Today is World Calligraphy Day, as it has been on the second Wednesday of August since 2017. The Day brings experts and beginners together to discuss, practice, and learn about the ancient craft. But the cloud on the horizon of this celebration is the danger of calligraphy dying out.
World Calligraphy Day is a creation of the Manuscript Pen Company based near Birmingham in the UK. On this side of the world, calligraphy is one of the three arts, together with painting and poetry, most treasured by the Chinese.
It therefore requires a master’s touch. When we think of a Chinese calligrapher, springing to mind is often the image of a grey-haired old man, ink brush in hand, practicing the ancient art.
Some such masters are lucky enough to have their work featured on great public buildings. Among them, somewhere in the distant friend circle of this correspondent, it was one Wu Zhongji who gave his script for the signage above Nanjing Railway Station.
On a smaller scale too, other examples of calligraphy displayed on buildings of note abound in Nanjing, and indeed all over China. Take the Mochou Road Church as an example.
There, the building’s southwest corner is inlaid with a stone tablet that was inscribed by the Christian general, Feng Yuxiang, in 1936. The calligraphy is written in regular script “because the one who has laid the foundation is Jesus Christ”.
This association with the past and the perception of calligraphy being a hobby for seniors is the problem. But fortunately, it’s one of which increasing numbers of people are aware. Time for younger generations to take up the gauntlet.
Jiang Yi’an (English name Caster) is one such youthful talent in our very own Nanjing. Aged 23, the local lad is a graduate of The University of Sheffield in the UK. He was also only too happy to spend time talking with The Nanjinger.
A calligraphy practitioner from a very young age, Jiang’s works have won calligraphy awards and have been published in magazines for primary and middle-school students. Jiang says he has learned three scripts of calligraphy, namely regular script, clerical script and seal character.
According to Jiang, the skills required by calligraphy also teach us to be modest when communicating with people, and to deal with problems from the perspective of the whole.
And that’s what worries him in the face of fewer younger people taking up the ancient craft. Jiang says, “If calligraphy tends to be lost among younger people, this good spirit would be lost as well, and I think it’s a danger for the next generation”.
Fortunately, Caster is not alone. As recently as June, the Global Times reported on this very issue.
Xu Heping runs his traditional arts-supply shop in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. “With hopes that their children will be adept at Chinese calligraphy, more and more parents have invested in calligraphy training”, he said.
As a result, Xu’s shop is becoming more and more popular with an increasingly-youthful client base. “Teenagers and young adults often come to my shop”, said Xu.
On another level, calligraphy associations are to be found in most major cities in China. They hold exhibitions and assemblies to promote calligraphy, and to encourage people to take up the skill. There are also educational institutions teaching calligraphy to children and developing their interest in it.
Back in Nanjing, we wondered whether Caster has any aspirations to see his calligraphy work appear on a significant, local public building. “I haven’t thought about that because I think my level of writing is not good enough to do that”, he said.
