At the age of 97, he was awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Calligrapher of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles"

The famous calligrapher and gold stone seal engraver Gao Shixiong passed away peacefully on the morning of January 25, 2019, at the age of 98.

Born in 1921, Gao Shixiong is a native of Yinxian County, Zhejiang Province. He was a member of the China Book Association, honorary vice president of Xiling Printing Society, consultant of Shanghai Book Association, librarian of Shanghai Municipal Research Museum of Culture and History, president of Shanghai Minjian Calligraphy and Painting Institute, and president of Tangbai Printing Society. His father, Gao Zhenxiao, was a librarian of the first batch of literature and history research museums in Shanghai, New China, and a famous calligrapher.

High-style bear calligraphy works

He inherited his family learning at an early age, calligraphy was taught by his father, at the age of 20, he was guided by the famous maritime artists Zhao Shuru and Wang Fu'an, good at seal engraving, calligraphy and printing appraisal, calligraphy was out of the box, elegant and generous; later he liked to copy printing, and had a great study of the printing spectrum and the Indian genre in the past, and at the age of 27, he joined the Xiling Printing Society as the youngest member at that time.

Its calligraphy is both good at calligraphy, line, seal, and subordination, which is clean and free, especially the small seal is the most exquisite, and it is called double beauty together with the seal carving. He is also the author of monographs such as "The Biography of the Seal of the Xiling Printing Society" and "The Seal of the High-style Bear". His works have been exhibited and published many times at home and abroad.

High-style bear calligraphy works

In 2018, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles specially established the honorary title of "Lifetime Achievement Artist of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles". Combined with the actual situation of the calligraphy community, the Chinese Calligraphers Association was elected by three rounds of democratic voting by the Presidium of the Seventh Presidium of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and reported to the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles for approval, and awarded Gao Shixiong and Zhang Hai the "Lifetime Achievement Calligraphers of the Chinese Federation of Literary and Art Circles".

At that time, the comment on Gao Shixiong was: "The 97-year-old man has read through the vicissitudes and witnessed the development of modern and contemporary calligraphy and seal carving. His calligraphy style, based on Zhao Shuru and Wang Fu'an, is elegant and high-minded; one stroke at a time, one knife at a time, from technology into the Tao, with a "no self" posture to reach the realm of "having me".

For decades, he immersed himself in the art of calligraphy, his state of mind was detached, far away from the hustle and bustle, and he was old and old. In the contemporary book world, he has set an example for the younger generation of calligraphers. ”

High-style bear calligraphy works

Although the elder is more than ninety years old, he has always been deaf and clear-eyed, has a fast reaction speed, and is very childlike. Because he looked like a Russian, he got the nickname "Ivanov", to which Takashi Bear said: "When I went to Japan, they said that I looked like Picasso's brother, and let me take a picture with Picasso's portrait!" ”

Tall bear

In addition to calligraphy and gold stones, he also likes to collect brand-name cameras, ballpoint pens and so on. There is a vitality in the old man, he is still learning to drive a car in his nineties, very casual, he usually likes to take pictures and smoke cigars. Live more vigorously than young people.

High-style bear seal engraving

Gao Shi Xiong is not only proficient in seal carving and calligraphy, but also a famous master of printing clay, who was taught by the early members of xiling printing society, famous calligraphy, seal engraver, collector Mr. Zhang Lu'an, the founder of Lu'an printing clay, and Mr. Zhang's true biography.

Before his death in 1962, Zhang Lu'an entrusted the "Secret Recipe No. 49 of Lu'an Seal Clay" to Gao Shi Xiong, instructing him to pass on the production process of Lu'an Ink Clay and donate this secret recipe to the country.

