The full story of Mu Yuming
Heaven on Earth II — Chiang Mai
Solo exhibition 《人间天堂》(中) Heaven on Earth II at Zongtong Temple (宗通寺), Chiang Mai, Thailand — the second part of the ink series, created during the January 2026 meditation residency. The practice continues, across languages, across temples, across the distance between earth and paradise.
Heaven on Earth II — Chiang Mai
Solo exhibition 《人间天堂》(中) Heaven on Earth II at Zongtong Temple (宗通寺), Chiang Mai, Thailand — the second part of the ink series, created during the January 2026 meditation residency. The practice continues, across languages, across temples, across the distance between earth and paradise.
Father's Passing — My Father — Heaven on Earth I
Father died. During the Huaniao Island (花鸟岛) residency in Zhejiang (October 2025), painted the ink handscroll 《我的父亲》 (My Father) — a long-form work of grief and memory. At the Guirensi (皈仁寺) Temple residency in Taining (November 2025), created the solo exhibition 《人间天堂》(上) Heaven on Earth I — the first of a two-part ink series on paradise and the visible world.
Father's Passing — My Father — Heaven on Earth I
Father died. During the Huaniao Island (花鸟岛) residency in Zhejiang (October 2025), painted the ink handscroll 《我的父亲》 (My Father) — a long-form work of grief and memory. At the Guirensi (皈仁寺) Temple residency in Taining (November 2025), created the solo exhibition 《人间天堂》(上) Heaven on Earth I — the first of a two-part ink series on paradise and the visible world.
She Nian Fo — Pa Pae
The She Nian Fo project at Pa Pae meditation centre in the mountains between Chiang Mai and Pai — a social sculpture rooted in Buddhist practice. A 44-page document of deep retreat, presence, and the art of letting go. The new Buddha — 'the Buddha of Letting Go' — a conceptual figure born from deep observation of the human inner life.
She Nian Fo — Pa Pae
The She Nian Fo project at Pa Pae meditation centre in the mountains between Chiang Mai and Pai — a social sculpture rooted in Buddhist practice. A 44-page document of deep retreat, presence, and the art of letting go. The new Buddha — 'the Buddha of Letting Go' — a conceptual figure born from deep observation of the human inner life.
My Flesh — Role Performance Art
Launched My Flesh — a role performance art project built around two mirror characters: Meng Chunsheng and Chun Mengsheng, whose names are exact reversals of each other. One carries the secular self — identity, responsibility, social rules. The other carries the spiritual self — desire, dreams, the unfiltered life. Through live performance, text, and social interaction, the two play out the contradictions inside a single person.
My Flesh — Role Performance Art
Launched My Flesh — a role performance art project built around two mirror characters: Meng Chunsheng and Chun Mengsheng, whose names are exact reversals of each other. One carries the secular self — identity, responsibility, social rules. The other carries the spiritual self — desire, dreams, the unfiltered life. Through live performance, text, and social interaction, the two play out the contradictions inside a single person.
OUR CHILDREN — Chiang Mai
Under the new identity Hei Qiu'en, launched OUR CHILDREN in Chiang Mai, Thailand — focusing on COVID-19 orphans, providing art assistance, psychological companionship, and free teaching. The guiding principle: learning art with Lao Mu is not only free but also earns you something.
OUR CHILDREN — Chiang Mai
Under the new identity Hei Qiu'en, launched OUR CHILDREN in Chiang Mai, Thailand — focusing on COVID-19 orphans, providing art assistance, psychological companionship, and free teaching. The guiding principle: learning art with Lao Mu is not only free but also earns you something.
Mother's Passing — Lashihai — Tea Dana — Hei Qiu'en
Mother died. Returned to Lijiang for the burial. Moved back to Lashihai (拉市海). Launched 《茶布施》(Tea Dana) — a sustained performance practice with tea as the medium, across Lashihai and Chiang Mai. Adopted the new identity 黑球恩 Hei Qiu'en (Black Ball En) — the international volunteer, the public-welfare self. This was the year that grief, return, and a new name arrived together.
