This year marks the 94th anniversary of the September 18 Incident. "Arise! Ye who refuse to be slaves! With our flesh and blood, let us build our new Great Wall!..." The melody of the National Anthem of the People's Republic of China, "March of the Volunteers," has been deeply engraved in the hearts of every Chinese person, becoming a symbol of the national spirit. The song was born in 1935 in the classic film "Children of the Storm," directed by Mr. Xu Xingzhi. Set against the backdrop of the September 18 Incident, the film aimed to awaken the people to join the great tide of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and national salvation.
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 exhibition "A Heroic Ode for China — A Retrospective of Xu Xingzhi's Artistic Achievements," jointly organized by the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Chinese Artists Association, opened at the CAFA Art Museum. The exhibition features over 400 works and documents, comprehensively presenting Mr. Xu Xingzhi's artistic achievements across film, painting, literature, theater, and art theory.
Opening ceremony scene
At the opening ceremony, the attendees included: Senior leaders and professors of the Central Academy of Fine Arts: Sheng Yang, Du Jian, Cao Chunsheng, Huang Huaying, Han Guangxu, Yuan Baolin, Zhang Dasheng, You Jindong, Chen Wenji, Chen Jianhua, and Gao Tianxiong. Chairman of the Chinese Artists Association, Fan Di’an. Member of the Party Leadership Group of the China Film Association, Xue Changxu. Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Luo Cunkang. Deputy Secretary of the Party Group of the China National Film Museum, Xu Qingong. Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing House, Yin Xing. Deputy Chief Editor of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing House, Wang Baisong. Vice Chairman of the Yangzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Li Jianfang. President of the Xu Beihong Art Research Institute and Director of the Xu Beihong Memorial Museum, Xu Qingping. Former Vice President of the Yunnan Academy of Painting, Yao Zhonghua. Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Minzu University of China, Liu Bingjiang. Professor at the School of Animation, Communication University of China, Lu Shengzhang. Representatives of Mr. Xu Xingzhi’s family and friends. They were joined by CAFA’s leadership, including President Lin Mao, Deputy Party Secretary Wang Xiaolin, and Deputy Party Secretary and Secretary of the Disciplinary Inspection Commission Wu Qiang, as well as deans, department heads, and representatives of teachers and students. The opening ceremony was presided over by Wang Xiaolin, Deputy Party Secretary of CAFA.
Lin Mao President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
——————————————————————————————————————
"Today, as we hold this exhibition of Mr. Xu Xingzhi's art, it is both a deep tribute to the war-torn years and the pioneers of the War of Resistance, and a salute to the older generation of artists who devoted their lives to China's literary and artistic career. We learn from their noble spirit of nurturing talent with profound love and depicting the era with magnificent beauty." Lin Mao stated that the artistic works of these pioneers are the most vivid classrooms, and their creative careers are the most authentic models. He mentioned that the exhibition was carefully curated by an academic team, with Mr. Xu's family meticulously organizing documents and participating deeply in the curation process. Many works and precious documents are being presented for the first time. The exhibition comprehensively and vividly showcases Mr. Xu Xingzhi's outstanding achievements in artistic exploration, education, and cultural undertakings, fully presenting his grand vision that spans multiple artistic fields. It is hoped that teachers and students of the Central Academy of Fine Arts will follow in the footsteps of "great masters" like Mr. Xu Xingzhi, and on the profound foundation of the century-old CAFA, continue the glorious legacy of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Fan Di’an Chairman of the China Artists Association
————————————————————————————————————
"As someone who has long been part of the CAFA family, I still remember often seeing Mr. Xu Xingzhi on the old Wangfujing campus. He seemed to always wear a warm red sweater, with silver hair, exuding the demeanor of a scholarly artist. It was hard to tell from his calm and kindly expression that he had experienced so many historical upheavals and made so many artistic contributions that have been recorded in history."Mr. Fan Di'an recalled Mr. Xu Xingzhi's legendary artistic journey. He noted that Mr. Xu was inspired by the May Fourth New Culture Movement and belonged to a generation of artists who grew up during the era of awakening. He was a versatile artist with talents in fine arts, film, literature, theater, poetry, and music, skilled at integrating and creating across disciplines. Guided by the Party's literary and artistic ideology, he was a revolutionary artist with firm cultural ideals and artistic convictions. The exhibition presents Mr. Xu Xingzhi's rich artistic life and important documents through a comprehensive display approach. The fusion of audio and visual elements, the interplay of images, documents, and paintings creates a scene that allows visitors to step into the space of history and gain a profound understanding of Mr. Xu Xingzhi's life and art. "A heroic song dedicated to China" is indeed a reflection of Mr. Xu Xingzhi's spirit.
