It also had an influence on Iranian painting in the golomorgh [fa] genre of illustration for book covers and illuminated manuscripts.

According to Chinese tradition, the huaniaohua covers "flowers, birds, fish, and insects" (Chinese: 花鳥魚蟲; pinyin: huāniǎoyúchóng); thus, it can deal with a wide range of natural topics, including flowers, fish, insects, birds, pets (dogs, cats), etc.

[4] The intended purpose of the huaniaohua was not simply imitate nature, but to use different painting styles to convey the personality and ideas of the artist.

[2] The huaniaohua is proper of 10th century China; and the most representative artists of this period are Huang Quan (哳㥳) (c. 900 – 965), who was an imperial painter for many years, and Xu Xi (徐熙) (937–975), who came from a prominent family but had never entered into officialdom.

The bird-and-flower motif started appearing in Japanese art around the Muromachi period during the 14th century, and developed its own distinct style.