True tranquility is not found in the solitude of remote mountains, but in the ability to preserve inner peace amid the noise and constant movement of the city. For Liu Jiutong, painting is a path of spiritual cultivation. Journeying through the snow-covered streets of Shanghai, the viewer is gently guided toward a realm of quiet authenticity and inner clarity.

“Stillness found in stillness is not true stillness;

 Only stillness found amid movement is the true realm of the spirit.”

—Caigentan (Vegetable Roots Discourse)

From Living Land: The Oil Paintings of Liu Jiutong