"Picture of Hakka Customs", a 108-meter long painting featuring the customs, history and lives of Hakka people, was put on display Sunday in Liancheng County, a place densely populated with Hakka people in Fujian Province.

Hakka are offspring of the Han people living in central China who started to migrate to the southeast as early as the Eastern Jin Dynasty (265-316).

Most of the Hakka people settled in present-day Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan. The Hakka people, refusing to mix with other local ethnic groups, have remained the same in many ways, including their 2,000-year-old traditional language, clothing, architecture and customs.

The "Picture of Hakka Customs" is 0.69-meter high, and painted by Hakka artist Shen Zaizhao. The picture covers the ancient, modern and contemporary history of Hakka, giving a full view of scenic spots, customs and traditional art by the Hakka people.

The picture, depicting a total of 2,811 figures, gained fame as an art treasure of contemporary China.

This May, the picture was rewarded by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

Shen Zaizhao was born in Liancheng county in 1940. Since the 1970's, he has published 36 picture albums. And "Picture of Hakka Custom" is the most comprehensive one of his paintings.

(Xinhua News Agency 10/15/2001)