High-style bear calligraphy works

Due to various reasons, the whereabouts of the other No. 55 formulas of the original Lu'an Yin Clay are unknown, and the "Secret Recipe no. 49 of the Lu'an Yin Clay" has become the only "bloodline" passed down from lu an Yin Clay. After years of appealing by Mr. Gao Shixiong, Lu'an Yin Clay was finally approved by the Shanghai Municipal Government as "Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritage" and submitted to the "National Intangible Cultural Heritage". Mr. Gao also subsequently said that he would donate the "Lu'an Yin Clay No. 49 Secret Recipe" to the state free of charge, and its high wind and bright festival were admirable. Mr. Qi Baishi has used the printing clay of the tall bear for a long time, and can guarantee that it will not fade for fifty years.

High-style bear calligraphy works

Some critics have commented that the works of Zhao Shuru and Wang Fu'an do not belong to gaoshi bears, and the works of Ding Jingshen and Wu Rangzhi are not stand-ins for gaoshi bears, gaoshi bears are gaoshi bears, and the "bear-like" of gaoshi bears cannot be replaced by the works of another calligraphy seal engraver, but the "Gao" works with his personal mark. In the field of Gong Wenyanxiu's simple calligraphy and seal engraving works, Gao ShiXiong's works retain his personalized elements.

High-style bear calligraphy works

The 90-year-old Gaoshi Bear has seen the vicissitudes and witnessed the development of modern and contemporary calligraphy and seal engraving. His calligraphy style, based on Zhao Shuru and Wang Fu'an, is elegant and high-minded; one stroke at a time, one knife at a time, from technology into the Tao, with a "no self" posture to reach the realm of "having me". For decades, he immersed himself in the art of calligraphy, his state of mind was detached, far away from the hustle and bustle, and he was old and old. In the contemporary book world, he has set an example for the younger generation of calligraphers.

Further reading:

Interview with The Tall Bear

Q: Since you are an elder of the Xiling Printing Society, can you first talk about your academic experience and your relationship with the Xiling Printing Society?

Tall Bear:

These articles have been seen in various newspapers and periodicals, and it is best that xiling printing agency can sort it out, and if there are any deficiencies or inaccuracies, I will supplement and revise them.

Here, I will briefly say. I was born in a family of scholars, my father Gao Zhenxiao was a late Qing Dynasty scholar Hanlin, I was influenced by my family since I was a child, "Shuowen Jiezi" was written many times, and then I saw that there were many seal stones in the family, and I thought about carving, when I was about fifteen or sixteen years old. There is no one in my house to engrave, I just like it, no teacher, carved to play. Mr. Zhao Shuru and my family have always known each other, and in 1941, when I was 21 years old, I took a self-engraved seal to ask him for advice, and Mr. Zhao introduced me to his student Zhang Lu'an. Mr. Zhao said: "Zhang Lu'an has a lot of seals, you can go and see them. There is a very good seal score, you must have, that is, "Huang Mufu Seal Score". "It seems that Mr. Zhao had instructed Zhang Lu'an, and not long after, Zhang Lu'an came to my house and gave me a two-volume "Huang Mufu Seal Spectrum." He said to me, "You like to engrave, and I have a lot of seals in my house, so you can come and see them." "He was 42 years old, exactly twice as old as me. Every time he brought a large bag of printed scores, opened a list, sent them to my house, after reading I called, he sent me again, so that for more than two years, I almost all of the more than four hundred seals in his collection.

High-style bear seal engraving: Tea Strategy

I also knew Mr. Wang Fu'an when I was 21 years old. Zhao Shuru, Wang Fu'an, and Zhang Lu'an, I met them almost the same year. Mr. Wang Fu'an is a friend of my father's, he lives in No. 3 Siming Village, which is very close to my house, so he has frequent contacts with my family.

I did not formally worship him, but only called him "Old Uncle Wang". He often came to my house to see me engraved. I have many prints that I have also written and printed, and I have taken them to him to read them before playing the knife.

Mr. Wang Fu'an was more strict with me than he was with his students, and some words felt slightly inappropriate, so they had to be re-examined, confused and doubted, and meticulous. Although we are not teacher-student relationship, we are closer than teachers and students, and he has helped me the most in the art of seal engraving.

