秦汉时期，石雕一般为大型的墓前石雕。这些墓前石雕造型生动、刀法简练，但是石雕作品气魄雄浑，极具动态感。这些石雕一方面具有极高的美学价值和社会学价值，另一方面也体现了墓主人的权势和地位。当时社会流行厚葬之风，所以一些贵族和豪强也极力追求奢华的墓葬建筑及装饰，并且他们也具备充足的财力、物力条件，于是出现了大量有画像石的祠堂碑阙和墓室。这些石雕作品的雕刻手法大体可分为阴线刻、浅浮雕、平面雕和透雕等几种手法。在题材内容上也丰富多彩，包括了历史人物、神话故事、孝义事迹、烈女故事、现实生活、祥禽瑞兽、羽化登仙等。
In the Qin and Han Dynasties, stone carvings were generally large-scale ones in front of tombs. The stone carvings in front of the tombs are vivid and concise in shape, but they are vigorous and dynamic. On the one hand, these stone carvings have high aesthetic and sociological values, on the other hand, they also reflect the power and status of the tomb owner. At that time, the trend of thick burials was popular in the society, so some nobles and powerful people also tried their best to pursue luxurious tomb buildings and decorations, and they also had sufficient financial and material resources. As a result, a large number of ancestral halls and tombs with portrait stones appeared. The carving techniques of these stone carvings can be roughly divided into Yin line carving, shallow relief, plane carving and openwork carving. There are also rich and colorful themes, including historical figures, fairy tales, deeds of filial piety, stories of martyrs, real life, auspicious birds and beasts, emergence of immortals and so on.
汉代的一些石雕工艺品手法独特，有的还会使用简单抽象、变形夸张的技巧传神达韵，以形写神，达到特殊的艺术效果。这些石雕运用的抽象技法形成了汉代大型石雕的主流基础。具有代表性的作品是西汉时期抗击匈奴的名将霍去病墓的石雕群，这是汉代石雕艺术的巅峰之作。现存石雕有《马踏匈奴》 《石入》 《伏虎》 《卧马》 《卧牛》 《卧象》 《野猪》等十余件，都是花岗石作品，其造型古朴、传神而深刻，体现了汉代石雕的刚强气魄及深沉雄浑的风格特色。
Some stone carving crafts in Han Dynasty have unique techniques. Some of them use simple and abstract techniques, such as deformation and exaggeration, to convey the spirit and rhyme, and to write the spirit in form, so as to achieve special artistic effect. The abstract techniques used in these stone carvings formed the mainstream basis of large stone carvings in the Han Dynasty. The representative works are the stone carvings from the tomb of Huo Qubing, a famous general fighting against Xiongnu in the Western Han Dynasty, which is the peak of the stone carving art of the Han Dynasty. There are more than ten existing stone carvings, such as horse stepping on Xiongnu, Shijin, Fuhu, crouching horse, lying cattle, lying elephant and wild boar. All of them are granite works. Their shapes are simple, vivid and profound, reflecting the strong spirit and deep and vigorous style characteristics of the stone carvings in the Han Dynasty.