在中国，古代照春宫画册学习房中之事俗称“问影”。春宫画的起源，一般都认为始于西汉景帝子惠王刘越的后裔刘海阳（公元前64至公元前50年在位），在他世袭的封邑广川郡（今河北省枣强县东）的宫室中绘男女性爱画于屋上。可是，实际上春宫画的起源比这还要早得多。汉朝刘向在《列女传》一书中说，殷商末期（公元前1040年左右），奢侈暴虐的纣王曾在宫中举行肉林酒池的餐宴，他抱着妲己恣意寻欢，在他们的床榻四周则围以绘满春宫画的屏风，两人一面欣赏这些画，一面纵情作乐。在沈德符的《敝帚斋余谈》对春宫画起源的记述中，提到了广川王刘海阳、齐后废帝萧宝卷、隋炀帝、唐高宗、武则天等，其实，中国古代的春宫画不仅起源于宫中的淫乐，也起源于民间一些性书的插图，甚至作为一种性教育工具启示新婚夫妻。如前述“嫁妆画”就是一种春宫画。
有资料表明，在公元1世纪，似乎《素女经》之类的性学书籍已有带插图的版本了。如《素女经》内的“九势篇”和《洞玄子》内的“三十法”，都可能有一些图画的附录说明。从《同声歌》可以看到，在汉时有可能以春宫画给新娘做嫁妆，以指导夫妻性生活，这被称为“女儿图”、“枕边书”或“嫁妆画”，这在后世的民间也有流传。从唐代到宋代，出现了少数画过春宫画的着名画家，他们的有些春宫画从一个侧面反映出一些历史事实。无名氏所画的《熙陵幸小周后图》即为一例。多才多艺的南唐后主李煜曾和妻妹幽欢，他写下的着名的《菩萨蛮》词就记述了幽欢时的情景。在他的妻子大周后死后四年，李后主册封妻妹为小周后，又过了10年（公元974年），南唐亡于宋，李后主和小周后被掳至京师。小周后貌美，被好色的宋太宗赵匡胤看中了，把她宣至后宫，多次强行奸污。这件事被人画了下来，就是《熙陵幸小周后图》，“熙陵”是指宋太宗，因为他死后葬在河南巩县的永熙陵。 
在《熙陵幸小周后图》上，元人冯海粟就题诗：“江南剩得李花开，也被君王强折来；怪底金风冲地起，御园红紫满龙堆。”意思是：宋太宗你强奸了别人的妻子，而你的后代（宋徽宗、钦宗和宗室嫔妃公主3000人）也被金人大肆强奸，这真是报应了。可是，历史往往会走向反面，金人灭了北宋，肆意强奸北宋的后妃宗室和民间妇女，后来南宋联合蒙古人灭金时，南宋的军人也施加了性报复，有人还把南宋军人强奸金后的情景描绘下来，题为《尝后图》，意即“尝尝金朝皇后滋味之图”。
在佚名作家的《樵书》中，曾提到这幅南宋末年的《尝后图》说：……又有宋人《尝后图》：一妇人裸跣，为数人抬舁，人皆甲胄带刀，有啮唇与乳及臂股者，至有以口其足者。惟一大将露形近之，更一人掣之不就。又有持足帛履袜相追逐者，计有十九人。上有题云：“南叱惊风，汴城吹动。吹出鲜花红薰薰，泼蝶攒蜂不珍重。弃雪拼香，无处着这面孔，一综儿是清风镇的样子，好将军是极粘罕的孟珙”。画中露出阳具准备强奸金后的将军是不是孟珙，有人提出质疑，但金被灭后，此情此景想必有之，即使孟珙没有这么做，别的将军也会这么做。无论是金人奸宋室后妃，还是宋人奸金室后妃，都是性暴行，女子都是悲惨的性牺牲品。
自明代下半时期以后，春宫画特别流行，那时这方面的名画家首推唐寅。唐寅字伯虎，一字子畏，号六如居士、桃花庵主、逃禅仙吏等，吴县（今江苏苏州）人。少年时学画于周臣，后结交沈周、文徵明、祝允明、徐祯卿等，切磋文艺，历史上记载他是个风流才子，诗、文、画俱佳。他性格不羁，有时用“江南第一风流才子”印，由于仕途多舛，就游历名山大川，专门致力绘画，以卖画为生。他长于人物，特别以仕女画见长。他画春宫画，与他的生活情趣有很大关系，也是他风流性格不羁的表现，可能也是对当时官场和社会的虚伪以及封建礼教的讽刺和反抗。有人说，他作春宫画以所眷恋的妓女、情妇为裸体模特儿，所以才画得那么传神，那么惟妙惟肖。
唐寅所作的一般仕女画，至今传世的有《孟宫蜀妓图》《班姬团扇图》《嫦娥奔月图》等，但其大幅绢本的秘戏图至今已不复见，只是在古籍中留下几首清人题唐寅春宫画的诗作，如“鸡头（乳房）嫩如何莲船（三寸金莲）仅盈握；鸳鸯不足羡，深闺乐正多。”“清风明月无从觅，且探桃源洞底春”等，让后人去想像、描摹。唐寅还画了一套《风流绝畅图》，共有24幅，十分有名，但这套册页早已失传。和唐寅可相媲美的还有仇英。仇英字实甫，号十洲，太仓（今属江苏）人，居苏州。他是工匠出身，后来也从周臣学画，为文徵明所称誉，从而知名于世。他主要以卖画为生，画春宫画也十分有名。他画全身着衣的恋人，也画裸体相交的男女。他从临摹古人名作下手，发愤苦学，兼取各家之长融一炉，从而创出自己精丽秀雅的绘画风格，终于能和唐寅、文徵明、沈周并列，成为明朝的四大画家之一。
人们认为明代后期是中国古代春宫画发展的顶峰，主要是指它的质，在量方面，清代的春宫画似乎较明代为多，也许是因为年代较近而存世的作品较多的缘故。从文献记载来看，清朝的春宫画能手主要有古濂和尚、王式、马相舜、马振、改琦等。中国古代的春宫画虽然被许多人所喜爱，但总是有私密性，被认为不登大雅之堂，只能在私下把玩欣赏，所以极少有大幅者。
