School of Fine Arts, Zhengzhou University

Founded in 2001 as one of the first new departments established after the merger of Zhengzhou University, the School of Fine Arts has spent over two decades rooted in Central Plains culture while drawing on the teaching philosophies of China’s leading art academies. It has built a comprehensive fine-arts programme centred on the distinctive “Central Plains Art” discipline, steadily expanding its reputation in academic circles and beyond to become a leading hub for arts education, research, and creative practice in Henan Province.

Chinese Dragon · Five-Colour Pearl Origami Toy

In Chinese mythology the dragon is a benevolent, protective creature — a bringer of rain, a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. The pearl represents wisdom, spiritual energy, and power. The dragon chasing the pearl is one of the most ancient and famous motifs in Chinese folk art.

This origami toy applies the traditional five colours of Chinese culture to tea-pearl packaging, pairing them with an interlocking paper dragon head. The pearl-like tea packages nestle inside a dragon whose textured paper scales merge with the quiet elegance of the tea within, creating a decorative, hands-on piece of Chinese folk art that brings ancient dragon culture and tea aesthetics together in miniature.

”Another Wheat Field” Fridge Magnets

“Another Wheat Field” is a creative heritage-innovation project about cultural DNA — preserving tradition while reimagining its contemporary value. Conceived as “watching over and sowing new seeds in the fertile soil of cultural policy,” the project uses fridge magnets as its medium, combining iconic Henan intangible-heritage motifs with AR interactive technology that brings static designs to life, building an immersive cultural experience.

Silk Scarves

Yangshao culture is one of the most richly documented prehistoric civilisations, and these four silk scarves draw on its painted-pottery motifs for a fresh reinterpretation. Fish, bird, sun, geometric, and spiral patterns are reimagined as four themed designs — Eternal Renewal, Farming and Fishing, Ever Changing, and In Pairs — each an innovative application of Yangshao painted-pottery decoration. Emerging during the peak of China’s Neolithic painted-pottery tradition, Yangshao artisans used black, red, and brown pigments to paint birds, beasts, fish, insects, flora, celestial bodies, and geometric patterns on their vessels, expressing the Central Plains’ earliest aesthetic sensibilities and understanding of the natural world.