Mr. Sha Menghai, a master of calligraphy and a famous scholar in the 20th century, has left a deep imprint on the inheritance of Chinese culture through his glorious life. When he was born at the age of eight or nine, he showed an innate artistic talent, imitating his father's example by copying inscriptions and carving seals. At the age of 12, he was able to read the big seal characters accurately, and was known as the "little prodigy", which laid a solid foundation for his future artistic career.
While studying at Ningbo Provincial No. 4 Normal School, Sha Menghai developed a strong interest in classical literature and calligraphy, and sought advice from Feng Junmu, the school's Chinese language teacher. During this period, he had already demonstrated the spirit of self-study in paleography and epigraphy, which laid a solid foundation for his later academic research.
At the age of 18, he organized the "Yuefeng Society" with Feng Duliang, Chen Xunshu, Yu Kang and others, and often discussed and studied and observed creation. The artistic exchanges of this period provided valuable experience and inspiration for his later creation of calligraphy. At the age of 21, he began to study classical literature at the home of teacher Feng Junmu, and studied paleography and gold and stone studies by himself. At the age of 23, he came to Shanghai, and due to his family's poor situation, he had to sell characters in Chinese and even write seal carvings all night. The painstaking efforts of this period laid the foundation for his profound attainments in the field of calligraphy.
Sha Menghai devoted his life to copying the inscriptions of the past dynasties, not relying on the old books, exploring diligently, and collecting widely. His practice from the "Collection of Wang Xi's Holy Order" to the "Yishan Carved Stone", "Huiji Carved Stone" and Yang Yisun and Wu Dazheng large and small seal scripts, formed a solid foundation of traditional calligraphy. In this process, he continued to change, from the pursuit of "Shang Yun" to the admiration of the Beibei school of "Shang Shi", and from the creation of regular script to the creation of grass.
He deeply studied Zhong Xuan, Wang Xizhi, Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Huang Daozhou, Zhang Ruitu and other calligraphy masters in the Qing Dynasty, and finally formed a "strong" calligraphy style with his own characteristics. This kind of inheritance and extensive absorption of excellent calligraphy traditions makes Sha Menghai's calligraphy more connotative and weighty of Chinese culture, and more national. His calligraphy style is vigorous and robust, typically reflecting the national character of profundity, broadness, and simplicity.
Wu Changshuo's high praise of Sha Menghai shows his status in the art world at that time, and he wrote a poem with an inscription at the age of 26: "Zhejiang people do not learn from Uncle Zhao, but they are unique heroes." Wen He's bad habits are swept away, and it doesn't seem to be passed on. I think of a fierce battle, and the drum does not compete and hides the front. "The grandmaster's affirmation of Sha Menghai is a testament to his outstanding contribution to the field of calligraphy.
Sha Menghai's calligraphy is known as "sand body", which has become a unique landscape in the contemporary calligraphy world. Behind his calligraphy is not only the creation of personality, but also the profound connotation of Chinese culture, with national and global characteristics. Today, the state lists Sha Menghai's calligraphy as a national treasure and strictly prohibits its outflow, which is a high recognition of his artistic achievements and also reflects the importance attached to the inheritance of Chinese culture. His calligraphy is not only an outstanding personal achievement, but also a precious heritage of Chinese culture that will be passed down forever.