Between 1946 – 1948, I was residing in Alishan for two years as a rural doctor. As a hiking aficionado, I traversed the mountains during spring in May. As I walked through a half-collapsed tunnel, a field of beautifully blossomed wild rhododendrons caught my eye. The Peacock Orchid scaled the mountain cliffs surrounding the field, and numbered in the thousands, as if announcing spring is here. This was a turbulent time inTaiwan history, so only my newly-wed wife and I were there to experience such a sight in this pocket of paradise.

Due to my youthful spirit, I painted a sun-kissed, passionate girl from the southern tropical islands. The rhododendron plant resides in cold climates, and its only habitat in Taiwan is in the mountains of Alishan.

Taiwan was recently returned to the Republic of China after the Second World War, the government was corrupt and a disturbed climate culminating in the White Terror of February 28th Incident. During this period, I painted a work that escapes reality, that transported me back to that pocket of paradise.