In the history of Chinese painting, the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties was a very important period. Gu Kaizhi, a painter of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was     1     figure that had to be mentioned during this period.

Gu kaizhi was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu province in the year 344 and     2    (occupy) an important place in the history of Chinese literature. He was also a talented poet and calligrapher. Meanwhile,     3    (extreme) uninterested in fame and wealth, he made his living on the philosophy of “being half sly (狡黠) and half silly”     4     was given the title of “three excellences”, namely “excellence in poems”, “excellence in painting” and “excellence in stupidity”.

As the first painter     5     (maintain) influence on the development of Chinese painting, Gu Kaizhi not only created the basic model of figure painting, leaving     6     his most famous work, Nymph of the Luo River (《洛神赋图》 ), but also proposed the principles of painting     7     influence has lasted a thousand years, such as “realizing perfection through empathy”, “exposing spirit with form”, as well as his “six methods”.

The story of Nymph of the Luo River     8     (root) in historical records and the poetry of Cao Zhi, a prince and poet from the Three Kingdoms period. According to accounts, Cao Zhi wrote a poem called “Rhapsody of the Goddess of Luo” which described a goddess of extraordinary     9     (attractive).

Inspired by Cao Zhi’s poem, Gu Kaizhi set out to illustrate the charming nymph. His painting exhibits the soul of the poem,     10     (display) the nymph’s unique elegance and appealing charm. The work exemplifies Gu Kaizhi’s skill in bringing literary inspiration to life through art.

Xiao Han and He Ting, are now full-time artists and they run their own studios. They graduated from Shanghai Normal University     1     they majored in traditional Chinese painting,     2     unique ancient art form, which is created by using ink and water-based colors on materials such as paper or silk.

Xiao     3     (use) to creating paintings on round silk fans. His creative     4     (inspire) comes from the pure and simple life of people in the Southern Song Dynasty, “That is the very ideal painting and life style in a busy world     5     I dream of,” says Xiao, who set up a home studio in Shanghai     6     a window allowing him to enjoy the sunrise.

Despite drawing people and life, He Ting, from the coastal city of Xiangshan in Zhejiang Province, decorates the folding fans     7    (feature) paintings that are focused on landscapes. And he loves the views of Jiangnan water towns, which can bring people much     8     (warm).

“We are lucky to be living in a time when the government supports the culture industry     9     (complete). Now the revival(复兴) of traditional Chinese culture     10     (promote) in the whole country. And I believe that artists will get more chances to spread the culture both at home and abroad,” says He Ting.

Shao Lujie, a 28-year-old craftsman from Zhejiang Province, has created multiple works of art for the upcoming 19th Asian Games. His craft is known     1     quilling, an art of creating decorative designs from thin strips of curled paper.

Since Shao     2     (be) a child, he has loved painting and handicrafts. In 2016, he started to learn quilling from a master of the art and has been devoting     3     (he) entirely to it ever since.

“During this process, I found that this paper art handicraft can     4     (combine) with painting and different design elements. I hope to find breakthroughs in this handicraft,” Shao said.

In an era     5     AI-generated art and other commercial works are entering the art market, Shao still insists on     6     (stick) to this ancient craft. In recent years, Shao has begun to develop cultural and creative products with local characteristics. “One     7     (innovate) is changing the theme of a wedding celebration from flowers to ‘China-chic’ and local features,” Shao said.

    8     (attract) young people’s interest in this art form, Shao has gone online, creating accounts on social media such as Xiaohongshu. “    9     (normal), I would like to write articles about this art and post pictures of my latest works on Xiaohongshu,” he said.

Shao hopes to open     10     exhibition hall in the future so that more people can learn about his craft and, ideally, pass it down to future generations.

George Gershwin was one of America’s greatest composers. He was born in 1898. In 1916, when he was eighteen years old, he published his first song. During the next twenty years he    1    (write) more than five hundred songs.

Many of Gershwin’s songs were first written for musical plays     2     (perform) in theatres in New York City. These plays were a popular form of entertainment during the 1920s and 1930s. Many of his songs have remained popular as ever,     3    have been sung and played in every possible way over the years-from jazz to country.

In the 1920s Gershwin agreed to compose something for the concert of Paul Whiteman, who was a jazz musician and orchestra     4    (lead). Gershwin did this because he wanted     5     (support) his idea that jazz was serious music. In a short time, he composed     6     piece of music which he called Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin himself played the piano at the concert. The audience were     7     (excite) when they heard his music. It made him world-famous and showed that jazz music could be both serious and popular.

In 1928, he wrote An American in Paris, which still     8     (remain) one of his most famous works. George Gershwin died in 1937     9    a very young age, with newspapers all over the world     10    (report) his death on their front pages.

Wei Chunrong has built a reputation as a leading actress of Kunqu Opera,     1     oldest traditional Chinese opera with a history of about 600 years, which, performed in the Suzhou dialect,     2     (know) for graceful body movements, rhythmic singing and exquisite costumes.

She started learning at 10 and     3     (perform) with the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre since she was 16. Wei performed at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in 2001     4     the organization listed it as one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity (人类口头和非物质遗产). Now in her 50s, Wei has found a new role. In the     5     (origin) Kunqu Opera production, titled Guo Feng, Wei plays the role of Lady Xu Mu,who was the first female poet     6     (record) in Chinese history.

“I played different roles during the past four decades. For Lady Xu Mu, I have to put aside all my experiences and start afresh     7     (comprehend) and perform the role,” said Wei,     8     (sit) in the dressing room of Tianqiao Theatre a day before the show started on June 19.

