The themes of the rock paintings are in general the hunting activities of the nomadic nationalities. Among the rock paintings, the most numerous and most finely drawn ones are pictures of animals, including goats, sheep, argali, antelopes, blue sheep, elks, white-lipped deer, cervus elaphus, David's deer, moose (also known as han da an), roe deer, horses, mules,donkeys, camels, oxen, wild oxen, takins, dogs, turtles, wild boars, rabbits, foxes, snakes, wolves, tigers and leopards, etc. Scenes of hunting, with their considerable amounts and representation of the social life of the prehistoric nationalities, also hold a special position and constitute the most magnificent part of the rock paintings. Scenes of hunters, weapons and ways of hunting are depicted in these paintings.

Certain rules were followed in the themes and distributions of the rock paintings of Yinshan Mountains-drawings of wild animals are found mostly on rocks on mountaintops, scenes of hunting generally half way up the mountains while head portraits of gods, celestial bodies andconstellations mostly engraved on steep cliffs in valleys or on giant rocks on hillsides by valleys (primitive people believedthat gods lived in places of swift currents). These rules are in conformity to the social environment in which the paintings were drawn and the ideologies held by people then.

The rock paintings of Yinshan Mountains are plain and vivid in their artistic features and full of rich flavor of life. The rock paintings are mostly based on realistic depictions and present a record of the social life of the childhood and the early historical stages of human beings. Prominence was given to the images of winners in terms of compositions and proportions, creating strong artistic effects.

The rock paintings of Yinshan Mountains were drawn mostly by either chiseling or grinding. By chiseling method, metal or stone tools with greater hardness than the rocks were used to chisel and dig tinyspotson the rocks, which were then connected to make outlines of the drawings. Rock paintings drawn by chiseling are uneven indepth and density. The paintings drawn by grinding, also known as abrading, are characterized by deeper marks, polished surfaces and U-shaped sections. Apart from these two methods, there is also the scratching method that produced thin and more superficial lines. Works drawn by scratching are mostly of later periods.

Paintingsdrawn on rocks with the mixture of lime and animal and vegetable oils, known as colored rock frescoes, can also be found. Paintings of this kind are small in number, mostly of the more recent periods and connected with Lamaism.

The rock paintings of Yinshan Mountains can be divided into groups of four ages and five periods:

Paintings of the first age are the works of primitive clan tribes of the periodfrom the late Paleolithic Age to mid Bronze Age. Rock paintings in this period are in a period of prosperity with their large numbers, wide distributions and delicate craftsmanship.

The rock paintings of the second age are those drawn by the Hans during the period from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Western and Eastern Handynasties.

Rock paintings of the third age are referred to as paintings of the Middle Ages. Paintings of this age can be further divided into two groups---the rock paintings of the Turk from the Northern Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty and those of the Ouigours and the Tanguts from the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty.The rock paintings of the Turk are small in number and themes mainly with domestic animals with goats in the dominant place. Abstractionism and symbolism were employed as techniques of expression in these paintings. The paintings of the Ouigours are characterized by lines drawn with irontools, thin and superficial outlines, imitation of preceding works in themes and occasional designs of plants and scripts of the language of the Ouigours. The rock paintings of the Tanguts are mostly drawn by chiseling, usually rough in craftsmanship while fresh in color and seemingly new in appearance, with inscriptions of the language of the Western Xia Dynasty.

Rock paintings of the fourth age are works of the Mongolians after the Yuan Dynasty and are known as the rock paintings of the recent times. They consist of chiseled paintings and colored ones. The colored rock paintings are unique to the Mongolians. Apart from some themes of the life and production activities (for example, galloping horses, two-humped camels, herdsman, etc.), most of the paintings are designs related to Lamaism.

Editor:Chen Ge