The publication is an eponymously titled catalog of the exhibition “The Temperature of History: CAFA and Chinese Representational Oil Paintings”. It includes all works displayed in the exhibition in four parts: Eastern Enlightenment, National Narrative, Artistic Essence and Contemporary Concerns. Based on the connection between oil paintings and the construction of culture in China, the catalog outlines the creation of CAFA oil painters in different historical contexts, presenting the artistic essence and cultural connotations of oil paintings.