The style of Nanyang Han portrait stone is rough and bold. It does not stick to the details of the image. It mostly relies on the natural texture of the stone to express it. It has the characteristics of cursive calligraphy. The outlines are mostly arc curves, showing a strong sense of style. The charm of Chu culture. Simple and skillful carving techniques, free use of lines, exaggerated and deformed object shapes, distinctive compositions, realistic creative concepts, bold and romantic artistic tension, vibrant and powerful dynamics, and shocking grand momentum. Together they constitute the unique artistic style of Nanyang Han Dynasty stone portraits.
Han paintings in a broad sense refer to the portrait stones, portrait bricks, murals, silk paintings, utensil paintings and other Han Dynasty paintings left over from the Han Dynasty. Because portrait stones and portrait bricks are rare, valuable and difficult to carry around, rubbings came into being. These rubbings made from portrait stones and portrait bricks were inadvertently defined as "Han paintings" by Lu Xun. During the process of collecting Han painting rubbings from Nanyang, he wrote many letters about rubbings, and they all directly mentioned Han paintings, such as "There are not many readers for printing Han paintings", "The inscriptions for Han paintings have been sent to thirty people", etc. Therefore, what is usually called Han painting refers to this kind of "Han painting rubbings" in a narrow sense.
Han paintings are printed directly from the original objects, so the size, length, thickness, and light and shade of the original objects can be expressed naturally and realistically. Exquisitely made Han paintings with unique epigraphic charm. The rubbing process of Han paintings combines the unique tapping craftsmanship with the style and insights of the craftsman. It is actually a secondary creation, making Han paintings a precious work of art. Han paintings are even more impressive than original stones, giving people a strong aesthetic shock and desire to collect them. The value of Han paintings also differs greatly due to the different eras and levels of the people who made the paintings. Making good rubbings not only requires the rubbing artist to have superb skills and unique aesthetics, but also requires the rubbing person to be "quiet and wise" and make every rubbing just right.
Those rubbing craftsmen cherish ink as much as gold. A rubbing is made from large and small rubbings made by rubbing them countless times. It does not bleed or show through, and is very labor-intensive and time-consuming. Exquisite Han paintings must meet the standards of accuracy (accurately reflecting the original stone information), uniformity (the ink is evenly used without stains), and cleanness (the edges are clean and tidy). Such Han paintings themselves have extremely high cultural relic value, and some may even exceed the value of the original stone. If the original stone has been destroyed, then this Han painting will be even more precious. There are many masters of rubbing in Nanyang, and their group advantage is very obvious. No matter whether the ink they use is light (as thin as cicada wings) or thick (as heavy as black gold), black and white or colorful, they are all stunning. Experts believe that Han paintings are works of art that later generations of painters worked hard and devoted all their efforts to, but can only come close to them. Therefore, throughout the ages, literati and collectors have often given and exchanged rubbings of Han paintings.