Guan Yong, a post 70s representing the reform and opening up of China, is one of the most representative figures of the new generation, and his artistic style took shape at around 2002. At this time, the "Pen Hero" and the spare figure in black formal attire with dome-shaped head, deriving from the pen model, appear fully on the picture, and they are majorly reflected in the "Classic" series and the "Pen Hero" paintings. This particular painting is one of the most typical representative works in the period. Since the reform and opening up of China, culture and information have been rushing in from around the globe; the Chinese society itself is rapidly transforming. People in this generation are struck, there is profound transformation in their values and tradition perceptions, they doubt, they question, they examine, they are confusedK

In the painting, the sharp-eyed characters appear solemn and sad; there are stubs and books all over the floor. These imply the identity of the characters: they might be the intellectuals or the representatives of the new nobilities; it also hints at the scene in the picture: they might be going through a heated debate, or in the course of questioning and examining. The towering upright marble pillar, the gracefully hanging red drape, and the dark abyss, at which the foreground and background intersect, symbolize that the characters might be situated in a dangerous border of historic space-time, as if faith and deviation of thinking might bring in both vitality and jeopardy.