Pure Kingdom

     Have you ever been to Tibet? When you climb the mountains and gaze upon their snowy peaks, you can understand the hearts of the faithful. When looking across Lake Tianchi on top of the mountains, one cannot but feel overcome by the isolation.

    I went to Mt. Huang twice before the creation of <Genesis>; however, I could not fully express the spirit of the mountain even after two years of modification to my painting. I only completed the painting in the third year after I returned from Mt. Wuyi in Fujian.

I wrote a passage when I completed the <Pure Kingdom> series. I tried to record my thoughts when on Mt. Huang:

1. It is uninhabited at Lion Ridge…

     When I listen to the sharp and clear songs of the birds, the huge masterpiece is laid before me, formed over billion years.

Everything remains silent in my mind--- A burst of wind flits across - I reach for a pine tree and feel unpeaceful!

2. I can have everything because I understand how to give up everything... I wander the world just as I wander my own garden! The early morning has come to the top of the mountain summit; sun, moon and a star in the sky; under my feet, white stones and pine trees stretch for more than 1600 meters.

3. Humans are so insignificant in nature and can disappear at any time; however, the sensations in people's hearts are enormous and can belittle nature.

4. Near the Tian-Du summit I stand 1800 meters high above sea level and gaze upon the mountain range which glimmers like the back of a Crucian Carp. When stepping across the narrow carp, I can see the mountain body beside me. I sit down upon a rock and feel satisfied.

     After one year at Mt. Wuyi paradise valley, the mountain spring gave me a more comprehensive experience with the mountain. Finally, I could describe what I saw and connect my ideas in my mind. I could hear the mountain spring and the newborn rocks in my painting. So painting is more than mere vision, as smell and sounds are present as well. One's sense of color, memory, time, and distance are formed by owns state of mind.

     The experience of the Chinese ink painting is in the mind. What the Chinese describe as 'shanshui' painting means the soul of the landscape. Like a famous Chinese saying: one's drunkenness is not caused by too much wine, but rather 'shanshui,' meaning the state of one's mind.

These artworks include:

<Pure Kingdom> series

<Genesis>

<Into the Wild>

<Land> series

<Deep Blue>

<Far Away>

<Flower Rain>

<Taking Root>

<In the Lake>

<With Moonlight>

<Into the Mystery>

<Into the Jungle>

<Peach> series

<Sakura> series

<In the Sun>

And all of the lotus related works.