Mother's Passing — Lashihai — Tea Dana — Hei Qiu'en
Mother died. Returned to Lijiang for the burial. Moved back to Lashihai (拉市海). Launched 《茶布施》(Tea Dana) — a sustained performance practice with tea as the medium, across Lashihai and Chiang Mai. Adopted the new identity 黑球恩 Hei Qiu'en (Black Ball En) — the international volunteer, the public-welfare self. This was the year that grief, return, and a new name arrived together.
Five Hundred Arhats
The ten-year silence arc completed. Five Hundred Arhats continues — painting, sculpture, and performance combined, shaping portraits of contemporary all living beings. The global online premiere drew audiences across continents. The project is ongoing, a meditation on collective humanity and the integration of spirituality and the secular.
Five Hundred Arhats
The ten-year silence arc completed. Five Hundred Arhats continues — painting, sculpture, and performance combined, shaping portraits of contemporary all living beings. The global online premiere drew audiences across continents. The project is ongoing, a meditation on collective humanity and the integration of spirituality and the secular.
Searching for a Soulmate — Five Hundred Arhats Online
Implemented the performance art project 《寻找灵魂伴侣 / 寻找灵感伴侣》 (Searching for a Soulmate / Searching for a Creative Partner) with Bao Mei — real social interaction and soul dialogue, exploring the essence of human nature, emotion, and life connection. Released the Declaration of Spiritual Soulmate. Launched 《五百罗汉在线》 (Five Hundred Arhats Online) as a global premiere — the continuing painting-sculpture-performance work that would develop through 2022 and beyond. Concurrent with the Second Face / Maska series.
Searching for a Soulmate — Five Hundred Arhats Online
Implemented the performance art project 《寻找灵魂伴侣 / 寻找灵感伴侣》 (Searching for a Soulmate / Searching for a Creative Partner) with Bao Mei — real social interaction and soul dialogue, exploring the essence of human nature, emotion, and life connection. Released the Declaration of Spiritual Soulmate. Launched 《五百罗汉在线》 (Five Hundred Arhats Online) as a global premiere — the continuing painting-sculpture-performance work that would develop through 2022 and beyond. Concurrent with the Second Face / Maska series.
Maya & Dongba Fieldwork — Ten Countries
Two years of civilization field research: Maya sites across Central America, Dongba scripture and ritual across Naxi territory. Ten countries. Overlapping the final phase of the Jingdezhen retreat — the work of silence extending outward into the world. The retreat formally concluded in 2019.
Maya & Dongba Fieldwork — Ten Countries
Two years of civilization field research: Maya sites across Central America, Dongba scripture and ritual across Naxi territory. Ten countries. Overlapping the final phase of the Jingdezhen retreat — the work of silence extending outward into the world. The retreat formally concluded in 2019.
ChuangTzu → Zhuangzi Project
Implemented the ChuangTzu Project (2017–2019) in Bajie, Anning, Yunnan — a rural art community, an academy (桩子学院), and a pastoral complex. Art education, ecological farming, and cross-cultural exchange woven together. The guiding principle: Serving the People. Over the course of two years the project transformed from 桩子 (ChuangTzu — body and practice) into 庄子 (Zhuangzi — philosophical exploration), setting the stage for the Maya and Dongba civilization research of 2018–2019.
ChuangTzu → Zhuangzi Project
Implemented the ChuangTzu Project (2017–2019) in Bajie, Anning, Yunnan — a rural art community, an academy (桩子学院), and a pastoral complex. Art education, ecological farming, and cross-cultural exchange woven together. The guiding principle: Serving the People. Over the course of two years the project transformed from 桩子 (ChuangTzu — body and practice) into 庄子 (Zhuangzi — philosophical exploration), setting the stage for the Maya and Dongba civilization research of 2018–2019.
Partial Exit — The Rebirth Plan
Partial exit from the Jingdezhen retreat. Six months in a wheelchair, recovering. Launched the Rebirth Plan (重生计划). The retreat had broken his body, and the emergence was neither a return to the art world nor an ending of the silence — it was a rebirth.
