The exhibition at the National Art Museum of China features more than 120 xieyi oil paintings. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Xu Li, another artist featured at the exhibition, says the xieyi spirit is in different categories of Chinese art, including pottery and bronze ware, sculptures from the Han (206 BC-AD220) and the Tang (618-907) dynasties, literati paintings and folk art.

He says that this empowered generations of Chinese artists to enrich their output, and the current exhibition showcases their efforts.

Fan Di'an, the head of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, who curated the exhibition, says that while artists are nurtured by cultural traditions, their paintings also focus on the grassroots.

Beijing-based painter Duan Zhengqu dwells on the relationship between people and the Earth in northern China. The 59-year-old's painting, Mirror, exhibits the vitality of human beings when they have to cope with a tough natural environment.

A native of landlocked Henan province, Duan says his inspiration comes from northwestern China. He says that he has found energy in the Yellow Plateau and was moved by the villagers who are tough and tolerant.

Dai says another aspect of the xieyi school is to hail predecessors' art.

"They were not only skillful painters. They were giants," he says.

"Their morality makes their works outstanding even when they are only palm-sized. And their spirit is what we should retain in our creations."

If you go

9 am-5 pm, through July 4. National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476