Portrait bricks of Han Dynasty and rubbings in Zhengzhou

Portrait bricks of Han Dynasty is a kind of building bricks with a printed, or carved image on its surface. It is a milestone in the development of Chinese art, reflecting the social customs and aesthetic style of the Han Dynasty.

The vivid and incomparable artistic expression techniques vividly demonstrate the profound and extensive culture of the Han Dynasty. They are valuable materials for the study of the folk customs of the Han Dynasty, and have a unique historical position in Chinese traditional culture and a high value of cultural relics collection. As a unique carrier of human history, rubbings attract more and more attention due to their irreplaceable artistry and expressive force

Since the 1950s, many Chinese painting bricks have been found in the Central Plains, which are painted with buildings, towers, bridges, guards of honor, dance, auspicious beasts, myths and allusions, rare and exotic flora, etc., the content is magnificent and rare, the painting technique is simple and unsophisticated, which has become a precious cultural relic to study the politics, economy, culture and folk customs of Han Dynasty, especially the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Most of the portrait bricks of Han Dynasty unearthed in Zhengzhou are large hollow bricks used for burial as building components. The painting bricks in Zhengzhou area have a wide range of themes and rich content, which truly reproduce the industrious, brave, wise, enthusiastic, enterprising, passionate and enterprising spirit of the Chinese nation in the late Western Han Dynasty and the early Eastern Han Dynasty. They love life, cherish life, learn well and yearn for the ideal society.