Lou came through the trials, fortified by a reluctance to surrender. She vented her tension by playing with the ink and until finally she found her spiritual niche in brush art.

This work is inspired by six Chinese characters, sun, moon, mountain, water, heaven and earth. Lou endowed them with her own understanding.

Lou believes her identity as an artist imposes social responsibilities. She has been writing inspiring calligraphy for a Japanese newspaper. Her work is posted everyday. She's also in collaboration with a thousand universities across China to write school mottos in the hope of inspiring youth. Her painting "Fleeting Blossom" was chosen as the image for United Nations' commemorative stamp of "The International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction". She once donated around 1.5 million US dollars to set up an educational foundation.

Lou Zhenggang says the aura of prodigy once hovered over her life like an unspeakable burden. Her own reading of history had persuaded her prodigies live short lives. Lou expected to be dead by 40. After she turned forty, everything changed. She had survived the prodigy's burden. Now, after all these years she sees herself as a normal person. And since that revelation, she's found the surest way to happiness is by following her own heart.

(CCTV November 19, 2008)