In his later years, Zhao Lengyue made up his mind to break free from all the traditional practices and established principles of calligraphy, and just followed his aesthetic instincts and developed a distinctive style of his own.

"My father lived in a small apartment of no more than 18 square meters, and he set out to write such large characters on the dining table that my big brother had to stand by and pull the rice paper for him while he was writing," Zhao Shizhong told China Daily at the opening.