Artform captures Xi's literary quotations

An exhibition of sequential artworks illustrating lines from classic Chinese literature quoted by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, opened in Guangzhou, Guangdong province on Wednesday.

The exhibition, staged at the International Art Space at Jinan University, presents more than 140 pieces of sequential drawings, paintings and woodblock printing pieces by 16 artists using 14 traditional Chinese stories.

A show of more such works was presented at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing in 2019.

Lianhuanhua — the Chinese form of picture books containing sequential drawings or paintings — took shape during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), after the printing technique was widely popularized.

Publication of lianhuanhua works started in 1923, said Wang Xiaoshu, deputy director of the lianhuanhua art committee of the China Artists Association.

The works on display at this show draw on verses and stories dating to before the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). They illustrate Chinese wisdom and the essence of Chinese culture, Wang said.

They use a selection of verses from classic texts that have influenced Chinese people by explaining core values such as solidarity, persistence and integrity.

One of the verses — meaning that the broad ocean is not formed by a single tributary — comes from Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms by Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novelist Feng Menglong. The lianhuanhua works using the verse were painted by Dong Kecheng, a professor at the School of Chinese Painting at Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts.

Organized by the China Artists Association and Jinan University, the exhibition will run until June.