Introduce the Principle, Mr. Rong-Sen
He is not tall and have a slender build. He always keeps a crew-cut, have yellowish skin and big eyes. There is a mole on his eyebrow. He wears a pair of golden and oval framed glasses and have a powerful yet gentle voice. His thought are to the point and can therefore act decisively. |
Always wearing the uniform of Jing-Siou Elementary School or a white shirt with a red vest, and have a habit of hanging his keys and remote on his pocket, seems to be prepared for a meeting. He often brings his notebook and a retractable pen in his pocket, ready to record anything anytime. We can tell he is a strict and organized person from the little things he does.
He loves gardening , and use pottery, driftwood, and stone as pots, to plant them outside the principal‘s office . He likes poetry and also likes to write his own poem. You can find his creation on old clocks, walls and unique wooden boards. In his life, he cannot do without art, and art can’t do without him either.
The encounter between he and Jing-Siou Elementary School is not only a wonderful coincidence, but also happiness, like a beautiful piece of music. Ever since he graduated from Jing-Siou, he had wanted to become a teacher. After graduating from Taichung Teacher College, he returned to his alma mater as a teacher. Next, he experienced being a homeroom teacher, and director, he also became the principle of Nan-Zhou elementary school of Chang-Hua County. Finally he came back to Jing-Siou Elementary School in 2012. And yes, he is currently the principal there— Mr. Rong-Sen Huang.
His Rough Childhood
He’s born in a poor family, and is the youngest out of 5 siblings. When he was 6 month old, his parents originally planned to give him away for adoption, but all three attempts failed dues to his habit of crying. His father past away in an accident when he was three, and his mother put up with hardships to bring them up. So he made a decision to become a teacher early in his life.
After successfully entering teacher’s college, he discovered that aside from studying, he lacked a hobby or specialty, this made him perplexed. Afterward, he found his handwriting was quite neat. Learning calligraphy should be a cheap and economical talent; Plus all the calligrapher in the past has had longer lifespan and better health because of their writing and thinking activity. As they grew older, their calligraphy got better and better. Therefore during his time at the teacher’s college, he dived in to the sea of calligraphy. Since then, he has been swimming leisurely inside.
He Thought the Ink Was Water
When he joined the calligraphy club in the teacher’s college, he was deeply affected by the club leader-- Zhi-Xin Liu. Every summer and winter break, he and the club leader practiced calligraphy day by day at school. Sometimes, his seniors would bring him to visit famous calligraphers, and to view the works of masters. This group of hard-workers often bring their work to hear the master’s guidance. They didn’t except any compliment, they just wanted a bit of advice.
Once on a typhoon night, because he was concentrating too hard on practice, he forgot to head back to the dormitory on time, the storm outside was as loud as an intense symphony. The classroom was already flooded, he can’t even go back home. He decided to stay and practice overnight. He kept practicing as the storm grew more and more intense outside. Maybe it was because of his fatigue body, or perhaps it was the storm brewing outside. He was so thirsty that he thought the ink was water and drank it. He didn’t found out the truth until the next morning when he was brushing his teeth. The black color in his mouth told him the truth.
Receiving Award Encouraged Him
In the 4th year of teacher’s college, he won second place on teacher’s college calligraphy , when he presented the award to the school during morning assembly, he felt great honor, this feeling made him want to challenge himself and improve upon it.
In 1987, he participated in the national calligraphy competition, this was a very special experience. Before the competition, he went to his father’s grave, and paid his respect. He told him about joining the competition, hoping his father would bless him with good luck and reach top three. However, when the result came out, he was only 4th place. After an hour, a miracle appeared, the result changed. The winner was disqualified, and he became 3rd place.
In 1997, he participated in the National Language Competition on behalf of Changhua County, and won third place. Later on , he was admitted to Nanzhou Elementary School as a principal ,and promoted calligraphy education there, instead of joining more competition ,and bring back better results.
The Calligraphers of the Past Were Our Models
As he grew older, he realized that “teachers” are like “shoes”, because of age, occasion, and the size of foot, people would choose different styles of shoes to wear. In the course of learning calligraphy, each calligraphers of the past had their own pros, but few younger generation of calligraphers were able to achieve the same. Everyone must choose a master that suit themselves the most as their role model. Mifu of the Song Dynasty and Wanduo of the Qing Dynasty are his role models.
Mifu blended calligraphy and painting into a new form of art, his creation are full of his soul. Wangduo who was born in a poor family, was interested in poetry, essay, and drawing ,he cooperated with many other masters, and created their own style. Mifu’s aggressiveness, Wangduo’s studiousness, these qualities affected Mr. Rong-Sen a lot. Interested in the field of calligraphy for over 30 years, his Confucian literary style became even more impressive.
