At the end of the Qing Dynasty, photography came to China. Because it wasn't very common, folk portrait masters came up with a new genre of "painted photographs," done with graphite. The use of light and shadow in painting entered alongside of photography, and brought a whole new style.
清朝末年，照相術傳入中國，由於並不普遍，於是民間的肖像畫師便新興一種「畫照片」炭精畫，而光影的運用也跟著照片融入畫像，帶來新的風格。