Zhao Wanhe / text
Calligraphy is a unique traditional art that is easy to learn but difficult to master. It is remarkable that a person who has spent his whole life can write a good hand! If you can excel in calligraphy, become an outstanding person, and devote yourself to extensive and effective calligraphy publicity and education and calligraphy activities, so that people who are interested in calligraphy all over the world can benefit, it will be even more meritorious. Mr. Zhou Zhigao has lofty ambitions and has written a wonderful life in the calligraphy industry with his efforts beyond ordinary people.
Mr. Zhou Zhigao was born in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province in 1945. This is the Lixiahe water town, with a long history and outstanding people, and it is the hometown of Zheng Banqiao, Shi Nai'an, Liu Xizai and a group of others. The style of calligraphy and painting in his hometown made Mr. Zhou Zhigao fall in love with calligraphy since he was a child. He studied under Shen Yinmo and Hu Wensui, and later transferred to masters such as Baijiao and Ma Gongyu. He worked in the Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing House, and soaked in the reference room of the publishing house every day, concentrating on the study and study of various inscriptions of truth, grass, li, and seal. It can be said that ink into a pool, pen into a mound, paper into a mound, his calligraphy is rooted in tradition, absorbing the strengths of others, advancing with the times. His works, whether they are plotting or rendering with pen and ink, show their skillful artistic attainments, which can be described as knowledgeable from the past to the present. In the wide range of public to establish their own elegant and vulgar appreciation, the combination of inscriptions, unique calligraphy style.
On June 11, 2012, Shanghai calligraphy went on a global tour. The picture shows Zhou Zhigao, head of the Meituan visiting Shanghai calligraphy home, and calligraphy on the spot.
He is also a calligrapher, especially Jingzheng, Xing, Cao, his Xingcao font can not only express profound thoughts and feelings, but also show excellent formal beauty, is a model of contemporary Chinese Xingcao font. As Lang Shaojun (judge of the Artistic Achievement Award of the Ministry of Culture, art researcher of the Chinese Academy of Arts, doctoral supervisor and director of the Art Theory Research Center of Hebei University) commented: "Mr. Zhou's works are full of strong subjective colors and profound humanistic atmosphere, elegant and chic, smart and handsome, majestic, looking forward to life, and full of charm. In particular, his cursive handwriting is like a frightening dragon, and he can see the wind and bones when he puts pen to paper, which shows his brilliance, giving people a visual and psychological impact with a sense of fluidity. It not only reflects his profound calligraphy personality, but also has a profound cultural background, which is a kind of 'great calligraphy' with national consciousness, which is really everyone's style. ”
On August 9, 2013, at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Calligraphy Global Exhibition in Hamburg, Germany, Zhou Zhigao, head of the Shanghai calligrapher delegation, wrote the "Sino-German Language Year" on the spot.
On June 17, 2013, Zhou Zhigao was invited to create two calligraphy works of Zheng Banqiao's "Yongzhu" poem.
As the first and second executive director, the third, fifth and sixth directors of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and a senior judge of the China Calligraphers Association, Zhou Zhigao founded the Shanghai Calligraphy magazine in 1977 and served as the executive editor-in-chief, with a circulation of 400,000 copies per issue by 1980. It is precisely because of the wide circulation of the magazine "Calligraphy" that the great popularization and development of calligraphy art in the eighties of the last century was promoted. In 2003, Zhou Zhigao became the executive editor of the magazine "Chinese Calligraphy", in September 2010 he became the chairman of the Shanghai Calligraphy Association, and in 2016 he became the president of the Shanghai Chinese Calligraphy Court. Zhou Zhigao has planned and participated in the hosting of the national "five firsts" activities: the first National Mass Calligraphy Competition, the first National Exhibition of Calligraphy and Seal Carving, the first National Theoretical Seminar on Calligraphy, the first National Seal Carving Competition, and the first National Young and Middle-aged "Shuyuan Ying" Competition. This paved the way for the Chinese Calligraphy Association to hold a national calligraphy activity and provided a reference. Mr. Zhou Zhigao has published more than 50 kinds of calligraphy and calligraphy monographs and co-authors. His works have participated in the 1st to 12th National Exhibitions and dozens of major book fairs at home and abroad, and have been collected by dozens of museums, art galleries and memorial halls at home and abroad. He is the founder of the revival of Chinese calligraphy, one of the initiators of the establishment of the China Calligraphy Association in 1981, and one of the first two standing directors of the China Calligraphy Association.