“The role, Lady Xu Mu, was written for Wei Chunrong     9     particular. Though she has played many classic roles, she needs one which could represent her     10     (specific) and take her career to the next level,” says Luo, the playwright (剧作家).

Zhang Daqian was one of     1     most famous Chinese artists of the 1900s. He was born on 10 May 1899 in Neijiang, Sichuan Province, China. When he was young, his family encouraged him     2     (paint).

In 1919 Zhang went to Shanghai,     3     he learned about traditional Chinese painting. His teachers were two       4     (real) famous calligraphers (书法家) and painters, Zeng Xi and Li Ruiqing, and he soon was able to paint in the styles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

In 1941 Zhang went to see the     5     (wonder) caves of Dunhuang, in northwestern China. The caves     6     (know) for their ancient Buddhist wall paintings. He created many paintings based     7     the cave art. Zhang went on to study ancient paintings from the Tang and Song Dynasties, which inspired his own paintings of lotuses (莲花).

Zhang     8     (leave) China in the early 1950s and lived in many places around the world,     9     (include) Argentina, Brazil, and the United States. During that time, he created works in his “splashed-color” style, which looked     10     (modern) than his traditional-style paintings.

In 1978 Zhang settled in Taipei, and he died there on 2 April 1983.

Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement     1     the 80th Venice Film Festival on Sept 2. He made history as the first Chinese actor     2     (win) the award.

The news created much     3    (excite) in the film industry and across social media. It reflected the global     4    (recognize) of Hong Kong cinema,     5     has been an important force in the film world.

    6     62-year-old actor said he wanted to share the award with all who have helped him during his 40-year acting career. The lifetime award recognizes the actor’s rich collection of famous works. Since he became an actor in the early 1980s, Leung     7    (become) famous globally for his performances in director Wong Kar-wai’s award-winning films.

Famous director Ang Lee described Leung     8     “a director’s dream”,     9    (say)Leung can show complicated emotions simply through his eyes. “He can say more in one look than many actors can with a full monologue (独白),” Lee added.

Leung’s next film, Silent Friend, will start filming in April 2024. Leung will play a scientist and work with a top film     10     (produce)to show a story across different countries. The world’s audience is looking forward to another fresh and touching performance by Leung.

Few people expected that a new song     1       (write) by Chinese pop singer songwriter Daolang, who kept himself out of the spotlight for years, would go viral (爆火) on social media. However, the track Luocha Haishi, one of the 11 original songs from the 52-year-old artist's latest album titled Shan Ge Liaò Zai (Folk Songs Fading Away)     2       (become) one of the biggest hits of the year so far. The song, which     3     (release) on July 19, got 8 billion streams by 6 pm on July 30.

The curiosity surrounding the song seems to be driving its     4       (popular). Social media users are     5       (fierce) debating if the lyrics have hidden meanings. Reading between the lines, some online listeners said the song is ạ stinging sat ire (尖锐的讽刺) on the current “unhealthy and chaotic (混乱的) environment in show business”, while others see Luocha Haishi     6    Daolang’s “revenge” on people who once criticized     7     (he) music.

“As a researcher on classic Chinese literature, I appreciate Daolang whose new song is     8    (create) and gives Liaozhai Zhiyi a new interpretation. I don't know whether the song is targeted at a certain group of people     9     one person.     10     makes it meaningful is that it fuels discussions and makes people think,” said Miao Huaiming, a professor at Nanjing University's   School of Liberal Arts.

Maxime Biou, a winner of the 2020 Yishu 8 Young French Artist Award, is holding     1     exhibition in Beijing. Biou, born in France in 1993, is based in Paris. He graduated from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 2019 and the following year he     2     (win) the Yishu 8 Young French Artist Award. Over the past few years, he     3     (participate) in artistic residencies in cities such as Madrid, Avignon, and Nantes, showing his creations in exhibitions     4     (hold) in well-known locations like Paris, Venice, and Arles. In October, Biou began his residency in Beijing. Within a month, he toured world- famous landmarks     5     the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Beihai Park, and the Great Wall. He also explored exhibitions showcasing the works of young Chinese artists in the 798 Art Zone. Yet,     6     truly attracted him was the hutong where he chose to live. Biou     7     (skillful) pictures the essence of the hutong life on oil paintings in this exhibition. Displayed are four oil paintings     8     Biou employs his distinctive brushwork to paint the differences of time, light, scenery, and     9     (object) within the small alleys. Christine Cayol, the     10     (found) of Yishu 8, said that Biou enjoyed the nights of Beijing, where he illustrated his viewpoints and reflections on life. The exhibition runs until Dec. 10.

When 35-year-old Chinese pianist WangYujia finished her last note on Tuesday, she received a standing applause from the audience. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, commonly     1     (know)as Yannick, the conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, even went down on his knees after watching her four-hour     2     (perform)at the Carnegie Music Hall.

She was considered as a superstar for her once-in-a-lifetime show. Yannick even compared the level of her excellence to     3     (climb)Mount Qomolangma. Despite the difficulty, however, it seemed she managed     4     (play)all the musical pieces with ease right to the last movement. Yannick noted that Wang was     5     ideal pianist because of her forceful and relaxed style. And he said that she was born for this kind of music. Wang showed a special interest     6     Rachmaninoff’s music when she was young. She began to play the piano when she was 6. At the age of 14, she entered the Curtis Institute of Music in the US and began to study it     7     (carefully)than before. She     8     (attract)by this Russian composer’s noble and pure music deeply at that time.

After graduation, she became one of the world’s most famous     9     (star)in classical music. Wang’s success also shows that her parents’ years of efforts have paid off,     10     will be very encouraging for other parents in China.