Yan Liben (601-673) was a native of Yongzhou in the Tang Dynasty. He was the son of Yan Bi, a painter of the Sui Dynasty, and the younger brother of Yan Lide. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. In the early years of Xianqing, he served as Minister of the Ministry of Works on behalf of his brother. In the first year of Zongzhang, he became the Prime Minister of You. He is good at calligraphy and painting, and is particularly good at painting portraits. "The Picture of the Walking Chariot" is based on the historical event of the marriage between the Tubo leader Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wencheng in 641 AD (the fifteenth year of Zhenguan). It depicts the scene when Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty received the Tibetan envoy Lu Dongzan who came to marry Princess Wencheng.
Yan Liben's paintings are distinguished by their strong and powerful lines, their elegant and calm colors, and their meticulous depiction of the characters' expressions. There are only four paintings that are generally believed to be by Yan Liben: "Stepping Chariot" in the Palace Museum in Beijing, which depicts Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty receiving the Tibetan envoys who came to marry Princess Wencheng; The "Emperor Pictures of Past Dynasties", which contains portraits of thirteen emperors from the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty; the "Tribute Service Pictures" and the "Xiao Yi Zhaolan Pavilion Pictures" hidden in the National Palace Museum in Taipei respectively depict envoys from various countries paying tribute to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty The scene of paying tribute, and the story of Xiao Yi, the censor of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, who used a clever trick to obtain Wang Xizhi's famous calligraphy "Lanting Preface" from the monk Biancai.