这些春宫画不仅在内宫、在官僚豪绅之家流行，而且在民间坊肆中也十分流行，这是明代的春宫画和前朝不一样的地方。由于流行广，需求量大，有些出版商又在印刷上下功夫，其技巧达到相当高的程度，明末尤甚。荷兰汉学家高罗佩认为最好的套色春宫画印于1606年至1624年，使用了五种颜色，这些画代表了套色春宫画的全盛期，它只流行了约20年。1644年清王朝建立后，这种艺术已完全绝迹。总的看来，清代春宫画似乎比明代流行得更广一些，但其画艺都在唐寅、仇英之下，印刷技术也远远地逊色了。
一门艺术或一门科学之所以在某个时期广泛流行和发展，总是因为它有许多功能而符合了某个时代的某种特殊需要。春宫画之所以从宫廷到民间不断地发展和流行，正是因为它有许多它物所难以替代的功能：一是激发性欲的功能。人们感受性刺激，是通过视觉、听觉、触觉、嗅觉等感觉器官实现的，其中触觉、视觉占有十分重要的地位。二是娱乐功能。在男女性生活中作为助兴工具，这是和春宫画的性刺激作用密切联系的。三是教育的功能。即作为性学书籍的插图来昭示人们；或以“嫁妆画”的形式给女儿带到新郎家去，过夫妻性生活时照此去做。
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In China, the ancient Zhaochun Palace picture album learning room is commonly known as "asking for shadow". The origin of the Spring Palace Painting is generally believed to have originated from Liu Haiyang, descendant of Liu Yue, King Hui of the Western Han Dynasty, who was in power from 64 to 50 B.C. and painted the sexual love of men and women in the palace of his hereditary feudal city Guangchuan Prefecture (now the eastern part of Zaoqiang County, Hebei Province). However, in fact, the origin of the Spring Palace paintings is much earlier than this. Liu Xiang of the Han Dynasty said in the book Biography of LieNu that in the late Yin and Shang Dynasties (around 1040 BC), the luxurious and tyrannical Emperor Yi once held a meal in the palace at the Meat Forest Wine Pool. He held his own pleasure, surrounded by screens painted in the Spring Palace, and they both enjoyed the paintings while indulging in merriment. In Shen Defu's Record of the Origin of Spring Palace Paintings, it is mentioned that Liu Haiyang, the Emperor of Guangchuan, Xiao Baojuan, Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian and so on. In fact, the Spring Palace Paintings in ancient China not only originated from pornography in the palace, but also from illustrations of some folk sex books, even as a kind of sex education. Tools inspire newlyweds. As mentioned above, "dowry painting" is a kind of Spring Palace painting.
