Cheng said that, for instance, when drawing a night scene, a traditional Chinese artist simply paints in a moon to indicate the time.
最能見出這種「象徵演出」特色的，是「三岔口」戲中住黑店的一場，劇中人物在黑漆漆的房中仍有各種活動，演出時燈火通明，那種「伸手不見五指」的黑暗是由演員們的模擬表演暗示出來的。