Yang Ermin is holding his solo show in Lodeve in southern France, showcasing his years of dedication to the exploration of Chinese ink paintings. Photos Provided to China Daily

Li's words moved Yang.

"People were still drawing the same things that painters drew in the 18th or 19th century. They were drowned in tradition. But art should never be allowed to lag behind society," Yang adds.

Yang remembers talking to a vegetable vendor, who realized he was a painter and who told him that he did not like ink painting.

"I was shocked when he told me that it was just too difficult to understand. He said he loved the bright colors of oil painting. I was shocked because he said he felt that ordinary Chinese people were abandoning their own culture and embracing Western art. The cornerstone of our very own art world was collapsing."

But Yang did not immediately turn to oil and stuck to his roots. He worked with ink, painting brush and rice paper and other such Chinese-made material. Although some people who viewed his work may have thought that Yang had used oil, acrylic or watercolor.

"I tried oils, yes, but acrylic and watercolor just don't achieve the same feeling as ink," Yang says.

According to Marie Laureillard, a professor at the University of Lumiere-Lyon 2 in France, Yang has tried to recast Chinese ink-and-wash painting through the "clear richness of color".

Having moved to Japan about 20 years ago, Yang now also spends much of his time in the United States.

Over the past two decades he has held solo exhibitions in many countries including Japan, the US, Italy, France and the Netherlands.

"Artists overseas tell me they envy me as everything I do is still very closely related to traditional Chinese style, while they themselves feel isolated from their own artistic traditions," says Yang. "I take this as a real compliment."

 We Recommend:

10 famous pagodas in China	Scenery of Potala Palace in Lhasa with beautiful sky	Picturesque scenery of Ghost City in Xinjiang