I have never received that kind of teaching between teachers and students in my life, and the lessons I have received from Mr. Wang Fu'an are all through daily interactions and ear contact.

What is a teacher? This is the teacher. First of all, I wanted to learn, to study, I went to Mr. Wang Fu'an's house to seek teaching, that is, to take classes, and that's how I learned. I have the opportunity to get to know such famous artists as Wang Fu'an and Zhang Lu'an, which is my luck.

On the Chongyang Festival in 1947, I took a train to Hangzhou with Ding Fuzhi and Wang Fu'an to participate in the 40th anniversary of the Xiling Printing Society. Subsequently, ding and wang introduced me to the Xiling Printing Society. The fourth person to the right of the person in the group photo was me.

In the autumn of 1947, the members of the Printing Press held a group photo to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the make-up trip

The fourth place on the right of the neutral is the tall bear

Q: Zhang Lu'an has made great contributions to the Xiling Seal Society, and most of the collection of the Xiling Seal Society was donated by him, but now young seal engraving enthusiasts do not know much about him.

Tall Bear:

I have appealed more than once that Zhang Lu'an is a person who cannot be forgotten in the seal engraving world, and his contribution to the Xiling Printing Society is indelible. The Xiling Printing Society should vigorously publicize him and set such an example. It's not just out of my own feelings.

Zhang Lu'an is a native of Cixi, Zhejiang Province, and an old member of the Xiling Printing Society. He has lived in Shanghai for a long time, is a small K in Shanghai, and has real estate. He opened a medicine shop in Shanghai called "Yiyuan Ginseng", in the Hartung Building on Nanjing Road. He was also the owner of Hangzhou Zhang Tongtai Pharmacy, his family is one of the four major families in Hangzhou, and I also visited Hangzhou Zhang Tongtai Pharmacy at that time. Zhang Lu'an had no interest in running a pharmacy, but he put all his interest in collecting seals and seals. He is such a "weirdo".

Zhang Lu'an's teacher is Zhao Shuru, as well as Ding Fuzhi, Wang Fu'an, Chen Julai, Fang Jiekan and other famous artists are his friends, and his seal carving vision is of course good. Zhang Lu'an has so many printed notations, but he is by no means secretive, he asked me to compile a "Catalogue of Seals Hidden by Zhang Lu'an" for him, which I compiled in the 1950s, and the size, version, who wrote the preface, and the time of publication of each printed book were all recorded in detail, and after being compiled, mimeographed into a book and distributed to the same good.

Zhang Lu'an said: I have so many collections, but they are not privately owned by me, and I must donate them to the state. He asked me to talk to the relevant Departments in Shanghai, but the Shanghai side did not pay enough attention at that time. In 1961, he asked me to contact the Central Ministry of Culture in Beijing. In the end, these treasures were stored in the Xiling Printing Society, which I think is the most ideal choice. It is hoped that the Xiling Printing Society can organize the catalogue of cultural relics donated by Zhang Lu'an into a book for printing.

Zhang Lu'an has devoted his life's efforts to printing science, and has generously spent all his money on printing, he has this condition, he is a person who is truly generous at all costs for printing studies. I haven't met anyone as persistent as he is. There are very few such people!

Q: In my dealings with Zhang Lu'an, what other things impressed you?

Tall Bear:

In the 1940s, I used to go to The Office of Zhang Lu'an in Yiyuan, which he had to go every day. After he was not in good health in the 50s, I often went to his house, and I always had to go to his house several times a week, we carved, made printing clay, and read the printing notation, such as "Xiling Eight Families" and "Huipai", from morning to night together, everything was talked about. Zhang Lu'an xi deng finished the white seal, and he imitated many of his works, and we often worked together.

