In traditional Chinese culture, fishermen serve as a cultural image symbolizing a lifestyle away from mainstream society. They are usually nameless, lonely and aloof, favored by literati, especially those painters living in the tumultuous days of the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties over 650 years ago, who saw them as perfectly encapsulating the idea of escaping a strife-torn world. In the painting "Fisherman" by Wu Zhen (1280–1354) of the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368), the fisherman is boating on a river, enjoying the waterside landscape at his leisure. The painter rendered the distant mountains in dark ink and the near rivers in light ink, showing his mastery of light and shade. The fisherman lives in this idyllic rural scenery, immersing himself in a quiet and free spiritual world. Produced by China Media Group, the cultural program "China in Poetry and Painting" invited famous dancer Zhang Aoyue to be cast as the protagonist, exhibiting the natural and unrestrained attitude of the fisherman through a dance performance.

The artist Wu Zhen is known as one of the "Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty," along with Huang Gongwang, Ni Zan, and Wang Meng. His paintings are generally associated with landscapes, especially scenes featuring fishermen. He used a lone figure in plenty of his paintings, in which the masterpiece "Fisherman" serves as a representative, and is now housed at the Palace Museum in Beijing. It depicts a beautiful scene veiled in slight mist. The rolling hills are shown in the distance, sweeping down to the riverbanks. In the lower part of the painting, a vast expanse of water blends together with the figure of the fisherman in light colors. With virtuoso brushwork, Wu Zhen imbued a sense of lyrical beauty to the aesthetic depiction of this wondrous landscape in southern China. A close look at the fisherman reveals the subtle art of the painter. The boating figure is surrounded by water, creating a relatively empty space, so the viewers' attention can be easily drawn to the protagonist. The empty surroundings project an atmosphere of solitude. With a pot of wine at his disposal, the fisherman seems to take great delight in travelling alone among the mountains and rivers, showing his peaceful and contented attitude while living as a hermit.

As the saying goes, "The style is the man." The fisherman is a reflection of Wu Zhen's personality. Like many of the Chinese scholar class, Wu Zhen was well educated. However, he never attempted to become a government official. He withdrew from public life to pursue personal cultivation, and sought solitude in a mountain retreat. Wu Zhen used the figure of a lone fisherman in his painting as a metaphor to reflect his views about court officials and society while revealing his choice to become a recluse. According to Kang Zhen, the vice-principal of Beijing Normal University, the landscape depicted in this masterpiece is grand and bright, in contrast to the single and tiny individual, implying a broad and rich spiritual world while conveying the painter's well-nourished mind. Literati painters tended to inscribe either poetry or prose on their landscapes. Wu Zhen is admired especially for his poetry, which enhances the thematic meaning and aesthetic effects of his works, and further sensitizes viewers. 

On the "China in Poetry and Painting" stage, dancer Zhang Aoyue is cast as the protagonist, bringing the fisherman to life through his strong performance. He is seen fishing on the water at first, before he begins to dance on the shore. The dancer's movements fuse poetic tranquility with dynamic beauty, bringing audiences to the edge of their imagination, and fully representing the open-minded attitude and optimistic view of life conveyed in the masterpiece.

Although having gone nameless for thousands of years, fishermen as a cultural symbol are constantly enlightening and inspiring Chinese people. More than just figures that crop up in various art forms, they embody the inner pursuit of an ideal life, conveying the thoughts and creations of many artists. The value of art lies in the ethereal and lofty spiritual realm, which can often only be reached through such masterpieces as this.