Research Activities

Entering into the studio of Yuyuxuan Calligraphy Club, we saw many certificates of awards won by the teacher's students in the club posted on the wall. There were also invitations to calligraphy exhibitions, introductions and reports by newspapers and magazines, and works done in different scripts. We were mesmerized by the atmosphere and space, imagining we were those literati of the ancient era with the scent of the ink lingering on our fingertips. Teacher Huang Wen-Chiung kindly demonstrated how to hold and use the brush. Watching her wielding the brush with her slender magical hands and writing with style and significant momentum, every stroke of the Chinese characters seemed to come to life. We were fascinated by the vigorous touches and fine strokes and began to be aware of the beauty of Chinese characters. The vitality portrayed through the brushstroke, the structure, the layout, and the shade of the ink all surpass by far the boring English alphabet. It is a delicate art of both simplicity and complexity.

Inscription on silk fan

First experience of writing spring festival couplets

Subsequently, some of us who were either too naive or too ignorant of the world suggested experiencing the fun of doing calligraphy. The teacher happily accepted the proposal and helped us prepare the calligraphy tools. First, we challenged writing the spring couplets since Chinese New Year was approaching and we could have the privilege to post the completed couplets on the door to "show off". We were divided into three groups and finished a set of three couplets together with one horizontal couplet, "Four Seasons of Peace and Three Generations of Fortune" and two vertical couplets, "Spring sunlight shining on the benevolent land" and "Five lucky stars arriving at the fortunate home". Even though the writings were crooked and disorganized, the joy of the moment was beyond words.Subsequently, some of us who were either too naive or too ignorant of the world suggested experiencing the fun of doing calligraphy. The teacher happily accepted the proposal and helped us prepare the calligraphy tools. First, we challenged writing the spring couplets since Chinese New Year was approaching and we could have the privilege to post the completed couplets on the door to "show off". We were divided into three groups and finished a set of three couplets together with one horizontal couplet, "Four Seasons of Peace and Three Generations of Fortune" and two vertical couplets, "Spring sunlight shining on the benevolent land" and "Five lucky stars arriving at the fortunate home". Even though the writings were crooked and disorganized, the joy of the moment was beyond words.

Teacher's demonstration on how to write spring couplets

Team members practicing hard on doing calligraphy

Creative post

Then, everyone got to choose the texts and the fonts to work on for practice. Some people wrote "Cheng Xin De Miao Guan" in the Running script and the others write "Jing Ding An Lu De" in the Clerical script. These inscriptions are elegant and with profound philosophical concepts. There were also a few team members who emphasized more on materialized substances and wrote "Zhou Cai Kin Bao" meaning bringing in wealth and treasure; the four huge Chinese characters caused quite a big laugh among us. The toughest challenge was to write an inscription on a silk fan which required a certain level of skills otherwise "a false step may cause a lifelong regret" so everyone held the breath and paid full attention to the brushwork and each stroke. The classroom suddenly became quiet, making us feel calmer than ever. Among all the inscriptions, there were two that I like. They are" Reading a book at leisure time" which portrayed a very relaxed mood, and "Rui Cai Xiang Yun", meaning iridescent clouds symbolizing good fortune, which was particularly lovely, as the pronunciation of my name, Rui Xiang, happened to be the same as two of the characters in the inscription.

This weekend, we no longer glued our eyes on the mobiles or slept in till noon. Instead, we became "little calligraphers". It was fascinating; we tried to reach the state of calm as still water and gain a great sense of accomplishment. We sincerely hope more people can put down their electronic products, slow down their pace and enjoy doing calligraphy.