Sha Menghai: The Master Of The Art Of Chinese Calligraphy | Century Masters | Perspective

paper was light gold in medieval times i want tobacco sugar [Music] that everything we thought we knew about the world might turn out to be completely wrong [Music] [Music] for the first time in china an academy of calligraphy has been established because of the accomplishments of a single person his name was shah manghai calligraphy masterpieces are carefully preserved here the original works are rarely exhibited [Music] today we are going to delve into a unique artistic world the world of chinese calligraphy it can be a difficult art form to understand especially if you can't read chinese with enough ink on the tip the soft brush pen can be used to draw lines of different shapes on rice paper creating both writing and painting this is what chinese calligraphy looks like but what makes it artistic how did the practical act of writing characters evolve into an art form that spans several thousand years becoming synonymous with chinese civilization in modern china there was once a highly revered calligrapher xiamen hai let's try to understand this unique art form through his life story [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign everywhere you travel in china you'll see a special site examples of chinese calligraphy these works can be found in many scenic spots and historical sites over the centuries chinese calligraphy has merged with the ancient chinese civilization and become an indispensable part of it if you look carefully you'll find inscriptions in places like these were not written by ordinary people they were either kings nobles literary giants or local celebrities [Music] no matter who they were they all had extraordinary calligraphy skills [Music] in china many inscriptions in famous scenic spots were written by one man his name is together with the scenery his works of calligraphy spread through the ages [Music] shalom [Music] [Music] why is he rarely known to most chinese today to understand his life we have to start from the characters he wrote [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] like author like book ordinary people without knowledge of calligraphy may find it hard to understand how an expert associates a person's life and temperament with his works of calligraphy as a matter of fact in traditional chinese culture calligraphy was held in higher esteem than painting in other words it is no coincidence that we often see a painting with a handwritten poem by the painter and a seal affixed on it in the heart of chinese literati calligraphy has an important cultural significance that goes beyond painting views of life and philosophy contained within chinese calligraphy are key factors why chinese culture has lasted for several thousand years [Applause] if calligraphy is so profound and complex what kind of person becomes a calligraphy master throughout china's history there have been countless gifted scholars in literati yet only a few were honored as calligraphers these ancient masters were from rich and powerful families they grew up learning poetry and the classics in a superior environment since childhood shah mung hai however was born in the beginning of the 20th century into a poor peasant family he was very lucky to have a chance to read and write he eventually became a master of calligraphy thanks to the changes that took place in 20th century china today china is in an age of reform more than 100 years ago china was at the end of a feudal dynasty the fate of the chinese people was shaped by the ups and downs of that era against this backdrop shah manghai was born into a poor peasant family in the 20th century china suffered from domestic strife and foreign aggression learning from the west became popular massive changes occurred in culture and art circles the lives of many chinese changed dramatically in this era mirroring the rise and fall of the times shah manghai was one of them following shah manghai's footsteps we arrive at the first stop of our journey the city of ningbo [Music] village deep in the mountains of the yenzhou district in ningboa the six-room two-story house is a common residence building in southern china it's the former residence of xia manghai [Music] was born into an ordinary family in this mountain village over the next few years he had four brothers in succession this made life even harder for the shaw family who lived on a few acres in the mountain forest for generations if nothing unexpected happened shah manghai would have become another illiterate farmer in the mountain like his forefathers [Music] but a surprise did happen [Music] to study traditional chinese medicine he had to learn how to read this family of farmers had its first contact with literacy purely by chance although xiao nung was still a farmer after he had read some books he developed calligraphy and seal cutting as hobbies once in a while his son kept him company yet he didn't realize the young shah manghai was watching intently this led sha xiao nung to resolve to try his best to escape poverty by