Marking history on canvas

A painting by the late Li Binghong, which marks the founding of the People's Liberation Army, is now available for public viewing at the National Art Museum. Lin Qi reports.

Li Binghong (1913-86) is not a household name, but his oil painting Nanchang Uprising marks a significant moment in China's history. His 1959 work depicts armed resistance under the leadership of the Communist Party of China that took place on Aug 1, 1927, in Nanchang, in the eastern Jiangxi province.

The painting shows Zhou Enlai, one of the Party members who organized the engagement, inciting insurgent soldiers to counter the Kuomintang's anti-Communist purge.