The 42-year-old folk artist Liu Lizeng creates a painting with grain in Liaocheng city, East China's Shandong province, March 23, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Using just five cereals (rice, two kinds of millet, wheat and beans) as materials, folk artist Liu Lizeng, 42, can create a painting in with a unique style and skillful composition like those found in many genres, such as landscapes, figures, flowers and birds.

The style's roots are in the flourishing Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), and are regarded as a way of exorcising evil spirits in Buddhism and Taoism.