The Interview with Mr. Rong-Sen
Principal Rong-Sen was our first guest, all the students were curious about the process of making a project, and he was pleased to tell us the up and down of it. He said :” Creating a piece of calligraphy isn’t hard, the difficult part is whether the artist is satisfied with it or not. The shades of the ink, the space between the characters, the power of his signature, and the position of the seal, everything should be perfect for a masterpiece. (It usually take him many tries to create an excellent piece, the longest one took him 20 tries.)
The founding of “Nine Eccentrics of Huang-Xi”
The “Huang-Xi” in Nine Eccentrics of Huang-Xi is the former name of Changhua, and the “Nine Eccentrics” is from the “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou”. The convener of the group, Tsung-Sung Chao, is both straightforward and easygoing. When he was in a mood to write, he would place a pot of liquor on the table and take off his shoes, then start writing intensely. Mr. Jing-Fa Xu who was a teacher that retired from Jing-Siou Elementary School is also a member of the Nine Eccentrics of Huang-Xi, he specialized in Chinese fine brushwork and self-taught cursive, created his own special style. Mr. Zhi-Xin Liu who was also his club leader at teacher’s college, not only studied calligraphy, but also mastered the art of seal cutting. “Nine Eccentrics” and “ naughty, drunk” are homophone in Taiwanese, emphasizing how hard they work on calligraphy. They encouraged each to create their own art style of Changhua, Taiwan.
“Nine Eccentrics of Huang-Xi” was founded in 2010, and all of the members are masters of calligraphy , each of them has his own specialty. In the beginning , the eight members were Huiyu Zheng, Zuangsong Zhao, Lianpeng Zhuang , Hongliang Zhuang, Jiahua Liu, Zhixin Liu ,Rongsen Huang, Beiyuan Zhang . The newcomers are Jinfa Xu, An Chen and Mingliang Liao, all of them are well-known calligraphers in Changhua.
They would like to improve their abilities by communicating with each other, so they host exhibitions annually. Since the club’s establishment, there has been over ten sessions . They connected with the community , by promoting environmental art at Yuanlin Township Office, Yuanlin High School, and also participating in charity events at Dacun Township Office, Qingsuiyan Temple.
“Nine Eccentrics of Huang-Xi” was assembled for a simple reason , the club members would like to practice the art of calligraphy, and hone their skills together. If the society require their help, no matter where they are, they will still keep their passion of calligraphy.
He loves gardening , and use pottery, driftwood, and stone as pots, to plant them outside the principal‘s office . He likes poetry and also likes to write his own poem. You can find his creation on old clocks, walls and unique wooden boards. In his life, he cannot do without art, and art can’t do without him either.
The encounter between he and Jing-Siou Elementary School is not only a wonderful coincidence, but also happiness, like a beautiful piece of music. Ever since he graduated from Jing-Siou, he had wanted to become a teacher. After graduating from Taichung Teacher College, he returned to his alma mater as a teacher. Next, he experienced being a homeroom teacher, and director, he also became the principle of Nan-Zhou elementary school of Chang-Hua County. Finally he came back to Jing-Siou Elementary School in 2012. And yes, he is currently the principal there— Mr. Rong-Sen Huang.
His Rough Childhood
He’s born in a poor family, and is the youngest out of 5 siblings. When he was 6 month old, his parents originally planned to give him away for adoption, but all three attempts failed dues to his habit of crying. His father past away in an accident when he was three, and his mother put up with hardships to bring them up. So he made a decision to become a teacher early in his life.
After successfully entering teacher’s college, he discovered that aside from studying, he lacked a hobby or specialty, this made him perplexed. Afterward, he found his handwriting was quite neat. Learning calligraphy should be a cheap and economical talent; Plus all the calligrapher in the past has had longer lifespan and better health because of their writing and thinking activity. As they grew older, their calligraphy got better and better. Therefore during his time at the teacher’s college, he dived in to the sea of calligraphy. Since then, he has been swimming leisurely inside.
He Thought the Ink Was Water
When he joined the calligraphy club in the teacher’s college, he was deeply affected by the club leader-- Zhi-Xin Liu. Every summer and winter break, he and the club leader practiced calligraphy day by day at school. Sometimes, his seniors would bring him to visit famous calligraphers, and to view the works of masters. This group of hard-workers often bring their work to hear the master’s guidance. They didn’t except any compliment, they just wanted a bit of advice.
