He Qiliang

"Welcome! Welcome! Old friends meet again." Zhao Liguang, director of the Xi'an Stele Forest, greeted our group from Malaysia with a friendly smile. Mr. Chen Genyuan also shook hands with us warmly. The Malaysian Chinese Humanistic Stele Forest was grandly unveiled at Nirvana last year. It is an immortal cause of humanities in the Chinese community. They all attended the grand event. On that day, Mr. Chen was predestined to be acquainted with the teachers and students of UTAR. At my request, he gave us an instant lecture at the Chinese Humanistic Stele Forest. He had a strong voice, a wealth of knowledge and a charm that is still fresh in my memory. The leader of our team is Mr. Chen Jianfa. He is the vice chairman of the Nirvana Love Foundation and the chairman of the Chongde Cultural and Educational Foundation. He is cheerful and humorous and has a great love for Chinese culture. Members of the group include Lai Guanfu, Zhang Zishen and his wife, Fu Yonggang and his wife, Yu Sifu, Chen Jiancheng, Wang Jieying, etc. They are all consultants for the Malaysia Chinese Humanistic Stele Forest. This visit is to have further exchanges with the Xi'an Stele Forest and to sign a memorandum of cooperation. On behalf of the Institute of Chinese Studies at UTAR, I was honored to participate in this trip to the ancient capital of the Central Plains.

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Xi'an Stele Forest is a pilgrimage place for calligraphy lovers. I came here seven years ago and stayed for a whole day. Facing countless engraved ink stones, I seemed to have some enlightenment. It is of great significance to revisit this time with several experts in the Malaysian calligraphy community. I've been looking forward to it.

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After the two parties signed the memorandum of cooperation and exchanged gifts that morning, Mr. Chen Genyuan volunteered to give our lecture. He is a senior researcher at the Stele Forest in Xi'an. He is very familiar with the story behind each stone monument and is full of witty remarks. Among the stone monuments standing at random, each of us listened intoxicatedly. Occasionally we had doubts, and we always asked questions modestly like students, for fear of being disrespectful to the stone monuments. Mr. Chen talked about the Qin Dynasty's "Yishan Stele" and the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Cao Quan Stele" written by Xiaozhuan ancestors, as well as stone carvings by great calligraphers such as Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang, Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, Zhang Xu and Huai Su of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, there is also the "Kaicheng Stone Sutra", as well as the yang, yin, side, forehead, and stone carvings. . . . We felt that the mottled, weathered and cold stone tablets were actually a living history. Those great calligraphers are still alive despite their death.

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By the way, we came to Yan Zhenqing's "Yan Qinli Stele". Teacher Chen Jiancheng has been studying Yan Qin for half his life. His thoughts were ups and downs in front of the monument. He touched the inscription with his fingers and was so moved that he couldn't help but knelt down to worship and kowtowed three times!

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It is impossible to end your visit to the Stele Forest in Xi'an because the steles are ancient and the calligraphy is endless.

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Then he went to Luoyang, Anyang and Kaifeng. Five days later we arrived in Zhengzhou. We visited five of the eight ancient capitals.

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The official program was first arranged in Zhengzhou, hosted by the Henan Provincial International Cultural Exchange Center and a group of friends from the calligraphy field. Teacher Zhou Junjie is the protagonist. His works have been widely recognized by the calligraphy community and his status is high. Last year he visited Malaysia, and Mr. Fu Yonggang led the way. He had a gathering at the Institute of Chinese Studies and presented him with several important personal works. He also left behind a calligraphy "Cultivation is Silent" in official script, which is treasured by our academy. After everyone exchanged pleasantries that day, they moved to the next hall. At first glance, there is a huge background layout in the middle of the hall: "Warmly welcome the Malaysia Chinese Humanistic Stele Forest delegation to Zhengzhou." Mr. Fu Yonggang said with a smile: "I feel a lot of pressure."

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In fact, all the pen, ink and paper have been waiting in the hall, reflecting the master's preparation and sincerity. Calligraphers gathered together and talked about calligraphy and Taoism. Everyone unanimously recommended Teacher Zhou Junjie as the first Hui Hao, obviously giving him high respect. Mr. Zhou wrote "Han Mo Zhuan Qing" in official script, and his disciples later stamped it. Then calligraphers from all parties took their places, and Mr. Yu Sifu, Mr. Chen Jiancheng, and Mr. Fu Yonggang sent their affectionate calligraphy.

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I stood aside in awe while the calligrapher was writing, and sighed inwardly while admiring it. Look, the gestures of dotting the ink carefully, the thoughtful expression, the strokes that follow the rhythm of the flow, the ease and calmness of closing the brush, the charm of the rising ink, and the graceful and graceful lines are so beautiful. The ups and downs, the black and white lines, and the moment the wrist is shaken are the creation process of a work and the completion of its life. We usually only appreciate the completed calligraphy works after being framed. However, the writing and creation process of calligraphers is actually more contagious and shocking. I keep thinking about the secrets of writing, but due to the limitations of my understanding, it is still unavailable. Occasionally, I shamelessly asked for words, and got Mr. Geng Zili's official calligraphy "A bosom friend in the sea is as close as the end of the world", Mr. Wu Jianfu's oracle bone style "golden sound and jade vibration", and Mr. Yang Hanzhong's official calligraphy "Alone in the autumn clouds", I couldn't be happier.

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In another reception hall, there is a huge cursive script of Teacher Zhou Junjie's "Songs of the Eight Immortals in Drinking" written by Du Fu. It is majestic, majestic and shocking, making people breathless. The soul of calligraphy comes out! I am trying to find out what the status of calligraphy and calligraphers is in contemporary China. Different people have different opinions, but from a Malaysian perspective, Chinese calligraphers are doing poorly and their cultural status really needs to be recognized by society. Although this trip is in the ancient capital of the Central Plains, everyone is concerned about their home and country, and they are discussing the imminent general election in the dust of the world. Mr. Chen Jianfa was the first to express his position, and everyone no longer had any scruples. I thought about it for a long time and came up with a poem "May 5th. Central Plains".

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013