Some data show that in the 1st century AD, it seems that there are illustrative versions of books on sexuality such as Su Nv Jing. For example, there may be some appendix descriptions of pictures in the Nine Potential Chapters in Su Nv Jing and the Thirty Facts in Dong Xuanzi. From the "Song of the Same Sound", we can see that in the Han Dynasty, it was possible to use Spring Palace paintings as dowry for brides to guide couples'sexual life. This is known as "daughter picture", "pillow book" or "dowry painting", which is also popular among later generations. From Tang Dynasty to Song Dynasty, there appeared a few famous painters who had painted Spring Palace paintings. Some of their Spring Palace paintings reflected some historical facts from one side. An example is Wu Ming's Painting of Xiling Xing Xiaozhou Hou Tu. Li Yu, the versatile emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and his wife and sister Youhuan, wrote the famous poem Bodhisattva Man, which describes the scene of Youhuan. Four years after his wife's death in the Great Week, Li Hou's book named his wife and sister Xiaozhou. Ten years later (974 A.D.), the Southern Tang Dynasty died in the Song Dynasty. After Li Hou-zhu and Xiaozhou, they were captured in Beijing Normal University. After a short week, Zhao Kuangxu, the lustful Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, took a fancy to her, declared her to the back court and raped her many times. This incident was painted down as "The Picture of the Lucky Little Week of Xiling", "Xiling" refers to Taizong of Song Dynasty, because he was buried in Yongxi Tomb of Gongxian County, Henan Province after his death.
In the Picture of the Lucky Little Week in Xiling, Feng Haisu, the Yuan Dynasty, inscribed a poem: "The remaining plum blossoms in the south of the Yangtze River are broken by the emperor; the golden wind of the strange bottom rushes to the ground, and the imperial garden is red, purple and full of dragons." Meaning: Song Taizong raped other people's wives, and your descendants (3,000 Song Huizong, Qinzong and imperial concubines) were raped by the Jin people, which is really revenge. However, history tends to turn the other way. The Jin people destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty and raped the imperial concubines and folk women wantonly. Later, when the Southern Song Dynasty united the Mongols to destroy the Jin Dynasty, the soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty also took sexual revenge. Some people also described the scene of the soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty raping the Jin Dynasty. The picture of the aftertaste.
In the Qiaoshu written by a famous writer, it was mentioned that the picture after tasting in the late Southern Song Dynasty said:... There is also the Song Dynasty's "Taste the Later Picture": a woman is naked, lifting ladles for several people, all with armour and knives, with biting lips and breasts and arms and thighs, and even with mouth and foot. The only general appeared close to him, and the only one was unable to do so. Nineteen people were chasing each other with silk and footwear. There is an inscription: "Nan Xiao Feng, Biancheng blowing. Blows out the fresh flower red fumigation, splashes the butterfly to accumulate the bee not to treasure. Abandoned snow and fragrant fragrance, nowhere in this face, a comprehensive look of Qingfengzhen, a good general is very sticky and rare Meng Juan. Some people questioned whether the general who exposed his penis to rape the gold was Meng Juan, but when the gold was destroyed, this must be the case. Even if Meng Juan did not do so, other generals would do the same. Whether the Jin raped the imperial concubines of the Song Dynasty or the imperial concubines of the Song Dynasty, they were all sexual atrocities, and women were tragic victims of sex.