Published : 26/09/2025

On 26 September 1953, the great master of Chinese art and famous painter, Xu Beihong (徐悲鴻), died in Beijing at the age of 58.

In 1895, Xu Beihong was born into the family of a poor painter in a small rural town in Yixing, Jiangsu Province. In his childhood, he divided his time between farming and studying, engaging in arduous farm labour.

At the age of 13, when his hometown suffered a flood, Xu followed his father, travelling around to paint portraits and write Spring Festival couplets for people, making a living as a street artist.

At the age of 17, his father fell gravely ill, and from then on, he shouldered the burden of supporting his family of eight, working concurrently as an art teacher at three schools in Yixing. These three schools were more than 30 li away from his home, but he always walked back and forth between them, never willing to spend money on a boat or a vehicle.

As Xu Beihong was from a poor family and had never attended a formal school, he had no academic qualifications or diplomas to speak of and was therefore often ridiculed by others; this made him feel deeply that his future was bleak and the world was cynical.

So, overcome with sorrow, he was driven to change his original name, "Shoukang" (壽康), to "Beihong", likening himself to a grieving swan goose. He then devoted himself to painting with great resolve, eventually becoming an art master of his generation.

Xu was famous for his paintings of horses. The first painting of his to be printed and published was of a horse, and it was also a horse painting that first earned him praise from the famous masters of the calligraphy and painting world of that time.

The horses painted by Xu were not just for general appreciation, but more as a means to express his pent-up, inexpressible grief and indignation, and his patriotic concerns for the state of the world.

Xu Beihong died from a recurrence of a cerebral haemorrhage brought on by overwork, and in the first half of that same year, he had painted two historically significant "Galloping Horse" pieces.

One was dedicated to the then Chairman Mao Zedong, expressing his deep affection for the Communist Party; the other work expressed a correct understanding of the new China and the ideals he had pursued throughout his life.

Not only were the horses painted by Xu Beihong lifelike in appearance, but they were also majestic and vigorous in spirit, giving the viewer a sense of them galloping and leaping.

The noble sentiments he expressed through the image of the horse, along with the emotions he invested in his artworks, became a spiritual force that inspired people to strive forward.