The Imperial Art Exhibition (Teiten) was a highly regarded, government run art exhibition held in Japan during 1919-1936. Works displayed at this event could attract tremendous attention, and many Taiwanese artists of the Japanese ruling period sought to have their works picked up by the exhibition. Chen Cheng-po was the first to win the honor in the category of western style painting. His Outside Chiayi Street was selected in 1926 while he was still a student at the Normal Education Division in Painting at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. Another work, Street Scene on a Summer Day was selected in the following year. He reentered the event later in life with Early Spring in 1929 and Spring at West Lake in 1934.