After Mr. Zhou Zhigao became the chairman of the Shanghai Calligraphy Association, he always insisted on making the art of calligraphy one of the business cards of Shanghai's international cultural metropolis. To this end, he proposed and practiced the global tour of Shanghai-style calligraphy, and led more than ten delegations to visit five continents, contributing to the development of Chinese calligraphy to the world. Mr. Zhou Zhigao has become an irreplaceable business card of Chinese calligraphy to the world.
In the creation of calligraphy, he has: "One standard, two combinations, three do not forget." One criterion refers to the appreciation of both the elegant and the vulgar. 'Ya' is elegant, high-grade, and connotative, but it is not high and low. 'Vulgar' is popular, the public can accept and like, but not kitsch; the combination of two refers to the combination of inscriptions and posts, the combination of north and south. One side of the water and soil to raise one side of the people, the north is open-minded, thick and simple, the south is beautiful, delicate and smart, the two learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses, and cannot be biased; The three don't forget refers to not forgetting the national characteristics, not forgetting the characteristics of the times, and not forgetting the personal characteristics. The ratio between the three can be determined according to one's own talent, learning, knowledge and temperament, and one should pursue 'true qi, true meaning, and true interest.' "Under Mr. Zhou's pen, the words are beautiful, the lines are vivid, the pen is vigorous, the body is chic, the dryness is moist, and the opening is free, all in self-explanatory. It has a strong life tension and intriguing rhythm and charm.
The road of life is long, but there are only a few steps at the critical point. Giving care, guidance and help to people at the key points of life is a lifelong benefit for the person being instructed. Master Zhou Zhigao is a noble person who has benefited me all my life.
Mr. Zhou Zhigao presented Zhao Wanhe with a letter of appointment as a researcher of the Shanghai China Book Court
I have known Mr. Zhou Zhigao for nearly 40 years, calligraphy is the fate of our acquaintance, in the 80s of the last century, when I was studying at Tongji University, I met Mr. Zhou Zhigao at the award ceremony of the Shanghai University Students' Calligraphy Competition. He was a judge, I was the president of the Tongji University Calligraphy Association and won the first prize of the competition, and was appreciated by Mr. Zhou Zhigao, praising my calligraphy skills and the wind spirit, since then, I have admired Mr. Zhou Zhigao as a teacher. Since then, I have been in regular contact with him, and over the years, I have been taught by his words and deeds, and I have realized the breadth and profundity of calligraphy. From the initial mastery of the basic skills of one stroke at a time, to gradually pay attention to structure and shape, discipline and momentum, and even to express rhythm, charm and style. Master Zhou's guidance has improved and improved my calligraphy skills. I've learned a lot over the past 40 years.
The "Zhou Zhigao Calligraphy Art Collection Donation Ceremony" was held at the Putuo District Library in Shanghai
On January 19 this year, the "Zhou Zhigao Calligraphy Art Collection Donation Ceremony" was held at the Putuo District Library in Shanghai, and Mr. Zhou Zhigao, who is nearly eighty years old, has donated his calligraphy art documents to the Shanghai Putuo District Library since 2022.
Zhou Zhigao's calligraphy art collection donation display site
Among them, "Calligraphy" magazine and "Chinese Calligraphy" magazine from 1977 and 1982 to the end of 2023, all of them are fully displayed, which is the only one in the country. This is a valuable document provided by Mr. Zhou Zhigao for the inheritance and promotion of Chinese calligraphy and the education of Chinese calligraphy.
Over the past few decades, Mr. Zhou Zhigao has cultivated a group of calligraphy talents in the country, he is a calligrapher with a sense of historical responsibility, has a special position in the Chinese calligraphy circle, he is a calligrapher, calligraphy activist, calligraphy educator who has witnessed the changes in the Chinese calligraphy world for decades. Mr. Zhou is now an old man with calligraphy, and his calligraphy works are atmospheric, majestic, and beautiful, and the style is far away; He is friendly and humble, highly respected, and a model for my generation; Today, he has donated a large number of calligraphy art documents, which is admirable.
