It is those "Shikumen" houses and various kinds of old residential houses that, as the writer puts it, "all seem to be old and their original shape has been made clear bit by bit", are able to be the backdrop of the city boldly. In "the complete darkness", there have been "the turbulent waves in darkness", and "the volumes of darkness" and there have been the momentum and the "spirit", "temperament" and 'mettle" that can transverse the history, only with the existence of the peeling-off of the red and gray walls, the profoundness of dormers, the sturdiness of the big black gates and the calmness of the small courtyards of the old dwellings .

under the pen of Lu Zhiwen. The crowded old houses, complicated mood, puzzling ink strokes and intricate plots of the stories are vividly and thoroughly reflected in these Chinese paintings.

Strange to say, the blend of imposingness and resplendency has shaped in Lu Zhiwen's painting style after he made two tours to Europe. In his works, imposingness can still be found wherever necessary, but a new style has been formed---a style features that resplendency is nurtured in imposingness.