The painting was executed about 2300 years ago on a piece of white silk used as a banner in traditional Chinese funerals. Although it is blotched and indistinct now, the Outlines are still eligible. It is the profile of a woman dressed in a garment with full sleeves and a long skirt. She has her palms together, as if praying. On top of her head is a flying phoenix with its tail curving upward. On her right side is a twisting dragon rising to the sky. One foot of the dragon has been stripped off. Some people have suggested the woman in the picture was a portrayal of the one buried in the tomb, and the phoenix and dragon are leading her up to heaven. Others say that the woman is a witch praying for the dead in the tomb, with the phoenix and dragon as her guides. Some experts consider the fighting between the phoenix and dragon a struggle between good and evil, and the woman is praying for good to conquer evil. Clearly, the real meaning of the painting has not yet been deciphered.

         The painting is done with smooth and strong strokes. Some parts are filled with ink washes, some painted with colors. The forms of the woman, phoenix and the dragon are all of decorative beauty Although there is no background in the picture, its rich and moving content make sit a complete painting.

         Twenty-four years after the Human, Dragon and Phoenix Painting was discovered, another silk painting was found, also in a tomb of the Chu Kingdom. It depicts a man wearing a thick hat, holding a rein in one hand and as word in the other, and riding a dragon boat. It is called the Dragon Boat Riding Painting. (Fig.2-7) According to experts, the man is a likeness of the one buried in the tomb, and the picture symbolizes his soul rising up to heaven. The concept of one's soul going up to heaven after death was very popular in the Chu Kingdom. This picture is similar in content and expressive form to the Human, Dragon and Phoenix Painting. The only difference is that the figures in the Dragon Boat Riding Painting are rendered more realistically and the proportion of the human bodies is closer to that of real people. These examples show that there were already varied painting styles in the Warring States Period. Some tended to be realistic, others more decorative. Paintings on silk developed to a high level during this period, an advance that laid the foundation for meticulous Chinese painting.

Written theories on painting first appeared during the Warring States Period. For example, the philosopher Han Feizi commented that it is difficult to draw dogs and horses, but easy to depict ghosts. There is also a record of an artist painting a winnowing fan for a king with the figures of snakes, dragons, horses, carts and so on. Qu Yuan's famous poem Tian Wen(Asking Heaven), written during the period, contains descriptions of wall paintings in the Chu temples.

Before paper was invented, paintings on silk continued to develop. By the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D.25), they had become richer In content and color, smoother and more forceful in brush strokes and the depiction of figures had become more vivid.