In an essay entitled "Chinese Painting in a Democratic Era," Cheng once wrote that in this age of democracy everyone can paint pictures and anything can serve as subject matter, with painting no longer being the exclusive preserve of palaces and intellectuals.
他曾寫過一篇〈民主時代的中國畫〉，認為民主時代人人可以作畫，各種事物皆可為題材，繪畫不再是宮廷貴胄或知識份子的專利。