This painting describes the old man lived in poverty who sold coal in acient feudal times, it reflects the working people who came under the rule of brutal fedual sociaty lived in an abyss of misery. It comes from the poem —"The old of selling coal" , by Bai Juyi, a famous poet in Tang Dynasty. The painter,Zhang Kun, born in April 1952 in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, is an eminent painter in China. Graduated from Art Department of Central University for Nationalities, he has founded solid basis of painting art and obtained outstanding achievements. Besides 3 single painter exhibitions held in Beijing, numerous paintings of his have been displayed on many domestic and overseas important exhibitions, and some of them are awarded with Gold Medal, Special Award or Excellent Prize etc. His name has been listed in ‘Directory of China Contemporary Artists’ and ‘China Artists’. Famous collectors have acquired some of his fine works.Presently Zhang Kun is a member of China Artist Institute, the council member of China Artist Friendship Association and the chief supervisor of Capital Journalists of Fine Arts Institute. Zhang Kun’s principle: No copy. Every painting should have its own originality and natural emotion.