Once on a typhoon night, because he was concentrating too hard on practice, he forgot to head back to the dormitory on time, the storm outside was as loud as an intense symphony. The classroom was already flooded, he can’t even go back home. He decided to stay and practice overnight. He kept practicing as the storm grew more and more intense outside. Maybe it was because of his fatigue body, or perhaps it was the storm brewing outside. He was so thirsty that he thought the ink was water and drank it. He didn’t found out the truth until the next morning when he was brushing his teeth. The black color in his mouth told him the truth.
Receiving Award Encouraged Him
In the 4th year of teacher’s college, he won second place on teacher’s college calligraphy , when he presented the award to the school during morning assembly, he felt great honor, this feeling made him want to challenge himself and improve upon it.
In 1987, he participated in the national calligraphy competition, this was a very special experience. Before the competition, he went to his father’s grave, and paid his respect. He told him about joining the competition, hoping his father would bless him with good luck and reach top three. However, when the result came out, he was only 4th place. After an hour, a miracle appeared, the result changed. The winner was disqualified, and he became 3rd place.
In 1997, he participated in the National Language Competition on behalf of Changhua County, and won third place. Later on , he was admitted to Nanzhou Elementary School as a principal ,and promoted calligraphy education there, instead of joining more competition ,and bring back better results.
The Calligraphers of the Past Were Our Models
As he grew older, he realized that “teachers” are like “shoes”, because of age, occasion, and the size of foot, people would choose different styles of shoes to wear. In the course of learning calligraphy, each calligraphers of the past had their own pros, but few younger generation of calligraphers were able to achieve the same. Everyone must choose a master that suit themselves the most as their role model. Mifu of the Song Dynasty and Wanduo of the Qing Dynasty are his role models.
Mifu blended calligraphy and painting into a new form of art, his creation are full of his soul. Wangduo who was born in a poor family, was interested in poetry, essay, and drawing ,he cooperated with many other masters, and created their own style. Mifu’s aggressiveness, Wangduo’s studiousness, these qualities affected Mr. Rong-Sen a lot. Interested in the field of calligraphy for over 30 years, his Confucian literary style became even more impressive.
The Interview with Mr. Rong-Sen
Principal Rong-Sen was our first guest, all the students were curious about the process of making a project, and he was pleased to tell us the up and down of it. He said :” Creating a piece of calligraphy isn’t hard, the difficult part is whether the artist is satisfied with it or not. The shades of the ink, the space between the characters, the power of his signature, and the position of the seal, everything should be perfect for a masterpiece. (It usually take him many tries to create an excellent piece, the longest one took him 20 tries.)
The founding of “Nine Eccentrics of Huang-Xi”
The “Huang-Xi” in Nine Eccentrics of Huang-Xi is the former name of Changhua, and the “Nine Eccentrics” is from the “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou”. The convener of the group, Tsung-Sung Chao, is both straightforward and easygoing. When he was in a mood to write, he would place a pot of liquor on the table and take off his shoes, then start writing intensely. Mr. Jing-Fa Xu who was a teacher that retired from Jing-Siou Elementary School is also a member of the Nine Eccentrics of Huang-Xi, he specialized in Chinese fine brushwork and self-taught cursive, created his own special style. Mr. Zhi-Xin Liu who was also his club leader at teacher’s college, not only studied calligraphy, but also mastered the art of seal cutting. “Nine Eccentrics” and “ naughty, drunk” are homophone in Taiwanese, emphasizing how hard they work on calligraphy. They encouraged each to create their own art style of Changhua, Taiwan.
“Nine Eccentrics of Huang-Xi” was founded in 2010, and all of the members are masters of calligraphy , each of them has his own specialty. In the beginning , the eight members were Huiyu Zheng, Zuangsong Zhao, Lianpeng Zhuang , Hongliang Zhuang, Jiahua Liu, Zhixin Liu ,Rongsen Huang, Beiyuan Zhang . The newcomers are Jinfa Xu, An Chen and Mingliang Liao, all of them are well-known calligraphers in Changhua.
They would like to improve their abilities by communicating with each other, so they host exhibitions annually. Since the club’s establishment, there has been over ten sessions . They connected with the community , by promoting environmental art at Yuanlin Township Office, Yuanlin High School, and also participating in charity events at Dacun Township Office, Qingsuiyan Temple.
“Nine Eccentrics of Huang-Xi” was assembled for a simple reason , the club members would like to practice the art of calligraphy, and hone their skills together. If the society require their help, no matter where they are, they will still keep their passion of calligraphy.