This painting was exhibited in "History of River - The Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition in New Era" which was held by Oil Painting Society of China in 2005 in National Art Museum of China. The painting was still in process when the albums of the exhibition had been made, and thus it was replaced with a printing duplication.

This painting is the last work of this very subject. Three times I have painted this subject: the first time was in the 80s. I brought it with me when I was studying in UK and I left it there as someone' s private collection - if it still exists, it must be seriously damaged, I guess. The second time was in the end of the 90s. I made another copy in accordance with the printing duplication. The third time is a recreation and I changed a lot comparing with the original one. First, I changed the perspective into a more flat one to make the distance between the characters closer. Second, I changed the static background into a moving one (including the object on the table). Third, I completely changed the four painters' faces. Therefore, this painting is not simply a reproduction of "I Knocked at the Door Gently", but a recreation of it. The original "I Knocked at the Door Gently" made me famous when I was thirty-four. At that time I was young and aggressive, and wanted to show my ambition through commemorating the great ancient spirits. This new version is painted twenty years after the first one, and now I am more than fifty. Time has gone so fast that my young ambition has already been worn out by difficulties and experiences of life. Yet, imperceptibly my mind grows wider and deeper. Xiaofu Yu March 30, 2007