Partial Exit — The Rebirth Plan
Partial exit from the Jingdezhen retreat. Six months in a wheelchair, recovering. Launched the Rebirth Plan (重生计划). The retreat had broken his body, and the emergence was neither a return to the art world nor an ending of the silence — it was a rebirth.
MACL Contemporary Art Museum, Quebec
Artist-in-residence at MACL Contemporary Art Museum, Quebec, Canada — an international residency within the ten-year arc of silence, connecting the Jingdezhen work to the North American contemporary art context.
MACL Contemporary Art Museum, Quebec
Artist-in-residence at MACL Contemporary Art Museum, Quebec, Canada — an international residency within the ten-year arc of silence, connecting the Jingdezhen work to the North American contemporary art context.
Jingdezhen Five-Year Retreat — 梦春山
Began a planned three-year retreat in Jingdezhen that would extend to five. Took the name 梦春山 Meng Chunshan — 'Dreaming Spring Mountain' — during this period. Produced the 《瓜子人》(Seed People) series (2014–2019) and the 《山海经心经》(Classic of Mountains and Seas · Heart Sutra) series (2015–2016). The retreat was not an absence but a concentration — the deepest ink and sculptural work of the practice was made here, in silence, under a name almost nobody knew.
Jingdezhen Five-Year Retreat — 梦春山
Began a planned three-year retreat in Jingdezhen that would extend to five. Took the name 梦春山 Meng Chunshan — 'Dreaming Spring Mountain' — during this period. Produced the 《瓜子人》(Seed People) series (2014–2019) and the 《山海经心经》(Classic of Mountains and Seas · Heart Sutra) series (2015–2016). The retreat was not an absence but a concentration — the deepest ink and sculptural work of the practice was made here, in silence, under a name almost nobody knew.
Ten Years of Silence — Myanmar Monastery, 山水梦 Launches
Mother gravely ill; interrupted exhibition plans to return home and care for her. Launched the long-running 《山水梦》(Landscape Dream) project — landscape as the slow through-line of the work. Entered a ten-year arc of deliberate public silence: no publications, no gallery exhibitions, no commercial or institutional art-world activity — for ten years. The silence was itself the work. Within this period: became a monk in Myanmar; May 2013, invited to the 23rd Hungary MEDIAWAVE Festival, on-site works collected. 2014, created the nail installation Bridge at COART Asia Youth Art Festival, Shuhe, Lijiang.
Ten Years of Silence — Myanmar Monastery, 山水梦 Launches
Mother gravely ill; interrupted exhibition plans to return home and care for her. Launched the long-running 《山水梦》(Landscape Dream) project — landscape as the slow through-line of the work. Entered a ten-year arc of deliberate public silence: no publications, no gallery exhibitions, no commercial or institutional art-world activity — for ten years. The silence was itself the work. Within this period: became a monk in Myanmar; May 2013, invited to the 23rd Hungary MEDIAWAVE Festival, on-site works collected. 2014, created the nail installation Bridge at COART Asia Youth Art Festival, Shuhe, Lijiang.
Yunnan Buddhist Academy Residency
Residency at the Yunnan Buddhist Academy, Kunming. Created the 《达摩过江图》(Bodhidharma Crossing the River) ink series. The turn toward a more contemplative and ink-rooted practice that would flower in Jingdezhen.
Yunnan Buddhist Academy Residency
Residency at the Yunnan Buddhist Academy, Kunming. Created the 《达摩过江图》(Bodhidharma Crossing the River) ink series. The turn toward a more contemplative and ink-rooted practice that would flower in Jingdezhen.
Life as Game — A Lifelong Work
Launched the lifelong project Life as Game — incorporating the whole of existence into art creation. Daily behavior, spiritual practice, and social engagement as creative medium. The core: Life is Art. Still ongoing. The same year: 《寻找东方》(Searching for the East) performance from Yunnan to the north of China.
