After the Mongols succeeded in conquering all of China, they not only took control of the lands of the previous Song dynasty, but they also took over the major collection of art from the Song court. The Mongol rulers also learned from their Chinese counterparts about the cultural and political importance of "art" and therefore followed in becoming major patrons of the arts. Members of the imperial clan held literary gatherings, bringing together high officials from all over the empire to appreciate these important works of art as one. Even today, we can still capture a glimpse of that fascinating period through the inscriptions and seals left on the surviving works of painting and calligraphy that they came to admire.

In addition, the Yuan Mongol clan also had court painters in their service to create paintings and portraits for them. In "Kublai Khan Hunting," non-native Chinese figures stand out clearly before our eyes. From such works as the Yuan imperial portraits, we can also see that the techniques that imperial painters used were quite different from those of traditional Chinese court artists. They could very well have been influenced by the styles from areas as far away from the court as Nepal and Tibet.