helping his son pass through the imperial exam in 1906 during the late qing dynasty seven-year-old shah manghai was sent to a private school by his father in addition to confucian classics there was also a course called wu gong the content of which was to teach students how to write chinese characters with a brush pen [Music] studied every day at the private school for five years this was a common way of learning for children in that era knowing how to ride is only the first step to learn calligraphy for over 1 000 years in ancient china taking part in the imperial examinations was the only way to succeed in life however the world outside the mountains had changed a long time ago was 12 years old in 1911 when the shinhai revolution broke out it eventually overthrew the corrupt qing dynasty and changed the political system that had lasted for over 2000 years eight years later in 1919 xiao mung hai was 20 when the may 4th movement broke out this effort initiated by university students was a precedent shattering nationalistic patriotic cultural and political campaign launched by young students in beijing pushed what was known as the new culture movement against traditions confucianism and classical chinese to its climax this was a baptism of thoughts for all intellectuals instructed in traditional classics each person had to make their own choices in the era of changes sha among high was no exception so what would shah among high choose in the chronicle of sha manghai we found the following descriptions in the records of 1917 two years before the outbreak of the may 4th movement with the influence and appreciation of chinese teachers fung jun mu he was determined to study classical literature he studied other courses duly but made special reading schemes in literature and history in his reading list were the commentary of sowa the book of rights analytical dictionary of characters and articles of han yu liu zhong yuan guay yo guang and yao nai shan mang hai was 18 years old when studying at the fourth normal school in juajiyong province located somewhere in today's moon lake park in downtown ningbo in that era when the ancient culture was being replaced by the new culture why did yangsha manghai choose the old path of traditional chinese culture losing the bread winner things became even worse for the poor family the new thoughts that were emerging at the time belonged to children of wealthy families in cities it was not something a poor village boy with only a traditional education would dare to try was admitted to the fourth normal school of jewish young province to continue his study one year later under his mother's persistence there were no big changes in his traditional thoughts based on historical records he carried a collection of wong shi jiu's handwriting in his luggage it was the only legacy left by his father he had never forgotten his father's advice to practice calligraphy well is [Music] foreign following his father's advice shah manghai lost count of how many times he had imitated this collection of wong shi jour's handwriting tanka is is [Music] [Music] after entering the fourth normal school shaha manghai often imitated wong shi jur's handwriting of the preface of holy doctrine to comfort his sorrow and grief for his father's death he didn't realize that through repeated imitation he was unconsciously walking on a path of calligraphy [Music] let's take a look at shah manghai's works of calligraphy at that time he was already outstanding in terms of structure pen movement and general layout even those who do not understand chinese calligraphy can feel the freshness and elegance of his works his calligraphy is already beyond reach of most chinese today as historical records indicate merchants in ningboa were very eager to buy pillar couplets paired lines of verse and banners written by shah manghai yeah good handwriting not only brought him additional income to support his family but also won the appreciation of traditional chinese teacher fung joon moo samuel [Music] [Music] known for his knowledge in classics and history [Music] therefore in an era when learning from the west became the trend sha mong hai naturally chose to stand on the side of traditional chinese culture [Music] however this option eventually drove him into a dead-end life [Music] in the summer after the 1919 may 4th movement twenty-year-old shah manghai graduated from the fourth normal school of jewish young province he packed up and returned to the village to work as a low-income primary school teacher according to descriptions of sha manghai and many records he spent most of his spare time during that time in his dormitory copying ancient scripts and rarely communicated with other people [Music] after school when the campus was empty he would go to the sports ground to write large characters with a long bamboo pole as the pen to vent the anguish in his heart [Music] finally realized that the era was over when a man could become an official and change his fate with good knowledge of the classics history and good calligraphy [Music] in 1923 24 year