Shiy De-jinn believed that the ever changing landscape always rendered him a powerful strength. His close friends often went along with him. With a pair of sharp eyes that was good at capturing beauty, he always situated himself at the most beautiful area and waited for the perfect amount of fog to appear in order to capture the wonderful color and atmosphere of the scenery. Many art critics believe one of his artistic achievements lies in expressing Taiwan’s mountains in a modern Chinese painting style.

In the middle of Taiwan, Wu-ling is located in the high-altitude region of Syue Mountain. Surrounded by the mountains and valleys, Wu-ling has four distinct seasons, with red maple trees that are particularly captivating in autumn and winter. The elegant landscape of Wu-ling can be compared to poet Tao Yuanming’s Peach Blossom Spring. Shiy and his friends often came here to enjoy the beauty, and he also completed his rare, giant color ink painting here-“Wu-ling.”

According to his close friend, four 240 cm long paintings of the scenery of Wu-ling were produced by Shiy, along with an estimated two mid-sized (137 cm) works. Among them, this work “Landscape near Wu-ling” is the only one in vertical composition. A vertical scroll conveys a far-reaching feeling of mountains and water in traditional Chinese painting. That means that “Landscape near Wu-ling” is a rare and unique piece in the artist’s Wu-ling Series.