戰後在臺灣以山岳繪畫聞名的呂基正（1914-1990），活躍於省展、臺陽展、青雲畫展等，是臺灣具代表性的西畫家之一。呂基正出生於臺北，原名許聲基，幼時遷居廈門，在廈門受繪畫啟蒙，隨王逸雲（1895-1981）習畫。他的繪畫學習歷程不同於其他臺灣藝術家，他們多半前往東京，至東京美術學校等美術教育機構學習。為了進一步學習繪畫，呂基正前往神戶，向今井朝路（1895-1951）學習西畫，並受獨立美術協會藝術家林重義（1896-1944）、伊藤廉（1898-1983）等人的影響，也曾短暫前往東京學習人體素描。
1938 年廈門被日本佔領，呂基正在這一年被徵召至廈門擔任日本海軍通譯。待在廈門期間（1938-1946）參與了廈門一地的美術活動，在此時期所舉辦的日華聯合美術展覽會中可見到不少臺灣畫家參與其中，由此可見臺灣與廈門畫壇在戰爭時期因特殊政治環境的需求而產生密切交流的現象。本文著眼於戰前呂基正往返廈門、神戶、東京、臺北的創作活動，希望能對向來較偏向於地域研究的臺灣美術史，從東亞跨境活動的角度來提供一個新的理解面向。
Lu Chi-Cheng (1914-1990), a renowned mountain painter, is a representative oil painter of postwar Taiwan. Lu was born in Taipei, but soon emigrated to Xiamen (Amoy) with family and spent his childhood there. It was during the Xiamen period that Lu, following the instruction of Wang Yiyun (1895-1981), received preliminary artistic education. This experience of studying art differs from that of other modern Taiwanese artists, most of whom chose to go to Tokyo and enroll in Tokyo Fine Arts School or other institutes. To further study art, Lu went to Japan in 1931, where he relied on his brother who was running business in Kobe. During his stay in Kobe, Lu studied oil painting with Asaji Imai, and was influenced by such members of the Independent Art Association as Shigeyoshi Hayashi and Ren Ito, etc. Additionally, Lu spent time in Tokyo studying nude life sketching.
When Xiamen was occupied by Japan in 1938, Lu was conscripted to as a translator. During this period (1938-46), Lu also attended art activities in Xiamen. For instance, Lu exhibited his paintings in Sino-Japanese Joint Fine Art Exhibition, a cultural activity that the Japanese authority held to win over local Chinese’s support. Some Taiwanese painters also attended such events, from which a phenomenon can be detected, i.e., the frequent cultural exchange between Taiwan and Xiamen painters due to this very special political circumstance. This research investigated Lu’s art activities traveling between Taipei, Xiamen, Kobe and Tokyo, hoping to provide a new transregional perspective towards Taiwanese Art History study, which, till now, mostly emphasized art activities taking place in Taiwan.