old xiamen hai came to shanghai the most prosperous city in china here he met a 79 year old calligrapher a man who had become his most important teacher through him he developed a deep understanding of chinese calligraphy as the most prosperous metropolis in the yangtze river delta shanghai has been leading the cultural and artistic styles in southeast china ever since it opened as a commercial port over 100 years ago in november 1922 23 year old shah manghai left his hometown and followed a ningbo a businessman tong yong shihir [Music] however in the big metropolis shah mong hai could only work as a tutor for six children in a wealthy family he eked out a living writing and selling works of calligraphy in his spare time described his life bitterly in his diary people living on insignificant skills are minor characters at the most this is not what i saw as my future however at this time shanghai was crowded with foreigners it was embracing diversified cultures open-minded thoughts and modern lifestyles with an unwilling heart and aspiring ambitions what could sha hai do [Music] shielding society of seal arts is a famous scenic spot at the southern foothill of the lonely hill most visitors indulge in its quiet and elegant garden environment as a matter of fact it was set up to save stone inscriptions research on seal and calligraphy arts known as the first academic society it's a monument to the history of chinese modern calligraphy and seal cutting as it was founded in the late qing dynasty in 1904 wu chung showa was the first president that year xia mong hai was only five years old and a poor boy in a remote mountain village wu chung showa was 61 he was excellent in poetry calligraphy and seal cutting honored as the father of shaku's seal characters the last peak of literati paintings and a leader of the art world in the late qing dynasty 75 years later in 1979 wu chung showa had passed away eighty-year-old shah mong hai became the fourth president of the shiling society of seal arts like wu chung showa he also enjoyed a high reputation in calligraphy and seal cutting how could a mountain village boy grow step by step into a master of calligraphy in an era of violent ups and downs like the 20th century [Music] this house with a stone-framed gate at number 523 of the ji ching li community shanghai was the residence of wu chung showa in his old age in the 1920s numerous art students and wealthy lords wanted to enter here to meet with wu chung showa but never got the chance the afternoon of january 19th 1923 however shah mung hai who was working as a tutor and could barely make ends meet manage to enter the house and meet the master of art with the help of fung jr 79 year old wu chung showa only chatted briefly with his 24 year old young man out of courtesy and did not have much of an impression of sha among high in 1925 when xiaomonghai visited him again with a few seals he had recently cut master wu chung showa wrote down his impressions fresh and graceful like a fair breeze with a hue of bookishness and the spirit of chen cho tong he praised xiaomonghai has qualified for the art and immediately decided to take him as a student for what did shah manghai earn such high praises from wu chung showa [Music] these are seals sha mangai cut during that period although people with no knowledge of seal cutting cannot appreciate their beauty in the eyes of experts they are extremely profound and closely related to chinese calligraphy um one of the reasons why shah manghai seals impressed wu chung showa was his good calligraphy and his calligraphy has greatly improved since november 1922 two years before he came to shanghai today's banji alley in the west of ningbo city used to be where scholars gathered in the early 20th century shah manghai's chinese teacher fung joon-mu lived in an old house in the alley in august 1920 shah manghai quit school and lived in his teacher's house to study traditional classics and history soon after he met fung joon moo's nephew fung jin choon a famous bibliophile in jiongsu and juajiyong provinces the fufu house at number 91 of xiaowen street ningbo was the library of feng jian chun according to historical records before fun gen chun died in 1962 the library had nearly 110 000 volumes of ancient books including 533 kinds of inscription rubbings of famous calligraphers from different dynasties it was like a paradise for calligraphy lover shah manghai here he was exposed to handwriting from famous calligraphers from different periods and practiced constantly chao's imitation work of the preface of holy doctrine collected in the library first attracted the attention of shah manghai liang chi chao used square strokes to imitate the calligraphy of wang shah manghai finally found a solution to fix his soft strokes in cursive handwriting he wrote in his diary my imitation works of the preface of holy doctrine are too smooth and lack strength because i only knew round strokes and had no idea of square strokes although leong's imitation work is not the best it is the most powerful one and very suitable to fix my weakness