Can I Cooperate with You?, 120 x 200 cm, Wang Qingsong, 2000

Imperior Sedan, 129.6x38.5cm, Yan Liben, Tang Dynasty ( by courtesty of the Palace Museum, Beijing.)

Yan Liben was a figure painter living at the beginning of Tang Dynasty. He had served the reign of the first three Tang emperors. His paintings were mostly related to important events in Tang Dynasty, in particular, to the achievements of Tai Zong in Tang Dynasty. This painting talked about a historical event in 641 A.D. when the Chief of Tufan Minority Song Zan Gan Bu sought for marriage with the daughter of Tai Zong, Wencheng Princess. Tai Zong sat straight on the sedan chair carried by the court girls. The envoys from Tufan Minority and Tang officials sat in front of Tai Zong in deep respect. "Sedan Chair" is a documentary and historic figure painting that recorded friendship and communication of the central power with its minorities over 1000 years ago.

-- Abbreviated from History of Chinese Fine Arts, Li Fushun, Liaoning Publishing House, 2000.