This painting portrays the protagonist, Jiu'er, from the TV serial Red Sorghum. [Photo/Xinhua]

The TV serial Red Sorghum hit China's screens recently and won much popularity among the Chinese people. Two artists, Wang Jian and Yin Luwen from Shandong province, specially painted four oil paintings for the show's producer, Shandong Satellite, as a celebration for the series' broadcast as well as a gift for their hometown, Shandong.

The oil paintings vividly portray Jiu'er (literally, Nine) played by Chinese actress Zhou Xun, and depicts several scenes from the TV play. When seeing the paintings, Zhou Xun and the serial's director, Zheng Xiaolong, were greatly impressed and signed their names on the paintings.

The TV series was an adaptation of Nobel-winning author Mo Yan's 1986 novel Red Sorghum. Mo Yan praised Zhou Xun, who played the heroine in the TV play, saying "She is a good actress who integrates the temperament of fairy, ghost, soul and human".

The 60-episode series aired by four major satellite channels since Oct 27 tells the struggles of the brave Jiu'er in rural Gaomi in Shandong province in the 1930s.