Life as Game — A Lifelong Work
Launched the lifelong project Life as Game — incorporating the whole of existence into art creation. Daily behavior, spiritual practice, and social engagement as creative medium. The core: Life is Art. Still ongoing. The same year: 《寻找东方》(Searching for the East) performance from Yunnan to the north of China.
Give Myself Away for a Year
One full year: no pay, no art-world activity. Social services, folk labor, public welfare. The body as the only medium. A direct test of whether art could be lived rather than made.
Give Myself Away for a Year
One full year: no pay, no art-world activity. Social services, folk labor, public welfare. The body as the only medium. A direct test of whether art could be lived rather than made.
Genealogy — New Zealand Government Collaboration
In official collaboration with the New Zealand Government, implemented Genealogy — oral history, image installation, and cross-cultural research connecting Eastern and Western family cultures, exploring the cross-border expression of blood, identity, and belonging. The project contributed to the New Zealand government's formal apology to the Chinese community for the historical Poll Tax.
Genealogy — New Zealand Government Collaboration
In official collaboration with the New Zealand Government, implemented Genealogy — oral history, image installation, and cross-cultural research connecting Eastern and Western family cultures, exploring the cross-border expression of blood, identity, and belonging. The project contributed to the New Zealand government's formal apology to the Chinese community for the historical Poll Tax.
Farmer Station — Experimental Rural Bauhaus
Launched Farmer Station in rural Yunnan — proposing the concept of an Experimental Rural Bauhaus. Rooted in the village, transforming rural spaces with art, building a community education system. He adopted the name Farmer Mu, deliberately erasing the elite-art label. Also exhibited solo at Red Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia, and participated in 'Another China' group show at Galerie Nord, Berlin.
Farmer Station — Experimental Rural Bauhaus
Launched Farmer Station in rural Yunnan — proposing the concept of an Experimental Rural Bauhaus. Rooted in the village, transforming rural spaces with art, building a community education system. He adopted the name Farmer Mu, deliberately erasing the elite-art label. Also exhibited solo at Red Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia, and participated in 'Another China' group show at Galerie Nord, Berlin.
Mu Yuming's World — Shanghai & New York
Solo exhibition Mu Yuming's World at 140sqm Gallery, Shanghai, and solo show at Ines De Seroux, LLC Gallery, New York. Group exhibition 'Li' at Eidos Art Space, Bassano Romano, Italy. The year the practice reached three continents.
Mu Yuming's World — Shanghai & New York
Solo exhibition Mu Yuming's World at 140sqm Gallery, Shanghai, and solo show at Ines De Seroux, LLC Gallery, New York. Group exhibition 'Li' at Eidos Art Space, Bassano Romano, Italy. The year the practice reached three continents.
Family Portrait & Hiscox Art Award
Solo exhibition Family Portrait at Haidong Studio, Lijiang — installations and family narrative exploring Naxi identity and cultural inheritance. Works selected for the Hiscox Art Award group exhibition at Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam. Group exhibition Rijksakademie at Parts in Xiamen. Deliberately stopped the Jiang Hu movement and closed Lijiang Studio the following year.
Family Portrait & Hiscox Art Award
Solo exhibition Family Portrait at Haidong Studio, Lijiang — installations and family narrative exploring Naxi identity and cultural inheritance. Works selected for the Hiscox Art Award group exhibition at Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam. Group exhibition Rijksakademie at Parts in Xiamen. Deliberately stopped the Jiang Hu movement and closed Lijiang Studio the following year.
Rijksakademie, Amsterdam
Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam (2005–2006) — one of the most selective artist residencies in Europe. Supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Rijksakademie joint scholarship. Concurrent solo exhibitions: An Illusory Character Made in China (Amsterdam) and The Period of the Great Revolution (Marseille and Aix-en-Provence). Participated in Open Ateliers Rijksakademie group exhibition.
Rijksakademie, Amsterdam
Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam (2005–2006) — one of the most selective artist residencies in Europe. Supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Rijksakademie joint scholarship. Concurrent solo exhibitions: An Illusory Character Made in China (Amsterdam) and The Period of the Great Revolution (Marseille and Aix-en-Provence). Participated in Open Ateliers Rijksakademie group exhibition.