He bought Zhangzhou printing clay, the most expensive brand "Wei Lihua", dozens of silver dollars one or two, and also invited a chemical engineer to help analyze the ingredients in order to improve the quality of production. He is willing to spend money and study. In April 1962, when he was seriously ill and hospitalized, I went to visit him and told him that I was going to Xiling Printing Society. I didn't expect this to become a permanent trick, and when he returned, he had died.

The materials I studied were all provided by Zhang Lu'an. In the circle, his collection of seals can be called the first, from the Qin and Han seals to the genre seals, I can see at any time, this is an incredible wealth of knowledge. Like Zhang Lu'an, a rich man in the Shanghai collection circle, the "Ten Bells Mountain House Seal Score" he collected, the price at that time was 800 taels of silver, which Wu Hufan sold to him, a total of 192 volumes, such a valuable seal he also sent to me to see!

I wanted to see Zhao Zhiqian's seal, so he took it out and washed it, coated it with ink, filled it with some powder, and looked at it with a magnifying glass to carefully study Zhao Zhiqian's sword technique. Now people still have such eyes! He put all his mind into printing, and a real collector could not let me play with such a valuable seal like this. Such a sincere friend I really haven't met!

When I first met Zhang Lu'an, he made me a seal clay, and I still have it. The carving knife I used was also given to me by Zhang Lu'an, this knife was made by himself with sealed steel, and the body of the knife was tied with huqin strings, which was his characteristic, and it was much stronger and more convenient to hold in my hand than with silk thread, and I have been using it since 1941 to the present. These two relics are my memorial to him.

Question: You have done a lot of work for Mr. Zhang Lu'an's donation of the Xiling Seal Society, going back and forth, and doing a lot of work.

Tall Bear:

As an old member, it is only natural that you can do what you can for Xiling Printing Society. In May 1962, Wang Shuxun and Zhu Deban of the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture came to Shanghai to discuss the matter of mobilizing Zhang Lu'an's family to donate the collection to the Xiling Printing Society after Zhang Lu'an's death. I went with them to do the work of the Zhang family, and Zhang Lu'an's family understood the great righteousness and unanimously agreed to donate the collection to the Xiling Printing Society.

Since then, the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture has visited the Zhang family collection many times. During the handover of the inventory, I took a leave of absence to help the Zhang family sort out the printing score, etc., sorted out for a total of three days, finished the inventory, attached the seal, and shipped it to Hangzhou. On December 15, 1962, I attended the Zhang Lu'an Collection Donation Conference held at the Hangzhou Hotel, and I spoke on behalf of the Zhang family.

In order to donate the collection, how many people in Hangzhou came to the Zhang family at that time, how many people were present during the inventory, there are original records and photos, you can sort out these materials, it is not clear, I will add.

When Wang Ping was the secretary, xiling printing company wanted to resume the production of printing clay, they asked me to help, and I was happy to do something for the printing house. I invited Zhang Lu'an's son, Zhang Yongmin, who worked in the Department of Chemical Engineering of Hangzhou University and was engaged in chemical engineering; second, he helped his father make printing clay, and he also wanted to give the information he had to the printing agency. We had dinner with the leaders of the Printing Press and the relevant personnel, and after I introduced Zhang Yongmin, one of the leaders asked in a soft tone, "What is the benefit of your 'Lu'an Printing Clay'?" It seems that Zhang Yongmin is doing business at the door, and the matter is finally not resolved.

The quality of the printing clay I made according to the No. 49 formula written by Zhang Yongmin completely reached the original level of Lu'an printing clay. Zhang Lu'an is an old member of the printing company, Lu'an printing clay is only the most suitable for production and sale in Xiling Printing Society, and the Shanghai printing clay factory is not suitable, which I have said many times. Since its restoration, the Xiling Printing Society has opened a council and issued me a small book, which I use every year as a record, and hold meetings every year to speak every year.

In 1963, after the 60th anniversary of xiling printing society,

That is, to organize some members to visit and tour.