Li Jianfang Vice Chairman of the Yangzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Li Jianfang, a representative from Mr. Xu Xingzhi's hometown, stated, "Mr. Xu Xingzhi was from Yangzhou. He once used his brush to vividly depict a series of Yangzhou landscapes. In the name of his hometown, we sincerely invite the 'Retrospective Exhibition of Xu Xingzhi's Artistic Achievements' to tour in Yangzhou again, and we warmly welcome Mr. Xu Xingzhi's family, friends, and students to return to Yangzhou for a visit."
Yu Runsheng Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Humanities at the Central Academy of Fine Arts
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
"In 1954, Mr. Xu Xingzhi was transferred to work at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, where he founded and served as the director of the Fine Arts Theory Research Office, laying the foundation for the establishment of New China's first department of art history." Yu Runsheng noted that the older generation of art educators, represented by Mr. Xu Xingzhi, devoted themselves to building New China's art education system. The educational philosophy they upheld—of art serving the people—has become an important source and foundation for our academic pursuits and educational spirit today.
Xu Guoqing representative of Mr. Xu Xingzhi's family, son of Xu Xingzhi, and curator of the exhibition
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
"My father, Xu Xingzhi, never ceased creating throughout his 87-year career in the arts, and he continued to paint diligently in his later years, exploring new forms of painting." Mr. Xu Guoqing recalled his father's artistic life. He spent seven years compiling the "Complete Works of Xu Xingzhi," hoping to comprehensively present his father's achievements in various fields such as painting, film, theater, literature, and art history theory.
Wang Xiaolin Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of CAFA
——————————————————————————————————————————
presided over the opening ceremony
The exhibition received strong support from the family, who donated 18 representative works by Mr. Xu Xingzhi to the CAFA Art Museum, including "The Unemployed," "March of the Crystal World," "Quiet River Bend," and "Plaster Cast of Pope Julius II." They also donated 466 types of books from Mr. Xu's personal collection to the School of Humanities at CAFA.
Exhibition site
In September 1978, Xu Xingzhi created the oil painting "March of the Crystal World" at his home
Xu Xingzhi (1904–1991) was a renowned Chinese artist, art historian and theorist, art educator, film and theater director, pioneer of the Left-wing art movement, cultural warrior, member of the China Artists Association, and professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He graduated from the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts and the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in Japan. In 1930, he helped organize the Left-wing art group "Society of the Times" and was elected the first president of the Chinese Left-wing Artists League.
Amid the torrents of China's 20th-century artistic transformation, Xu Xingzhi was like a prism that refracted the spectrum of the era into brilliant dimensions. With a palette in his left hand, he dissected the texture of the times; with a camera in his right, he recorded the heartbeat of the nation. He used the theatrical stage as a battlefield of ideas and wielded his literary pen to pierce through spiritual fog. As a representative of the Left-wing cultural movement, he unleashed remarkable creativity across the four dimensions of fine arts, film, theater, and literature, and as an art theorist and educator, he sowed the seeds of revolution into the soil of New China. When we examine the footsteps of this cultural pioneer, we see not only the legend of an individual artist, but a blueprint for the modern transformation of Chinese art in the 20th century.
