Abstract: As an important concept in western art history, stylistics has its basic view point lying in the research method of “work standard”. In the study of western stylistics, a complete system from Alois Riegl to Heinrich Wolfflin has been formed. As an imported theory in China, stylistics has played an important role in the study of Chinese art history. However, due to the problems of practical operation and academic language, western stylistics can not explain Chinese art works well, but it can be used for reference in the study of Chinese art history.