I was born in 1973 in Yangjiata Village, Bailongqiao, Jinhua, Zhejiang. Since childhood, I had a natural love for looking at paintings - those were the glass oil paintings in the neighboring hall, the New Year door god posters in every household, and the calendar paintings of opera celebrities. These were all symbols of Chinese culture and art. As I grew older and started school, I saved every dime of my pocket money to buy comic books, transferring my interest in looking at paintings to depicting the landscapes, characters, and classic stories in those books. Without formal instruction, I learned by imitation, finding endless joy in this process that accompanied my entire childhood. The walls of my home were my canvas, the backs of test papers my drawing paper - flowers, birds, fish, insects, heroes from the Investiture of the Gods - I could mimic all things with recognizable form. This cultural connection naturally made me excel in Chinese language, while my love for thinking developed keen perception that helped my mathematics. Being good at storytelling made me cheerful and clever, an innocent and lively straight-A student all the way through junior high. As the saying goes, "The child is father of the man" - this proved true as painting predetermined my livelihood!
During my third year of junior high, near graduation, I encountered an opportunity. As an honor student often involved in class affairs, I was in the teachers' office browsing newspapers when I found an art school admission brochure. Seized by private ambition, I took it out, filled it out reverently according to instructions, created paintings as required, and mailed it carefully with great anticipation. That year, two admission letters arrived, causing a sensation throughout the village. I chose to study art!
Only through professional systematic art education did I understand the vast scope of art, the path of foundational scholarship, the completeness of aesthetic theories, and the difficulty of achieving mastery! Art is a calling - without passionate love, the path is thorny; without enduring loneliness, one is doomed to give up halfway. Yet I am like Michelangelo or Sisyphus, never forgetting my original aspiration, moving forward courageously since setting my goal. Forty years of painting! The joys and hardships are known only to myself - artistic success is no accident after forty years in solitary dedication. Of three thousand wasted paintings, I take but one scoop - spirit and will, life and state all blend with painting like milk and water. Art is existence!
I love Chinese painting and have studied ancient masterpieces extensively, particularly landscape painting tracing back to the Wei and Jin dynasties to solidify my foundation. I observe modern works from all perspectives to broaden my vision beyond conventions. I learn everything learnable from past masters, extracting essence to create grand works from personal feeling. Looking back suddenly, painting is actually very simple - simple enough to know how one should paint, pure and natural without affectation, sincere without falsehood. The great truth simplified: the mountain viewed is still the mountain!