In this bilingual essay, translated into English by Liu Qian, the painter Hu Jiang distils fifty years of practice (1976–2026) into what he calls a “Four-Word” approach (in Chinese, eight characters) that calligraphers and painters should uphold on the path from technique to art and from art to the Dao. The first principle, self-confidence, is the anchor of resolve: a sincere devotion to art that preserves inner purity amid competing voices and is distinct from arrogance. The second, self-understanding, is a measuring rod that lets artists assess their own level, remaining humble before praise and discerning before criticism. The third, self-illumination, is the awakening of artistic insight, through which classical models, nature and life experience are internalised, leading from following a teacher’s traces to grasping the teacher’s spirit. The fourth, selfhood, is the culmination: after deep engagement with tradition, the artist must transform what has been absorbed into an individual language, as Li Keran urged, entering in with the greatest effort and coming out with the greatest courage. The author links these principles to his own teachers and to the landscape study class he founded with the support of Jinan University in 2017.