Birds on a Pond, 168*68cm (2015).[Photo/China Today]

Audiences regard Yin’s paintings as elegant as early spring in southern China and as fierce as the autumn winds in the north. They can sense the pulse and enthusiasm beating beneath his brushstrokes. One of Yin’s most discussed pieces, measuring 3.1 by 2.46 meters, is Whom Are You Thinking about on This Chilly Windy Autumn Day, which hangs in the Great Hall of the People’s Golden Hall. This is Yin’s second work to be acquired by the Great Hall – the first being Ten Miles of Lotus – which denotes high recognition of a Chinese artist’s work.

The process of creating Whom Are You Thinking about on This Chilly Windy Autumn Day has become a popular anecdote in art circles. While staging an exhibition in Shandong Province, Yin received a call from the Great Hall, asking if he could create a painting for an important upcoming conference. "Yes, of course," Yin said. The problem was, he couldn’t find a brush big enough for a large-scale painting.

While considering his options, he caught a glimpse of a new mop in a room corner and exclaimed, "That’s the brush!" Yin spread a gigantic sheet of paper on the floor, and set beside it two washbasins, one for water and another for ink. He dipped the mop into the basins and then started applying it on the blank paper. "I finished it in about an hour," Yin recalled, "and it was shipped to Beijing immediately."

This "carelessly created" painting was chosen from thousands of works. "The tool should always follow your heart," Yin said. "Using a mop doesn’t mean I was not serious."

Modern Chinese philosopher Feng Youlan divided the spiritual state into four levels: the natural, utilitarian, moral and the universal realm. Yin said that he is now pursuing the universal realm. He said a person should know what he should do in his life – for himself, for society and something bigger and loftier.

"I need to feel calm in the depths of my heart. Only then can I feel the beauty of the immaterial and convey it through my brush."

Chen Shouxiang, an expert on art history, once commented on Yin’s body of work: "Yin’s works have two basic characteristics. One is purity, and the other freedom – two things that people are seeking. Because of purity, the essence of his works can be easily sensed; because of freedom, the works can bring inspiration and enlightenment to their viewers." Purity and freedom are the two most basic and the highest pursuits of painting in China. Over the past 30 years since 1986, when Yin left his hometown, he witnessed dramatic changes in Chinese society, as well as one of the most important periods in modern Chinese painting. He has reflected on the importance of this time, and no matter how far away he journeys, he will never forget where and why he set off.