Shadow puppetry (皮影戏) artist Zhu Guoqiang from Hunan Province can perform shadow plays all by himself. He can sing, play the erhu, and control as many as ten puppets at one time.

His performances used to require the work of four other people. However, since most of his partners have moved on to other businesses, he shoulders (承担) the work of a whole group on his own.

Zhu, 59, is the fifth-generation inheritor (第五代继承人) of his family’s shadow puppetry business. When he was 15, Zhu started to learn the skills from his father. Over the past years, he has been good at all the special skills like making puppets and performing the plays.

Zhu was only trained by his father for three years before his father died. But he was deeply influenced by his father, who, like other older generations of artists, believed the traditional art was more important than life.

Zhu collected more than 300 books of lost plays. He also wrote a book on Chinese shadow puppetry. In 2009, he raised money to set up a shadow puppet art museum in his hometown, with free exhibitions (展览) and free lessons. To do all these things, Zhu not only spent all his savings, but also borrowed a lot of money.

In Zhu’s life, there has been nothing but shadow puppets. “Shadow puppetry is the career (事业) of my life,” Zhu said. “I must pass it down.”

Wang Xizhi loved writing from childhood. When his uncle, Wang Yi, wrote with a brush, Wang Xizhi would watch and copy with his finger. Wang Yi was happy to see his nephew’s action and taught Wang Xizhi to write on paper.

When Wang Xizhi was seven years old, he had a teacher who was a famous female calligrapher(书法家), Wei Shuo. People called her Lady Wei. She was not only good at handwriting, but also made indepth(深入的)study of calligraphy. Wang Xizhi made good progress under her direction.

One day, Wang Xizhi found a book in Lady Wei’s study entitled The Picture of Ink Brush. It was about calligraphy and was written by Lady Wei. Wang Xizhi read it very carefully but found it hard to understand. He went to ask Lady Wei for help. She was surprised that the young child was trying to read such a difficult book. She asked Wang Xizhi what the problem was. He replied, “Madam, you said that writing is like fighting. What does that mean?” Lady Wei said, “The paper is like a battlefield. The brush is your weapon and the ink is your armour (盔甲). The inkstone(砚台)functions as the city that gives you power during the battle.” All of a sudden, Wang Xizhi understood her meaning: Making art is like a battle(战争).

Christmas was coming. There was a man in rags (衣衫褴褛) walking in a hurry on the road. You might think he was a beggar (乞讨者), but actually he was an artist. His name was Vincent Willem Van Gogh. With a painting he had just finished, the poor Vincent entered a painting store.

“Can you buy this painting to help me pay the rent (房租)?” Vincent asked in a low voice. “I don’t really like your painting, but it is said that you are hard-working and I want to help you, Here is five francs (法郎),” the storekeeper answered.

Although it was only five francs, Vincent was very happy. He took the money and said thanks, thinking that he could buy some food and pay the rent.

Near his home, Vincent saw a little girl in old clothes standing in the snow.

The girl smiled sadly at the artist asking for some help. Clearly, the girl was hungry and cold.

“Poor child! I should help her,” he thought.

Vincent put the five francs into the girl’s hands, completely forgetting that he still needed money to pay the rent. Before the girl said thanks to him, Vincent had hurried away with his empty stomach.