Ink Sees the Spirit, Sun Min: Brush Follows the Times
"Calligraphy is the art of smart people putting in hard work." A few years ago, calligrapher Sun Min told the Jiefang Daily Shangguan News reporter this. On September 20, he, who never stops writing, will hold another personal exhibition at the Jiading District Archives in Shanghai - the Sun Min Donated Calligraphy Exhibition.
The exhibition is guided by the Propaganda Department of the Jiading District Committee of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai, hosted by the Jiading District Archives, and co-organized by the Jiading District Education Bureau, District Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and District Youth Activity Center.
Sun Min is from Jiading, Shanghai. He is good at cursive, official, regular, and regular scripts. He has written more than 20 books, including "The Art of Official Script", "Basics of Calligraphy", and "Feng Liu Calligrapher". In 2002, Sun Min published his first popular book "How to Write Calligraphy with a Brush". Today, this book has been printed for 19 consecutive editions, with nearly 100,000 copies sold, and is also a bestseller in the field of calligraphy. In 2019, his manuscript "Appreciating Calligraphy" was collected by the Chinese Cultural Celebrities Manuscript Collection of Shanghai Library.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Jiading. As a calligrapher from Jiading, Sun Min will collect 18 important representative works and 38 books that reflect the essence of calligraphy he has learned throughout his life and donate them all to Jiading as a gift to his hometown. They will be collected by the Jiading District Archives and compiled into a "Collection of Donated Calligraphy Works by Sun Min".
Sun Min's cursive script is lively and elegant, while his official script is neat and solemn. The donated calligraphy works cover a variety of styles, including cursive script and official script. The themes include Mao Zedong's poetry couplets, selected poems from Jiading's literati of all dynasties reciting their hometown poems, "Preface to Chengxin Book Garden", "Ode to Jiading", etc. These works are included in the "Collection of Calligraphy Donated by Sun Min". Through this collection of works, we can get a glimpse of Sun Min's latest insights in calligraphy creation. The elegant and mellow charm revealed in his brushwork is fascinating. Sun Min's generous donation will further enrich the art archive resources of Jiading District Archives.
"Pay tribute to the classics, pay tribute to tradition. While paying tribute to the traditional culture of the past thousands of years, the writing should keep up with the times," said Sun Min.
The pen follows the times, and the ink reflects the spirit. In the exhibition hall on the second floor of the Jiading District Archives, the 19th "Sun Min Calligraphy Art Award" Jiading District primary and secondary school students' award-winning works exhibition will be held at the same time.
Sun Min has always been concerned about his hometown and enthusiastic about public welfare. In 2006, he used his royalties to set up the "Sun Min Calligraphy Art Award" to encourage young calligraphy enthusiasts in Jiading. Today, this art award has been successfully held for 19 sessions, sowing the seeds of humanities and art in the hearts of young people, leading and encouraging them to pass on calligraphy art and promote traditional culture. It has also become a shining cultural business card for Jiading, and has injected rich humanistic connotations into Jiading's efforts to build a modern new city.
A total of 310 calligraphy works were received from primary and secondary schools in Jiading District for this competition, and 2 first prizes, 4 second prizes, 10 third prizes, and 22 excellent prizes were selected. The works are rich in content, with a wide range of themes, various styles, and various styles. They reflect the multiple references and artistic ideals of young authors, and present the students' love for the motherland, love for life, and vigorous and progressive spirit.
"Calligraphy is an excellent culture of the Chinese nation. It is lively, unified in form and meaning, profound and rich in connotation, and embodies the traditional Chinese aesthetic thought." Sun Min said, "Learning calligraphy art is an effective way for modern young people to inherit and carry forward the essence of Chinese national culture. It is also a good way to improve the comprehensive quality of young people and cultivate artistic accomplishment and excellent humanistic temperament."
In 2020, he donated to establish a public welfare social organization that integrates calligraphy learning, research, creation and exchange - Chengxin Calligraphy Garden in Jiading District, Shanghai. It is committed to creating a platform for calligraphy learning and exchange for calligraphy enthusiasts in Jiading, promoting the popularization of calligraphy art, cultivating outstanding calligraphy talents, and inheriting and promoting Chinese calligraphy art.
"The language of calligraphy can best penetrate into people's inner world. It uses the simplest tools, the simplest colors and lines, but it melts the universe and human emotions into the tip of the pen and pours them out on the paper." Sun Min said, "As a practitioner of calligraphy art, I should contribute my humble efforts to promote the traditional Chinese calligraphy art."
