The 20th Linyi Calligraphy Cultural Festival is Opened

The opening ceremony of the 20th Linyi Calligraphy Culture Festival was held in Linyi Calligraphy Plaza recently. About a thousand calligraphers, artists, collectors, cultural entrepreneurship representatives, and calligraphy enthusiasts from all over the country gathered in the hometown of the calligrapher Wang Xizhi, who has been worshipped for thousand years as the Saint of Calligraphy.

“In the nineth Gui Chou year of Yonghe Emperor, at the late spring time, we meet up at the Lanting Pavilion of Hueiji Mountain…” With the gentle background music, through the play of light and shadow, the children held the bamboo slips and read together the eternal “Lanting Collection”. It was the prelude to the opening of the 20th Linyi Calligraphy Culture Festival.

The theme of this year’s festival is “Mo Qi Xin Sheng” – New Life Born with Ink. Four major sections and 28 activities are planned, including art exhibition, cultural research and related business. The spirit of Linyi is hoped to be presented through the Saint of Calligraphy, by the humanistic landscape, the fashionable city heartbeat, and with the charm of calligraphy art. In the coming month, Linyi will offer its comprehensive and panoramic cultural feast to the public, thus truly promote the art of calligraphy.

At the opening ceremony, prizes are delivered for the 4th “Yan Zhenqing Award” of National Calligraphy and Seal Carving. Other awarded prizes include “Xizhi Good Youth”, outstanding county and district calligraphers associations, villages promoting Wang Xizhi calligraphy features, calligraphy training institutions, Wang Xizhi calligraphy schools, and outstanding calligraphy culture communicators.

Linyi is a famous calligraphy city. Wang Xizhi and Yan Zhenqing were born or lived there. Calligraphy art has been deeply rooted for long in the region. In the new era, the Linyi Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government are consciously carrying out the cultural mission, tapping the traditional cultural resources. Since 2003, the Calligraphy Cultural Festival has been held. More than 1,300 enterprises and 5 million people have participated in the festivals. This well-known cultural event is probably the brightest city card for Linyi.

In Linyi, the heritage of calligraphy has long conquered people’s hearts. From the school classroom to the academy gallery, from the banks of Yi He River to the calligraphy square, young and old practice with brush and ink. “In the past two years, I have copied inscriptions and persisted in practice, never stopped. The charm of calligraphy with its lines and structures give me so much joy!” said Geng Yan, a “good calligraphy boy” who is only10 years old.

“This sacred culture festival is not only the practice of so many people with brush and ink, but also the vivid telling of stories of Shandong. I hope that Linyi City will further play the exemplary and leading role of the Calligraphy Festival, do a good job in “activating”, “integrating” and “spreading” the beauty of calligraphy, so as to establish a new era of Yimeng,” Cheng Shoutian, a Deputy Minister for Shandong Provincial and Director of the Provincial Film Bureau, said in his speech.

This year’s Calligraphy Festival is hosted by the Shandong Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and Linyi Municipal People’s Government. It is undertaken by the Shandong Calligraphy Association, Linyi Municipal Party Committee Publicity Department, Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, to name just a few. It enjoys the academic support from the Xiling Seal Society, too. The event will last from September 4 to October 7.