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Chinese Calligraphy Workshop Shaolin Temple UK presents a Chinese Calligraphy Workshop with Master Calligrapher Zhao Yizhou. Date: Saturday September 17th 2005 Master Calligrapher Zhao Yizhou. Zhao Yizhou is widely regarded as the finest contemporary Chinese calligrapher in the UK.
His style is renowned for its power and expressiveness and his work is greatly appreciated by collectors. He has lectured at
the V&A and the British Museum and his work is in public and private collections, including the Royal Collection,
throughout the world. His work is especially influenced by the calligraphy of the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province, China.
Chinese Brush Painting Date: TBC Brush painting is considered by many to be one of the greatest artistic achievements of Chinese Culture. Proficiency in painting,
just as in calligraphy, requires great artistic sensibility and self control. This workshop is a practical introduction for
beginners and experienced artists to this fine art form. All materials required for this course are included in the course fee.
Calligraphy and Gong Fu by Shifu Shi Yanzi It is well known in China that calligraphers are long-lived and usually very healthy. This is because in order to write well with a brush the calligrapher must have a very high level of control over his mind and his body. In particular this means learning to control one's breathing and to control one's Qi. The concentration and energy needed to produce good calligraphy is very similar to the concentration needed to produce good Gong Fu. A calligrapher focuses his Qi before making decisive strokes with his pen just as a practitioner of Gong Fu sinks his Qi and clears his mind before moving suddenly and with unexpected force. Many great Gong Fu masters have also studied calligraphy. Each art helps the other to develop and reach new depths of understanding, especially in the cultivation of Qi. Master Zhao Yizhou has been chosen to teach this workshop at Shaolin Temple UK because of his great skill as a calligrapher and also because of his deep understanding of the link between the brush and the cultivation of the mind and Qi. He has studied extensively in Henan and has a deep understanding of Shaolin Culture. I recommend serious students of Gong Fu to learn these arts as a means of improving their skill. For everyone, whether a student of Gong Fu or not, calligraphy is a healthful activity. It helps to calm the mind and channel the Qi as well as being a fine art form. I would encourage anyone to practice this art and take this opportunity to learn from a true master. Shaolin Temple UK is dedicated to encouraging participation in traditional Chinese culture. This workshop in the Shaolin Temple UK Mandarin Centre is part of our long-term aim to make Chinese Culture and particularly the culture of the Shaolin Temple available to the people of the UK. |
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Zhao Yizhou Calligraphy in China, Japan and Korea is considered to the supreme graphic art, greater even than painting. This is partly because of the great variety of Chinese characters (they number in the tens of thousands, unlike the limited alphabet of, say, European or Indian languages), partly because of the great variety of styles (from seal-script to formal script to varieties of cursive script), partly because the implement used is a brush (which is far more expressive and flexible than the reed-pen or quill or other stylus used in non-East-Asian traditions of calligraphy), and partly because of the long tradition of the art in China, more than three thousand years. Chinese calligraphy is far more than 'beautiful writing', an ornament or embellishment; it is an expression of inspiration and feeling as profound as those one obtains from sculpture or drama or music. |
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Mr Zhao Yizhou is one of the very finest Chinese calligraphers in England, and indeed it could well be said that he is one of the best of the younger Chinese calligraphers anywhere in the world, including China. The richness of his technique (developed through intensive study over more than two decades) is complemented by boldness in execution and an unusual aliveness to both the value of tradition and the need for innovation. As a theorist Mr Zhao displays a richness of philosophical and aesthetic thought rare in any subject. As with his own compositions, he brings too bear upon his analysis of every style of calligraphy a sense of history and tradition, while at the same time being very alive to contemporary movements in the art. His analogies between calligraphy by on the one hand and music, poetry and dance on the other, are thought provoking and inspiring. And his love of poetry and philosophy enrich his analysis both of specific texts and of calligraphy as a whole. Vikram Seth CBE (Hon.) Author of Three Chinese Poets: Translations from Du Fu, Li Bai and Wang Wei; from Heaven Lake: Travels through Sinkiang and Tibet [novels including A Suitable Boy; An Equal Music; and several volumes of poetry] Places are limited to ensure maximum personal attention so booking is essential. Please contact info@shaolintempleuk.org or phone 020 7687 8333 to reserve your place (deposit payable) |
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