Remembering the Long March in Ink and Color—A Sketching and Painting Exhibition by Greater Bay Area Masters and UM Faculty and Students Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War Successfully Held

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, the Centre for Chinese History and Culture of the University of Macau successfully held the exhibition “Remembering the Long March in Ink and Color” — A Sketching and Painting Exhibition by Greater Bay Area Masters and UM Faculty and Students on September 29, 2025. Using art as a bridge, the exhibition guided audiences back to historical moments, enabling them to profoundly remember the magnificent epic of the War of Resistance and demonstrating rich cultural significance and historical value.

Exhibition Information

Venue: Multi-function Exhibition Hall, Chongwen Building, University of Macau
(E34-G016)

Dates: September 29 – November 29, 2025
(Closed on weekends and public holidays)

Opening Hours: 9:00 – 17:30
(Closed from 13:00 to 14:30)

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, the Centre for Chinese History and Culture of the University of Macau presented this exhibition under the theme “Remembering the Long March in Ink and Color.” Bringing together sketching works by renowned artists from the Greater Bay Area as well as faculty and students of the University of Macau, the exhibition traces the origins of the national spirit through artistic expression and conveys the weight of historical memory through depictions of landscapes and rivers.

As a Chinese landscape painter born in the Central Plains and educated in Lingnan, I deeply understand that brush and ink must follow the spirit of the times and, more importantly, carry history. The profound and vigorous heritage of the Central Plains and the Lingnan School’s philosophy of sketching—“integrating Chinese and Western traditions and blending the ancient with the modern”—intersected and were elevated through this creative journey retracing the revolutionary path.

Masters of the Lingnan School such as Gao Jianfu, Guan Shanyue, Li Xiongcai, and Lin Fengsu advocated as early as the War of Resistance that “brush and ink must follow the times,” emphasizing that art should speak for the people and for the era. This exhibition represents a contemporary practice of that concept. By adopting on-site sketching as our method, we aim not only to objectively depict natural landscapes, but also to immerse ourselves in historical settings and emotionally reconstruct spiritual landmarks. Beneath the lights of the Octagonal Building, before the iron chains of Luding Bridge, and among the cliffs of the Taihang Mountains, we sought to capture transcendent spiritual forces through the cadence of brushwork and the variations of color, ink density, and moisture.

The section “Jinggangshan: The Cradle” bears witness to the resilience with which the revolutionary spark was first ignited; “The Long March” engraves the monumental will embodied in strategic retreat and redeployment; “Monuments of the War of Resistance” presents the heroic epic of national salvation; and the concluding chapter, “Passing the Torch,” completes a sublimation from history to art and from the past to the present. These works are both a tribute to the Lingnan masters’ creations on themes of the War of Resistance and an expansion and deepening of the sketching tradition in the new era.

Through on-site sketching, I have come to deeply realize that the true spirit of landscape painting lies not merely in portraying the outward forms of mountains, rocks, and trees, but in interpreting the national memory carried by this land and conveying the Red Army spirit of fearlessness, perseverance, and self-reliance. It is my hope that viewers, through these works, will experience the integration of history and art, and grasp the spiritual code of the Chinese nation’s journey from suffering to glory. May the colors of ink endure in our collective memory, and may the aspirations embodied in our mountains and rivers live on in the hearts of generations to come.

With this exhibition, we pay tribute to history and seek to inspire the future.

— Zhang Yan
Director, Centre for Chinese History and Culture, University of Macau
(Exhibition Preface)

The exhibition is not only an artistic presentation, but also a vivid public history lecture and a profound academic practice. It goes beyond the simple reproduction of historical scenes to explore how art participates in shaping collective national memory, and how “sketching” can become a cultural practice that connects historical reflection with contemporary spiritual values. Through this thematic creation, the Lingnan School tradition of “letting brush and ink follow the times” is reinterpreted in a contemporary context, highlighting artists’ cultural mission to serve their era through art and to refine their original aspirations through creative practice.

Guan Shanyue, The First Bridge of the Long March, 69 × 36 cm

Li Xiongcai, Poetic Imagery of Chairman Mao, 134 × 244 cm

Lin Fengsu, Spring Stream and Singing Springs, 68 × 68 cm

Zhang Yan, Yan’an, 138 × 34 cm

(Photo: Director Prof. Zhang Yan leading Ms. Peng Yina and Prof. Wang Lan of Macau University of Science and Technology on a guided visit)

The exhibition attracted a large number of faculty members, students, art enthusiasts, and historians from both within and outside the university, earning widespread acclaim. Audiences generally agreed that, with its high academic standards and strong artistic appeal, the exhibition successfully visualized the spirit of the War of Resistance and the Long March, inspired patriotic sentiment and cultural identity, and made an important scholarly contribution to patriotic education and the inheritance of historical culture in Macau. The Centre for Chinese History and Culture of the University of Macau stated that it will continue to promote the study and dissemination of Chinese history and culture—particularly revolutionary-themed art and the spirit of the times—so that these enduring spiritual treasures may continue to shine in the new era.