In the early 1990s, Gu Liming observed a new direction for abstract language in the pictures and new year pictures decorating Mawangdui wardrobes from the Han Dynasty. This prompted him to create the two series, Han Mawangdui and Yang Jiabu Door Deities. Constructing a new contemporary cultural consciousness from this, Gu launched a logical starting point from which to rediscover artistic language and value. He attempted to reconstruct a personal, historically relevant, local, and modern artistic language that did not invoke the discourse or ideology of Western contemporary art.