Taiwan’s artist and the flying horses

A few years ago I was in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, which was called the Republic of China until it was voted out of the Security Council in 1971.
During my trip I was told that there was an exhibition of Chinese paintings and it came to me as a surprise because it was wholly restricted to horses in flight.
The paintings were created by famous ex-Army Gen. Yeh Tsui-pai who had fought alongside the nationalist forces under Chian Kai Check who was engaged in a long drawn-out war against the communists under Mao Tse Tung.
Yeh had a passion for horses and I thought after more than one meeting that he had little love for anything else. This was further confirmed when I visited his home, which was like a personal temple where he used to paint horses during his waking hours and exhibited his creations in Taiwan, Japan and Europe.
When I met him he was busy devoting his energies to painting horses and had shot to international prominence. But what horses? His biography says that even a glance at one of these bold yet graceful renderings of equine sinew lifts the viewer to a transcendent world. Yeh transforms the horse into a special entity, giving it a position of esteem that rivals the beloved dragon. In his biography by Tseng Yung- Li. He says: " The horses in his paintings gallop through fields and prairies as one would expect, but they also fly among the clouds or are presented descending to earth from the heavens. Others stand in dignified glory astride mountain peaks.
In all the paintings, the horses are depicted in Yeh’s broad, spontaneous strokes; the muscles and muzzles of his animals are therefore implied, not detailed, reminding viewers of Chinese artists in centuries past who were deeply influenced by Chan Buddhism and Taoist philosophy.” The results of his efforts are in great demand. Yeh’s horses are rare and valued among collectors as the best-bred steeds among horses.
With the surrender of Japan, thanks to American assistance and the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagazaki, Yeh was engaged with the war against the communists of Mao. He campaigned non-stop on horseback which endeared the horse to him as it embodied grace, power, beauty and loyalty. As no vehicles were always available he relied heavily on horses through wild terrain and the horse deserved his love and respect.
Indeed the horse was his life and love as he fought the communists in thousands of square miles of territory. He said: “I rode on horseback day and night. I ate, slept and worked with the animals and gradually developed a deep sense of admiration for their grace ,power and courage. I first tried my hand at painting horses during those years.”

The Grand Hotel

On the way from the airport I saw a spectacular building on top of a hill overlooking the capital. The architecture was Chinese in the classical style painted red all over with the front designed likely to stun the onlooker from all directions. The top looked like a magnificent canopy that has to be seen to believe. That was the first surprise. The other one was when I inquired about it I was told by my companion that it was the hotel I was going to stay in during my visit.
So I did not bother to ask the price. But it was a huge treat that excelled all the other hotels I had known east and West. The lobby and the halls were of equal splendor and the swimming pool and health club were matchless. It was and is the type of hotel accommodation that travel writers call "destination" that it is the whole object of one’s trip because it has everything one wants.

n Farouk Luqman is an eminent journalist based in Jeddah.