Tzu-chi Yeh has created many renditions of the subject of gazing on mountains. There have been reverences from afar, elaborate depictions up close, and captures of shades of green in the misty fog. Not only has he introduced a new perspective to the contemporary art of landscapes, he has also created his own unique and intimate aesthetic of scenery.

Yeh’s mountain paintings clearly reflect an attachment to his earlier days, manifested in the stretches of mountains and forests he paints. He hails from Hualien or (Hwa-Lien) and Taroko, but spent his schooling years in Yangmingshan and Mt. Shamao. These mountains embody the artist's intimate connection to and affectionate gaze upon his native land. If his special attention to mountains was derived in part from homesickness and nostalgia, perhaps there is an even greater part inspired by remembrances of his parents. Yeh transforms the image of mothers into flowers that nurture their gardeners with their blooming beauty, an analogy of the way his mother had raised him with her youthful vitality. He once said that after his father had passed away, his mother taught him to find peace of mind by visiting vast mountains and waters. The sublime beauty of mountain sceneries resembles the dependable shoulders of a father—broad, strong and unwavering. In gazing upon a massive mountain, the artist is confessing he misses his father; the mountain becomes a form of spiritual sustenance, standing in tranquility and magnificence.

Tzu-chi Yeh is romantic by nature. What he sees in mountains and forests largely extends beyond the allure of contemporary sceneries, and into a deep affection for his home land. Born and raised in Hualien, he holds in fondest memory the stretches of lands he walked and mountain views he saw with his parents, his siblings, his lovers in his youth, his wife today, and his children. Such spectacles are extant throughout his past and present. The mountains of Hualien represent history to him; Yeh has painted countless landscapes and forests of Hualien, all dedicated to his beloved hometown.