During the Five Dynasties, the subject matter of figure painting became wider and wider, and religious myths, historical stories and literati life became the subject matter of description. Painters pay more attention to the description of facial expressions and psychology of characters, and their ability of vivid description has been improved. In terms of technique style, it develops in two major directions: meticulous brushwork is more delicate and changeable, coloring is more gorgeous, and color tone is richer than that of Tang Dynasty; In addition to the development of super deformation, ink painting has also appeared freehand brushwork.

Landscape painting changed the most at this time, with a leap from material selection to technique. Landscape painting is described as a living environment. The appearance of the four masters "Guan Jing lives in the East" has become a milestone in the development history of China landscape painting. The Northern Landscape Painting School, represented by Hao Jing and Guan Tong, creates landscape compositions and is good at depicting magnificent panoramic landscapes. The Jiangnan Landscape Painting School, represented by Dong Yuan and Ju Ran, is good at expressing the innocent scenery of the Jiangnan Plain and reflecting the changes of wind and rain. As one of the important techniques of China's landscape painting, the painting method has developed greatly at this time, and the ink method has gradually enriched. Pen and ink have become the conscious pursuit of painters, and ink and light-colored landscape paintings have matured.

There are also two camps in the five dynasties flower-and-bird painting. The school represented by the West Shu Yellow Spring is called "Royal Fu Gui" because it depicts many rare birds and flowers in the palace gardens with fine painting and light colors. The painting schools represented by Xu Xi in the south of the Yangtze River are mainly waterfowl and wild flowers, and the painting methods are mostly pen and ink, with less colors. Compared with the style of the Yellow School, this school is called "Xu Jia Ye Yi", and this phenomenon is called "Xu Huang Yi".