Exhibition Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Long March Victory Opens at HNUST, Featuring Shen Yaoyi's Picture Stories Art

On the morning of October 22, 2026, an exhibition titled “Painting the Journey: Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Long March Victory of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army and Featuring Shen Yaoyi’s Picture Stories” opened at the First Library of Hunan University of Science and Technology (HNUST).

Yu Huijun, Member of the University Party Committee and Vice President of HNUST, attended and delivered opening remarks. Guests including Lu Jingping, Party Branch Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Collectors Association; Xiao Zhongren, Director of the Picture Stories Professional Committee; and Huang Zaoshun, a Chinese Picture Stories artist and researcher at the Institute of Arts and Crafts of Fuzhou University, attended and addressed the ceremony. The opening ceremony was presided over by Yan Shengyong, library director of HNUST.

HNUST will take this exhibition as an opportunity to integrate picture stories art (or lianhuanhua, a traditional Chinese picture story art form) into its ideological and political education system, further tap Xiangtan’s local red revolutionary cultural resources, promote red culture into campuses and communities, and realize the co-construction and sharing of red culture. Yu Huijun noted that the great Long March spirit remains an ever-lasting spiritual monument. He encouraged faculty and students to draw strength from the artworks, carry forward the red legacy through brush and ink, turn patriotism and the aspiration to serve the country into diligent study and practical action, and forge ahead the Long March of young people in the new era.

A collection donation ceremony was also held during the opening. The renowned painter Shen Yaoyi presented the University with his handwritten inscription “The Long March Spirit Lives Forever” along with nine original-size display boards of White Horse Lianhuanhua. The Hunan Provincial Collectors Association presented a couplet: “Picture stories lead across the land; Long March scrolls shine through the ages.” In the exhibition hall of the First Library, picture stories artworks were neatly displayed, with black-and-white lines and richly colored images complementing each other. From the gunfire of the Nanchang Uprising to the heroic Battle of the Xiangjiang River, and the trek across snow-capped mountains and grasslands, historical moments unfolded visually, attracting teachers and students to linger and observe closely.

The exhibition took more than a month to prepare, selecting more than 500 exhibits and 50,000 classic images of over 13,000 collected items. Centered on Shen Yaoyi’ s The Red Ribbon on the Earth, the exhibition is divided into five thematic sections, connecting major historical milestones such as the Nanchang Uprising, the Jinggangshan struggle, and the 25,000-li Long March, vividly recreating the epic course of the Long March.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army’s Long March. Guests and experts noted that HNUST’s inclusion of picture stories in its key collection category is the first of its kind among universities nationwide, exploring a new path for activating private collections and for library-school collaborative education. The exhibition will guide teachers and students to look back on the road traveled and take solid steps on the road ahead, letting the great Long March spirit shine brightly in the new era.

(Translated by LI Xiangyi, FAN Xiangmin)