Himalaya — French Government Collaboration
In official collaboration with the French Government, created Himalaya — cross-regional installations and film exploring the symbiotic relationship between landscape, culture, and humanity. Exhibited across France. The following year, French daily Libération reviewed the Binic show.
Himalaya — French Government Collaboration
In official collaboration with the French Government, created Himalaya — cross-regional installations and film exploring the symbiotic relationship between landscape, culture, and humanity. Exhibited across France. The following year, French daily Libération reviewed the Binic show.
Lijiang Studio & 20 Days
Co-founded Lijiang Studio with American curator Jay Brown — one of Yunnan's first non-profit international artist residency platforms. The 2004 catalogue Lijiang China Studio/Residence was permanently collected by IberLibro and international art platforms. In the same year: 20 Days at Kunming Creative Warehouse — the concept was 20 days, 20 countries. Each day abstractly translated a different country's cultural core through body and local materials, with no preset outcomes. Later toured Oslo (2004), Amsterdam (2005), and Binic, France (2005). Also launched the Jiang Hu (江湖) movement — public art project that intervened across urban and rural Yunnan.
Lijiang Studio & 20 Days
Co-founded Lijiang Studio with American curator Jay Brown — one of Yunnan's first non-profit international artist residency platforms. The 2004 catalogue Lijiang China Studio/Residence was permanently collected by IberLibro and international art platforms. In the same year: 20 Days at Kunming Creative Warehouse — the concept was 20 days, 20 countries. Each day abstractly translated a different country's cultural core through body and local materials, with no preset outcomes. Later toured Oslo (2004), Amsterdam (2005), and Binic, France (2005). Also launched the Jiang Hu (江湖) movement — public art project that intervened across urban and rural Yunnan.
Philadelphia Residency
One-year artist residency in Philadelphia, USA (2001–2002). Created the experimental documentary 《黄色四姐妹》(Four Yellow Sisters). First sustained American chapter of the practice.
Philadelphia Residency
One-year artist residency in Philadelphia, USA (2001–2002). Created the experimental documentary 《黄色四姐妹》(Four Yellow Sisters). First sustained American chapter of the practice.
Killing — Experimental Film
Graduated from the Norwegian Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Created the experimental short film Killing — selected for the Asian Experimental Art Film Festival and toured Norway and multiple Asian countries. A reflection on the essence of life and the nature of violence. The foundation of an experimental practice that would never stop. The same year, participated in the group exhibition at SKA Stenersen Museet (Norwegian Museum of Contemporary Art), Oslo.
Killing — Experimental Film
Graduated from the Norwegian Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Created the experimental short film Killing — selected for the Asian Experimental Art Film Festival and toured Norway and multiple Asian countries. A reflection on the essence of life and the nature of violence. The foundation of an experimental practice that would never stop. The same year, participated in the group exhibition at SKA Stenersen Museet (Norwegian Museum of Contemporary Art), Oslo.
Norwegian Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Oslo
Admitted to the Norwegian Royal Academy of Fine Arts on a Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs scholarship. Bachelor of Fine Arts, Department of Experimental Art. Four years in Oslo — the education that shifted his practice from image-making toward conceptual and performance work. During this period, solo exhibition 《我的家乡》(My Hometown) at ArbliArt Space, Oslo (1996) and 《身份》(Identity) at S Ar era public art space (1997).
Norwegian Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Oslo
Admitted to the Norwegian Royal Academy of Fine Arts on a Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs scholarship. Bachelor of Fine Arts, Department of Experimental Art. Four years in Oslo — the education that shifted his practice from image-making toward conceptual and performance work. During this period, solo exhibition 《我的家乡》(My Hometown) at ArbliArt Space, Oslo (1996) and 《身份》(Identity) at S Ar era public art space (1997).
Central Academy of Art & Design, Beijing
Took a course at the Central Academy of Art & Design, Beijing — his first sustained encounter with the Chinese contemporary art world before leaving for Oslo three years later.
