoration, yellow reflection, cunning painting and high spirits.

It can be seen that even the theme of "cunning" contains high aesthetic value through artistic processing in addition to political education.

Painting in Han Dynasty is widely used not only in palaces, but also in tombs and stone pavilions. Because there is a custom in Han dynasty, that is, to treat death as death, to take thick burial as virtue, to be humble as value, and to gain fame by the reputation of filial piety.

This makes the scale and quantity of painting activities to decorate graves and commend the merits of the deceased reach an unprecedented level. According to the biography of Zhao Qi in the Later Han Dynasty, Zhao Qi in the Eastern Han Dynasty prepared murals for his grave when he was alive. "It is a tribute to put Ji Zha, Zi Chan, Yan Ying and Shu Xiang in the guest position and draw their own portraits on the theme."

The custom of thick burial in Han dynasty can be seen from the mural tombs, stone reliefs and brick reliefs in Han dynasty. With its deep and heroic spirit, the art of Han Dynasty radiates dazzling brilliance in the history of art.

There is a mural in the Han tomb, which is divided into two layers. The upper layer is painted with officials and the lower layer is painted with animals, each with its own title. Draw clouds, birds and animals on the aisle ticket.

The front room symbolizes the front room of the tomb owner, and the two sides of the south wall door are painted with the "temple gate pawn" and "gate pavilion manager" responsible for guarding. The paintings painted by the tomb owner on the east, west and north walls show all the officials, rafters and guards in the cliff temple before his death, such as the "hammer rafters" responsible for drumming, the "benevolence rafters" in charge of prisons, and the "thief Cao" who maintains public order.

Because of their different status and position, the portrayal of characters is also different in posture and clothing, which highlights the personality characteristics of characters. The petty officials under the door are brave and unstoppable; It is a gentle and leisurely "master book", which shows the typical image of civil servants in Han Dynasty.