The traditional Chinese literati bird-and-flower paintings often present the gracefulness of leisure life, but not a sense of "mystery". However, Lin managed to capture both in his still-life paintings mixing Chinese and Western styles. The Shuwen jiezi, meaning the explanation and analysis of characters, compiled by Xu Shen from Han dynasty states that "mystery means deep and distant; it is fully veiled and thus incomprehensible." Gladiola (Lot 148) has a nearly jet black background to make the white gladiola stand out, a departure from the prevailing tradition of literati paintings that often employs blank spaces called liu bai. Here, Lin adopts the principle of "replacing white with black" to make the white gladiola glow against a dark backdrop. Viewers are not able to grasp a sense of space but only the illuminating central object. An unfathomable air floats in the picture. With a deep understanding of medium, Lin painted stark white gladiola and dark green branches and leaves, and the reflection on the vase against the dark black background. These contradictory colours produced a strikingly beautiful contrast with layers interwoven on the picture plane, and further enhanced the brightness of the meticulously depicted petals. The translucent white powder against the dark background seems to be emitting gleams of cool light, echoing with the deep and serene atmosphere evoked in the whole composition. Even in a succinct depiction of still life we can see Lin's profound feelings and original perceptions of objects. By painting different scenes and objects familiar among Chinese people, Lin Fengmian fully blended the essence of Eastern and Western art and expressively delivered his intrinsic feelings and distinctive personal formal language. In such way, Lin had perpetuated the essential spirit of the long inherited traditional Chinese culture.