Before Japanese soldiers devastated the population of Nanjing in December 1937, they first invaded Shanghai. Though the city still bears some of the scars, artists have helped to heal old wounds. Among the restorative images are magpies, which considered messengers of blessing ,and lotus flowers expressing peace.
With the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Japanese army was finally evicted from Chinese soil. Not long after, a famed Shanghai doctor named Ji Xin proposed a painting exhibition to celebrate.
In response, Shanghai painter Zhu Jizhan enlisted a group of Chinese landscape painters to join this enterprise. And rather than depict War's horrors and blood-soaked battlefields, they offered the poetic scenery of landscape, reflecting the people's yearning for peace.
"In the western context, pigeons are a symbol of peace; the magpies are sort of their Chinese equivalent - we usually depict them as the messenger for blessings. Meanwhile, lotus flowers in China represent a gentle, mild character. So the painters are expressing their joy towards victory in a very subtle way," said Zhu Xiaodong.
Entitled "Blessing in Peace Time", the current exhibition in Shanghai's Zhu Jizhan Memorial Hall reassembles 45 paintings from the original showing, echoing the year 1945.
Previously, the exhibition toured in Tokyo, Beijing, and Taipei. After 10 days in Shanghai, it will continue its Asian tour to Singapore and Macao.
Meanwhile, a collectors' edition of China Welfare Lottery tickets has been released, reproducing 36 paintings from the exhibition.