Shiy De-jinn once said: “I never draw in an enclosed space. What I paint must be the landscape in front of me.” Insisting on being present at the site where he was painting, Shiy 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, Wuling is located in the high-altitude region of Syue Mountain. Surrounded by the mountains and valleys, Wuling has four distinct seasons, with red maple trees that are particularly captivating in autumn and winter. The elegant landscape of Wuling 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.

Fascinated by Taiwan’s natural landscape, Shiy once proudly said that “The mountains here are Taiwan’s mountains as well as Shiy De-jiin’s. The strokes and ink here are calligraphy developed in Chin and Han, but it has an artistic concept of modern China. Since I have a good foundation in painting, I can grasp precise shapes. Because I am versatile, my water color combines the richness of oil painting and the spirit of ink wash. Other watercolorists cannot produce such a painting, and Western painters cannot create the ridgeline of my mountains and rivers, either. They are the fruit of

my diligent practice in calligraphy. Each turn has its own significance. Each pause possesses its own spirit. This is modern Chinese painting, a typical creation of Shiy Dejinn.” (Cheng Hui-mei, Aphrodite Sacrifice: Shiy De-jinn, UNITAS Publishing Co., Taipei, 2005, p. 257)