so i adopted his way then sha mangai found a copy book of calligrapher huang dao zhou a master of square strokes and rubbings of zhong known as father of the regular script the epitaph of chen jun was written by shah manghai in 1922 after he had done long-term imitation works of huang dao zhou and zhang yao he mainly used steady square strokes with sharp and smooth turns it looked solemn and natural the work was later engraved on stone by a friend the rubbings of which widely circulated since then shah mong hai took off his hesitation and began to confidently write in regular script and running script he had made up his mind to learn from ancient scripts from the cursive regular script in the song and tongue dynasties the jung curses script clerical script of the han dynasty to small seal style and big seal style in the qin dynasty and earlier obviously in the library of feng jian chun sha manghai's calligraphy practice went far beyond a hobby he began a systematic study of the history of calligraphy along with the evolutionary vein of chinese characters at the same time with his calligraphy skills and under the guidance of his friends and teachers he plunged into the world of seal cutting and was fascinated by it it was due to this experience that shah manghai won the favor of wu chung showa and became his student after three years in 1925. functions in fact it was at this time that shah manghai began to officially learn calligraphy and seal cutting from a teacher under the careful tutelage of master wu he completely changed his former understanding of the art [Music] he remarked in his diary how shallow was i to call calligraphy and seal cutting insignificant skills [Music] based on this cognition with years of learning in traditional chinese classics xiaomi started to study the history of calligraphy and seal cutting he completed the calligraphy of the past 300 years an introduction to the art of seal cutting in 1927 which attracted wide academic attention [Music] with studies in the history of calligraphy to guide his creation set out on the journey to become a master [Music] [Music] however it still didn't change cha mung hai's fate in the era in early 1927 communist party troops and those of the nationalist party working as partners were fighting to free china from domination by so-called warlords but on april 12 nationalist leader chiang kai-shek ordered a counter-revolutionary coup in shanghai many communist party members were arrested and slaughtered the political disaster soon touched sha mangai who seemed to have nothing to do with it this ordinary house in the shah village of the ning boa city has gone through multiple renovations it stands today as a former residence of shah mung hai a master of calligraphy in the 20th century and an important base of patriotic education relics on display on the ground floor present the story of how shah manghai's four brothers joined the chinese communist party in the 1920s and engaged in underground revolutionary activities [Music] in december 1927 because of his four brothers shah mangai was suspected of transferring letters for the communist party under the situation he had to hurriedly escape from shanghai to hangzhou after three months with the recommendation of mayor chen chi huay of hangzhou requested by his friend feng joon moo sha mong hai worked as a secretary in the jewish young provincial government of the republic of china he was responsible for writing congratulatory messages condolence messages elegiac couplets and other courtesy texts driven by the vortex of the times sha mangai and his calligraphy became the official's decorative tools for communication twenty-one years later in the darkness of official circles sha among i could only entertain himself by practicing calligraphy privately in fact many chinese literati shared the same destiny as sha mangai his countryman chen bulay former chief secretary of chiang kai-shek eventually committed suicide for being too disappointed with the political situation in the trend of the times sha monghai paid less and less attention to the evaluation and attitudes of the outside world either in writing official documents or personal works he no longer cared what others thought of him these are some works from mung hai during that period perhaps he had no idea that by making the expression of internal emotions as the main purpose he finally got rid of the deliberate pursuit of skills and entered into a free state of mind while writing [Music] and that is the ultimate pursuit of chinese calligraphers had completed the shift from an artist to a master in calligraphy [Music] in 1949 following decades of struggle the people's republic of china was established born at the turn of the century shah manghai was 50 years old after 300 years of separation two portions of a work called dwelling in the fuchsia mountains were combined in an exhibition in taipei it was a grand event eagerly anticipated by artists on both sides of the taiwan strait it pulled a prelude to cross strait cultural exchanges the front portion of dwelling in the fuchchuan