Learning to paint: A family affair

As in art-making, his son and grandson and nephew followed his footsteps, to different ends. Approaching his 50th year, Zhao Lin, the grandson, was able to find favor with the founding emperor of Ming Dynasty. His cousin Wang Meng, on the other hand, was not as lucky: serving the same Ming emperor, he found himself embroiled in a political struggle that cost his life. He died in prison in 1385.

In 1359, 37 years after the death of Zhao Mengfu, Zhao Yong was brought face to face with his father's horse-and-groom painting, done when he was 7 and just starting to learn his art.

Asked to add a sequel and inscribe it, which Zhao Yong did later the same year — and some believe one year before his own passing — the son was emotionally overwhelmed by his encounter with this long-lost piece of memory.

"I was overpowered by a mixture of joy and sorrow, and simply couldn't put the painting down," he wrote.

Contact the writer at zhaoxu@chinadaily.com.cn