In the field of painting, Xu Xingzhi was a pioneer who first fused modernist language with revolutionary narratives. In his youth, he used expressionist techniques to transform the spirit of the Left-wing cultural movement into questioning of social reality through the weighty themes of "The Unemployed" and "The Pavement Layer." In his middle years, through the formally beautiful language of "The Giant Arm," he passionately celebrated the awakening of industrial power in the new era. In his later years, he distilled his rich life experiences into still-life painting, seeking a path toward the nationalization of oil painting through exploration of Eastern aesthetic sensibilities. This artistic philosophy, which unifies formal exploration with social concern, opened up a new aesthetic path for modern Chinese art.
In the field of art theory, Xu Xingzhi was an important founder of modern Chinese art history research. During the nascent stage of Chinese modern art in the 1930s, he was one of the most important translators and popularizers of art theory. He consecutively published significant articles such as "The Tasks of the Emerging Art Movement" and "Prospects for the Chinese Art Movement," translated numerous Western art theory documents, and actively participated in constructing Left-wing art ideology. In 1954, Xu Xingzhi presided over and served as director of the Fine Arts Theory Research Office at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, which later became the predecessor of the Department of Art History. He organized young faculty members to translate materials and introduce teaching resources, and personally wrote more than a dozen lectures on foreign art history, laying a solid foundation for the establishment of New China's first Department of Art History.
In the literary world, Xu Xingzhi always maintained the sensitivity of a poet and the sharpness of a warrior. His poetry collection "The Age of Poetry" uses "Pastoral Song," "Daban Well," and "China's Mother" to connect the emotional resonance between personal growth and the changes of the times. His prose collection "Return" hides threads of social criticism within its lyrical style. He built a bridge connecting Lu Xun with emerging writers, allowing Left-wing literature to maintain both ideological sharpness and diverse expressions.
In the field of cinema, Xu Xingzhi transformed the camera into the eye of the era, recording the collective memory of the nation. His 1935 film "Children of the Storm" (Fengyun Ernu) used a plain cinematic style to awaken the most stirring and inspiring fighting spirit. The film's theme song, "March of the Volunteers," with lyrics by Tian Han and music by Nie Er, exploded with the force of thunder and later became the national anthem of the People's Republic of China. This landmark work of the Left-wing film movement not only established the aesthetic paradigm for Chinese realist cinema but also elevated the political expression of art to the dimension of the national spirit.
On the theatrical stage, Xu Xingzhi became a banner of experimental spirit and public enlightenment. His adaptation of Lu Xun's classic "The True Story of Ah Q" not only preserved the original's profound examination of human nature but also incorporated elements from Lu Xun's "Kong Yiji" and "Medicine." Through the form of tragicomedy, he created a highly critical and satirical theatrical style. Since its premiere in the 1930s, the play has caused a sensation in every performance, exerting widespread influence across different eras and achieving a historical connection between theatrical innovation and popular aesthetics.
This versatile artist, skilled in fine arts, film, theater, and literature, was not only a pioneering practitioner of artistic creation but also a researcher, writer, and disseminator of literary theory. He made outstanding contributions to the development of art history and theory in New China and to the cultivation of painting talents. From the China Art University to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Xu Xingzhi devoted more than half a century to teaching. Through translations, he introduced modern art theory to China, wrote literary and artistic treatises with a sharp pen, and transformed the concept of "art for the people" into concrete teaching practices, cultivating numerous literary and artistic warriors who integrated artistic ideals with social responsibility.
The forms and colors of fine arts, the camera lens of film, the stage space of theater, and the words and sentences of literature all intertwined in Xu Xingzhi's hands to form a harmonious chorus of a transforming era. This cross-disciplinary creative practice not only shaped the aesthetic standards of Left-wing literature and art but also reveals to us that true artistic innovation stems from a profound observation of reality and represents the mutual illumination of the individual and the times.
