Complicated circulating, cutting, repairing and remounting are common situations seen for ancient Chinese calligraphy and paintings. Because of these, a lot of historical information, having been folded, stacked or covered, is unable to be acquired via naked eye observation. The damages to paper, silk, ink marks, pigments and seal impressions in calligraphy and paintings also lead to many questions. In recent years, the hyperspectral technology, as a non-invasive spectral imaging technology, has been gradually applied to colored cultural relics. This technology can provide richer information for the research and conservation of ancient Chinese calligraphy and paintings. Based on literature research, this paper briefly introduces the principle and technological characteristics of hyperspectral imaging and summarizes its practices in the studies of ancient Chinese calligraphy and paintings. In addition, domestic and foreign research using the hyperspectral technology on calligraphy and paintings, archives and relevant colored cultural relics, especially in terms of visual enhancement, material identification and virtual restoration, were sorted out, in an attempt to provide references for domestic conservation work in the future.