This type of painting was often the work of anonymous craftsmen who faithfully adhered to the styles, canons and genres inherited from the past.

They feature popular themes such as cranes, rocks, water, clouds, the sun, moon, pine-trees, tortoises, insects and flowers.

Minhwa began being used in palaces by royal court painters before anonymous artists adopted and dispersed their art to the populace to convey messages, ward away evil spirits, and wish for good things to happen.

The artists are mostly unknown commoners of the low and middle class and some were traveling visitors usually attending festivals who followed trends in fine art to develop the crude minhwa style artwork that expressed its emotions using symbolism, optimism, humor, and satire.

They show figures from folk mythology and legends, symbols of happiness, wealth and health, and scenes of everyday life.

Minhwa colorfully represents the perspectives, religions, symbols of daily life and desires, and folk mythologies of its time.

After a decline during the colonial rule, the art form experienced a short boom until laid low by the Korean War.

Minwha’s simplistic, yet brilliant style and unconventionality combined with bold colors make it aesthetically important and a strong expression of the daily lives of Koreans.

The combined wit, humor, happiness, informality, exaggerations similar to caricatures, and freedom of expression aligns even with contemporary art pieces to exhibit an understanding of Korean culture.

Flowers and butterflies seen in Hwajodo styles represented hope for love and domestic unity between married couples, harmony, and balance.

Fish, as seen in Eohaedo paintings, symbolized fertility, warded off and warned of evil, and could be found in a bride’s room.

The representation of longevity included images of the sun, clouds, rocks, pine trees, bamboos, deer, and turtles, mountains, fish, peaches, or the moon.

Chung (2006) noted that “in the case of animal imagery, this strong preference for conveying warm relations must also have developed through the affection for various living things in nature that were held by the artists themselves” (p. 65).

Hence, kkachi horangi paintings of magpies and tigers were a satire of the hierarchical structure of Joseon's feudal society.