I am willing to ride the wind and waves, and read for ten years on the wall
【Artist Profile】
Zhou Zhigao, born in 1945, is a native of Xinghua, Jiangsu. The first and second executive directors of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, the third, fifth and sixth directors, the senior judge of the Chinese Calligraphy Association, founded the Shanghai "Calligraphy" magazine in 1977 and served as the executive editor-in-chief, and successively planned and participated in the hosting of five national firsts (the first National Mass Calligraphy Competition, the first National Exhibition of Calligraphy and Seal Carving, the first National Theoretical Seminar of Calligraphy, the first National Seal Carving Competition, and the first National Young and Middle-aged "Calligraphy Garden" Competition) major activities, and was known as "one of the founders of the revival of Chinese contemporary calligraphy". He is one of the initiators of the establishment of the China Calligraphy Association in 1981, and one of the first two living executive directors of the China Calligraphy Association.
He used to be the executive editor-in-chief of the Chinese Calligraphy magazine of the China Calligraphy Association, the deputy director of the Editorial and Publication Committee of the China Calligraphy Association, the consultant of the China Couplet Society, the executive editor-in-chief of the Chronicle of the Calligraphy World (Sixty Years of Chinese Calligraphy), and the adjunct professor of Xu Beihong Art College of Chinese University. He is currently an academic member of the Chinese Calligraphy Magazine, a consultant of the Calligraphy Magazine, a researcher of the Calligraphy and Painting Institute of the Central Museum of Culture and History, the vice chairman of the Written Talent Professional Committee of the Chinese Talent Seminar of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, an advisor of the Calligraphy Professional Committee of the Chinese Education Society, a librarian of the Shanghai Research Institute of Culture and History, a part-time professor of Fudan University and Shanghai Normal University, an honorary chairman of the Shanghai Book Association, and the president of the Shanghai China Book Court.
He has published more than 50 kinds of calligraphy monographs and co-authorships. His works have participated in the 1st to 12th National Exhibitions and dozens of major book fairs at home and abroad, and have been collected by dozens of museums, art galleries and memorial halls at home and abroad. In the winter of 1989, he was the first person in the Chinese calligraphy industry to be invited to Singapore to hold an exhibition, and in 2010, he served as the chairman of the Shanghai Calligraphy Association, in order to implement the art of calligraphy to become one of the business cards of Shanghai's international cultural metropolis.
【Text / About the Author】
Zhao Wanhe, a native of Gaoyou, Jiangsu, graduated from Nanjing University of Technology and Shanghai Tongji University. Calligraphy studied under Chen Congzhou and Zhou Zhigao. 2009 National Top 10 Cultural and Economic News Figures. Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Painting and Calligraphy, Vice President of the Chinese Artists Exchange Association, Member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, Member of the Chinese Couplet Society, Member of the Calligraphy Art Committee, Researcher of Jiangsu Calligraphy and Painting Art Research Center of Nanjing Normal University, Calligraphy Art Consultant of Yangzhou Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Art Consultant of Art China Magazine of China Education Television, Vice President of Yangzhou Calligraphy Court, Researcher (Honorary Vice President) of Shanghai China Calligraphy Court, Honorary President of Calligraphy and Seal Carving Research Institute of Shandong East-West Cultural Exchange Association, National First-class Artist, Visiting professor at the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University.
Zhao Wanhe and Mr. Zhou Zhigao took a group photo at the Gaoyou Cultural Tour Platform
His works have participated in many calligraphy and painting exhibitions at home and abroad, and have been permanently treasured or stoned by the National Museum of China, the National Art Museum of China and famous gardens. He has been interviewed by the media many times. The character entry was selected into the "History of Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy". In 2013, sponsored by the Chinese Calligraphers Association and other units, the Hanmo Qingfeng Zhao Wanhe Calligraphy Exhibition was held in the auditorium of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He has successively taught calligraphy at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics and Nanjing University of Technology. He was specially awarded the honorary title of "2023 Art Representative" by the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He has published "Case Studies of Famous Contemporary Calligraphers - Zhao Wanhe Album", "Zhao Wanhe Calligraphy", "Zhao Wanhe Calligraphy 100 Ancient Poems", "Zhao Wanhe Calligraphy Art Appreciation", etc.