According to National Palace Museum research assistant Li Yu-min, Chinese portraits of distinguished monks go back to the Six Dynasties period (third to sixth centuries), and T'ang painters naturally proceeded on the basis of that style of portraiture, tending to depict monks with their companions in a variety of moods, either expounding doctrine, being venerated, or preaching the faith. Four main types of portraiture can be distinguished.
據故宮博物院副研究員李玉的推論，因我國高僧畫，早在六朝（西元三世紀）即開始，唐代畫家們便自然地在高僧像的基礎上發揮，因此這類畫作多以僧侶形貌出現，或論道、或接受供養、或宣說教義，內容十分豐富。