Living in the political instability of the Wei, Jin, North-South dynasties was in itself an experience of great suffering. How did people like Xiaoming survive? The Buddhist ideas of submission and acceptance may have played a part.

Our host introduces "500 strokes" the work of a Beijing artist. This piece incorporates 500 different single calligraphy brush strokes, each with it's own inspiration.

The artist explains his works. He describes how all of the paintings he does are really just free form and they come from the heart.

The artist based on the fact that young Japanese people who participated in his art project didn't take up most of the page when they were drawing, makes broad assumptions about Japanese society.

The host puts the artists work in perspective and the artist tells us that we can never really understand ourselves until we project ourselves outwardly.

Our host can't wait to try painting and she goes about choosing her ink. The artist describes the process that needs to be unlearned in order for us to let out what's truly in our hearts. We should disregard our training and just paint.

After the host finishes her painting the artist interprets in in relation to her life. He tells her that her life will move in one particular direction but She will have some difficulty right in the middle. In this way his work becomes a type of fortune telling.

The artist explains more of his life philosophy and our inherent contradictions.

In the end our host gives us the message that we should try our best to change the things we can and not over think the things we can't change about ourselves.

An older artist explains how there were no artist studios back in his day.

The artist begins by explaining his daily process of painting.

The artist tells about the intricacies of his very dull painting process. Some people say they want to come watch him painting, but he advises against it. The magic is in the tedium.

The artist describes how he first began painting oil paintings. He copied the paintings on on poker chips confiscated during the cultural revolution.

The painter describes how he would travel all over his city in his teenage years to observe all the different oil painters he could see.

The artist talks about how art progresses and how that progression has to move slowly.

The artist talks about how in his day conversation was more lively and people weren't looking at their phones all the time.

The artist describes how he draws inspiration from Chinese mythology, but he has his own flavor and interpretations.

The artist explains some of the mythology that goes into his work

The artist explains some more myths that directly tie into his work.

The artist talks about video games and the host talks about a video game.

The artist talks about how in the future the things that we see as science they will see as legends.

The artist describes how legends and myths are the blueprints for our future development.