Au Ho-nien belongs to the third generation of the modern Southern Chinese 'Lingnan School'. Born in Guangdong Province, he went to Taiwan via Hong Kong in 1970, where he became a senior professor at the University of Chinese Culture. In 1979, a joint exhibition of works by Au Ho-nien and Liu Kuo-sung (b. 1932) was held at the Museum für Kunsthandwerk (now the Museum Angewandte Kunst) in Frankfurt. On this occasion, both artists painted pictures and presumably donated them to the museum.
This impressive painting of a roaring mountain river between steep cliffs also dates from this period. Materials and techniques are entirely in keeping with traditional Chinese ink painting, but the composition of the work reveals a Western-style central perspective. The painting is thus a prime example of the successful synthesis of Chinese ink painting and European depiction of reality.