mountains is part of the collection of the jewish young provincial museum the rear portion is part of the collection of the taipei palace museum the nearly eight meter long scroll of landscapes is hailed as one of china's top 10 most famous paintings with the spread of the event the name was brought into public attention again this name is shah manghai if not for him the front part of dwelling in the fuchsian mountains would not have been collected by the jewish young provincial museum [Music] an early spring afternoon in 1956 in his shanghai apartment 63 year old painter and collector wu hou fan carefully took out the proudest piece of his collection the front portion of dwelling in the fuchchuan mountains every few days he would take it out and appreciate this famous painting it had become a habit for decades this day shah manghai paid him a visit from hong zhou after a long conversation wu who fan agreed to donate it to the jewish young provincial museum [Music] today a duplicate of this painting is on regular display in the jewish young provincial museum the original piece was listed as a level one national cultural relic permanently prohibited from overseas exhibition and is rarely revealed to the public cha mangai managed to persuade who fed partially because of his traditional cultural knowledge and personal reputation gained over the decades [Music] he held two key positions after 1949 one was as a member of the standing committee of jewish eon cultural relics management and the other director of the history department of the jewish young provincial museum had far more achievements than these after 1949. people passing by the long-yell road of hangzhou often inadvertently noticed shah among hai's former residents at number 15. in 1963 shah manghai moved to this two-story house and lived here until the end of his life [Music] also in this year he finally realized the ideal in his youth passing down traditional chinese [Music] classics eventually shaman hai himself became a teacher as one of the first calligraphy professors at the china academy of art shaman hai taught for 28 years instructing and inspiring many of the most noted calligraphers in china [Music] the china academy of arts on nanshan road of hangzhou was called jiong academy of fine arts in the 1960s students of calligraphy may not have any special feelings towards this major yet we will find in historical records the jewish young academy of fine arts founded the department of calligraphy and seal cutting in 1963 the earliest among all chinese colleges that year invited by principal pan tien show 64 year old shah mong hai became a professor of calligraphy and seal cutting he taught courses of art of calligraphy history of calligraphy paleography history of seal cutting and such like he would spend the rest of his life teaching at the academy during this period shah manghai wrote a large number of lecture notes rich knowledge was frozen on the yellow pieces of paper [Music] marks of revision are seen everywhere between dense lines of words from the marks we may feel sha among hai's happiness in achieving his ideal through a rough and rugged journey [Music] for the sake of teaching shah manghai's personal creation also entered a period of unprecedented prosperity [Music] at this time he had formed a clear feature in his calligraphic works the pursuit of strength vigor and viral beauty he had developed a characteristic the shah style shot [Music] the vigorous impassioned and bold calligraphic style soon brought great fame to sha manghai in that high-spirited era [Music] he became a master of calligraphy across the nation and was influencing the world [Music] in 1979 in favor with the general public shah mong hai was elected as the fourth principal of the shiling society of seal arts following his teacher wu changshowa this year shah manghai was 80 years old let's take another look at these everlasting works they embody sha among hai's lifelong accomplishments and persistence to traditional chinese culture with these unprecedented masterpieces of calligraphy shah eventually completed a shift from a mountain village student to a master of calligraphy [Music] [Music] this video was taken in june 1992. this is a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the shah manghai academy of calligraphy in his hometown of ningboa [Music] the same night xiaomonghai accidentally fell and broke his leg tragically improper treatment caused complications a few months later he died at the age of [Music] 93. you

Channel: Perspective

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Keywords: Arts, The Arts, Theatre, Music, Full EPisode, Full documentary, documentary, performing arts, century masters, full episodes, artist biography, century masters episode 10, sha menghai, chinese calligraphy, artistic calligraphy, calligraphy art, artistic tutorial calligraphy, chinese artistic calligraphy, calligraphy teacher, calligraphy school, chinese writing, chinese writing system, chinese writing practice

Id: hhgVMS1ppLs

Length: 51min 38sec (3098 seconds)

Published: Mon May 17 2021