In 1979, on a visit to the northern, mountain town of Jiufen, Shiy painted “A Delightful Contrast of Sea and Mountain,” a series of ink wash paintings. On one of the paints, he inscribed: “Traveling to Jioufen to capture this landscape finally made me realize that Taiwanese scenery cannot be depicted using traditional techniques. Shiy De-jiin of Sichuan, a guest in Taiwan for thirty-two years.” He abandoned the distinctive texture strokes of traditional Chinese painting and chose ink as his primary medium. Damp brushwork and a keen sense of color, the white space in his paintings becomes a shade of color, light, and emptiness to rebalance the harmonious relationship between ink and color.

Having created many Western paintings in the first half of his life, Shiy devoted the later years of his life to calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting. During this time, he was fully engaged in innovating within the field of Chinese ink wash painting. Take “A Delightful Contrast of Sea and Mountain” for example: magnificent lofty peaks and the vibrant life thereon are portrayed through dark colors and thick brush strokes, which show Shiy's respect for the elder artist Li Keran. Yet, from Shiy’s modern view, the landscape is recreated with an innovative form and is given a new meaning.