Central Academy of Art & Design, Beijing
Took a course at the Central Academy of Art & Design, Beijing — his first sustained encounter with the Chinese contemporary art world before leaving for Oslo three years later.
Provincial Sketching Champion
At sixteen, won the Yunnan provincial sketching championship. At seventeen, completed his first significant art commission and undertook his first long sketching journey. In 1993, would go on to take first place in the All-Yunnan Province Sketching Competition.
Provincial Sketching Champion
At sixteen, won the Yunnan provincial sketching championship. At seventeen, completed his first significant art commission and undertook his first long sketching journey. In 1993, would go on to take first place in the All-Yunnan Province Sketching Competition.
Second Awakening — Self-Taught Ink
A second awakening — the calling from the West. Began self-teaching Chinese ink painting in Kunming. Created his first splash-ink landscape (泼墨山水) — the foundation of the ink practice that would later grow into the Seed People, Mountains and Seas · Heart Sutra, and Heaven on Earth series.
Second Awakening — Self-Taught Ink
A second awakening — the calling from the West. Began self-teaching Chinese ink painting in Kunming. Created his first splash-ink landscape (泼墨山水) — the foundation of the ink practice that would later grow into the Seed People, Mountains and Seas · Heart Sutra, and Heaven on Earth series.
Lakeside Awakening
At age fifteen, a lakeside awakening — the first 'miracle.' The moment of turning toward art, the origin point of the entire practice that would follow.
Lakeside Awakening
At age fifteen, a lakeside awakening — the first 'miracle.' The moment of turning toward art, the origin point of the entire practice that would follow.
Born in Kunming
Born March 23, 1971 at Kunming First Middle School Big Courtyard, Kunming, Yunnan. Naxi ethnicity — a descendant of the Mu Royal Family of Lijiang. Grew up on Wenlin Street, Kunming.
Born in Kunming
Born March 23, 1971 at Kunming First Middle School Big Courtyard, Kunming, Yunnan. Naxi ethnicity — a descendant of the Mu Royal Family of Lijiang. Grew up on Wenlin Street, Kunming.
The beginning
Mu Yuming
木玉明
Mu Yuming (Lao Mu / 老木)
I am a contemporary incarnation of 崇仁利恩 — flood survivor, active suitor, proof of ability, bearer of destiny. From the near-death and rebirth of a lakeside miracle at fifteen, through the extreme trial of the 20 Days global nomad project, through the clamor of the Jiang Hu temple fair, through the self-nirvana of the Three-Year Retreat, to the this-world settlement of the Zhuangzi Project — I am still walking, still becoming, still resisting fate through free will, still realizing freedom through the building of relationships.
My art is one life, three walks. Walking the Road (1985–2003): surviving by alms through the 20 Days Project, creating something from nothing — with the courage of milking a tigress and the precision of threading a needle. Walking Through Art (2003–2017): the relational construction of Lijiang Studio, the dissolving of boundaries in Jiang Hu, and the fire of desire inside the Three-Year Retreat that burned away the self named Chun Mengsheng — the final trial before returning to the human world. Walking the Way (2017– ): settling this shore with the Zhuangzi Project, releasing attachment through She Nian Fo, passing on civilization through Our Children, connecting the world through Five Hundred Arhats — to settle is to set out, to complete is to begin.
I choose to complete art through not making art. Anti-market, anti-institution, anti-completion — this triple negation is not escape, but, like 崇仁利恩, the winning of space within constraint, the realization of freedom within relationship. My bloodline is Naxi wisdom: the mediating intelligence of the Mu clan of Haidong, the relationship-first principle of qu (趣), and the ceaseless resonance of sound and breath (声与气).
If art can create a more beautiful world, I am willing to give everything for it. 崇仁利恩 is still walking, sound and breath are still in resonance. I am art, and I am always on the road.
Naxi, descendant of the Mu clan of Haidong. Born 1971 in Kunming. Ongoing.
- Born
- March 23, 1971 · Kunming, Yunnan, China
- Based
- Lijiang, Yunnan / Chiang Mai, Thailand
- 老木参游