Cinnabar and lapis lazuli are two common mineral pigments widely used in ancient paintings. Cinnabar comes from Chenxi, Hunan, and the sublimation of "silver cinnabar" is recorded in the Eastern Jin Dynasty's "Baopuzi Neipian"; lapis lazuli comes from Central Asia, especially the Badakhshan mining area in Afghanistan. In the Buddhist murals of the Kizil Caves in Xinjiang and the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, these two ancient pigments meet in the Central Plains.

In artist Zhou Xiaohu's "Pigment Geography" research, he has conducted a long-term observation centered on the material of pigments: involving the mining of pigment minerals, geology and geography, alchemy rituals and taboos, the daily application of aesthetic tastes, spiritual dependence and its artistic expression; moreover, it extends to the cultural anthropology of pigments, the barter observation at the borders of empires, and the important role of pigments in border gift economies and cultural integration. Based on these studies, he has created a series of contemporary works, including oil paintings, sculptures, animations, and installations, which were recently exhibited at the Biyun Art Museum in Pudong.