Established in 1930, the League of the Left-Wing Writers pushed China’s revolutionary literature movement to a climax, abiding by the guiding pricinple, namely, to unite any progressive strength and launch public cultural activities in a bid to struggle against the reactionary cultural policy and reign through revolutionary, progressive and realistic creation methods. A great pioneer of China’s cultural revolution, Lu Xun is a key and spiritual leader of the league. Under his encouragement and leadership, the members were engaged in huge work of creation and translation and publishing numerous books and periodicals. In order to be adaptable for enlightening contents of the revolutionary literature, their publications adopted spectacular and modern visual pictures with Chinese characteristics in terms of design.

Influenced by the literary movement of the League of the Left-Wing Writers, a number of artists participated in a stormy artisitc movement that developed to a massive modern engraving movement with modernist passion and rebellion spirit. Lu Xun as the iniator of the movement introduced quite a few foreign engraving artists to China, including Carl. Meffert, Frans Masereel and George Grosz, the works of whom were main objects followed by modern Chinese artists. 

With great support and protection of Lu Xun, a large number of young artists were engaged in engraving creation and many a rising society of engraving appeared. With the belief of being engaged in the art for the society, the artists going into the public life to experience the hardship, created a number of realistic works reflecting the civil life and struggles. The engraving works describe the misery the people suffered with strong characteristics in the history of the Chinese art. On the one hand, the artistic works adopted the expressive techniques and languages of the European engravings. On the other hand, they integrated some folk characteristics and folk interest in order to better the public understanding. The engraving works established a dynamic branch in the process of the modernization of the Chinese art, playing an extensive and profound role in publicity and encouragement in the time of revolution.

With the theme of “Roar, China”, the exhibition is expected to reflect the great contribution Lu Xun made to promoting the development of Chinese e avant-garde art and international artistic exchange through a number of book designs and engraving. The show is also hoped to reflect the unique development path and path of the Chinese art in the first half of the 20th century to the European visitors.