The picture shows the members visiting the Xin'anjiang Reservoir Dam (photo by Gao ShiXiong)

Q: Please tell us about the two seals you created, "The Seal of the Xiling Seal Society" and the "Seal of the Xiling Sheng traces".

Tall Bear:

"Xiling Printing Society FanDom" is based on the printing society fandom as a seal, the side section engraved small biography, a total of 220 squares, carved in 1948, when I was 28 years old, when only one of the extension was donated to the Xiling Printing Society. At that time, Mr. Wang Fu'an, Zhang Lu'an, Qin Kangxiang and I often gathered together to discuss the creation of this score.

Qin Kangxiang was responsible for writing all the fan biographies, Zhang Lu'an provided materials such as stone seals and printing clay, and I was responsible for the seal carving. After I wrote the printed manuscript, I showed it to Elder Wang Fulao and revised it according to his opinions. Wang Fulao's requirements are very strict, the most important side, I repeatedly carved five times before completing, just like the graduation exam carefully conceived, do my best. This printed score is both a fandom and a short biography, and the artistry and historical value are collected in one series, which is the crystallization of the cooperation between the four of us.

In 1962, in order to present the 60th anniversary of the Xiling Printing Society, we hastily developed a four-volume "Xiling Printing Society FanYin Biography", which I donated to President Zhang Zongxiang. During the turmoil of the "Cultural Revolution", I lost a lot of the rough stone of this printed score. In 1955, my students contacted Shanghai Duoyunxuan and specially organized the team to publish the four-volume "Xiling Printing Society Fan Biography". This edition contains 157 squares of printing and 7 parties of supplementary engraving, which is 164 squares. I was 75 years old at the time, and Duo Yunxuan published a total of 75 copies of the "Seal Biography" for this purpose.

"Xiling Sheng traces of the seal" is my work in my thirties, was completed under the careful guidance of Wang Fulao, many of the printed manuscripts are still Wang Fulao's handwritten corrections, these printed manuscripts I still keep, is my early learning process of precious materials. After this seal score was engraved, it was not bound into a book, but only sporadic prints were expanded, because Elder Wang Fu heard that Han Deng'an had also engraved a seal score of the same theme, so he asked me to postpone the publication of the print score for a while, and his heart was loyal and made me admire.

Q: You learned seal engraving with Mr. Wang Fu'an, so some people think that your printing style inherits the authenticity of the Zhejiang School, so please talk about your view of artistic creation.

Tall Bear:

I carved the seal from the Qin and Han Dynasties, not simply to learn from the Zhejiang School, the Zhejiang School is only a special product of the Qing Qianjia period, in fact, the Zhejiang School is also printed from the Qin and Han Dynasties.

Like me, there are very few people who can see so many seals, Zhang Lu'an can bring so many valuable seals back to see, this is his trust in me, but also my spirit of hard work has been recognized by him, this is mutual, I cherish and never let go of this opportunity. Mr. Gao Yuzhan asked me to carve an ivory stamp, the ivory medallion is not so good to carve, he saw that I used the side section of the "Ceremonial Instrument Stele", greatly appreciated it, and showed me the Ming Tuo book of the "Ceremonial Instrument Stele" that he had hidden.

Therefore, any great collector, as long as he meets a real confidant, he is willing to take out his fine products and give them to you with confidence. I am very strict with my students, and the new generation in art will surpass the predecessors. Some people say that today's society is in a hurry for quick success. I say that if a person wants to have the spirit of struggle, he wants to make a splash, but this is not bragging, he wants to come up with something, and if he wants to do it, he must make the first.

Q: What are your requirements and expectations for the work of Xiling Printing Society?

Tall Bear:

The members of xiling printing society should love the printing society as much as they love their own body, and they must take out their own fine products, and they cannot be a little sloppy. In Japan, the Reputation of the Xiling Printing Society is great. When I visited Japan in the name of the deputy secretary-general of the Xiling Printing Agency, Mr. Mei Comfort said to me: As long as I am a member of the Xiling Printing Agency, I can not have other titles.

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