Lien Chan Writes Calligraphy 连战写书法

Lien Chan (Lian Zhan), the then Chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party in Taiwan visited the mainland China from 26 April to 3 may 2005 for the first time since 1949. The visit was described as ‘The Journey of Peace’.
The first stop of Lian’s ‘Journey of Peace’ was the Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Nanjing. Dr Sun fought against the Qing government and founded the Republic of China after the 1911 revolution which ended the monarchy. The tomb was constructed in January of 1926 and completed in spring of 1929.
Perhaps Lian was in a good mood, he wrote on the spot a piece of four-word Chinese calligraphy which says ‘Zhong Shan Mei Ling’ in Chinese. It means ‘Beautiful Mausoleum of Zhong Shan’ – Zhong Shan is an alternative name of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. The calligraphy was displayed for everyone to see at the request of the media.
Chinese calligraphy is a unique Chinese art that is very popular among the Chinese. It is also well liked by many people of high position in the society. But to write it on the spot, a person must have practiced the art for a long time, and be confident in his writing skills.
As a politician, especially a Chinese politician, everything he does is interpreted politically. It is therefore not surprising that his on-the-spot calligraphy writing has brought about enthusiastic discussions among the Chinese in the mainland.
Many pointed out that as the word ‘mei’ (beauty) was written short of one horizontal stroke, which refers to the fact that Taiwan has not re-unified with mainland China yet, and it is really a blemish in an otherwise perfect thing.
It was aslo said that the fact that the word ‘Ling’ (tomb) is short of one diagonal stroke has a deeper meaning. The lower right component of the word is supposed to be written as a reversed ‘wen’, but Mr Lian, by omitting the diagonal stroke, did not write it as such. As ‘wen’ is another alternative name of Dr Sun, it shows that Mr Lian is not anti-Dr Sun. He actually supports Dr Sun, and still cherishes deep memory of him.
The first word of his name was written in its original form, which is normal for a person lives in Taiwan. However, the second word of his name zhan (fighting) was written in simplified form, which is the official form used by mainland Chinese. The left component of the word was written as zhan (占occupy) instead of dan(单on its own, alone). This was interpreted as he has dropped the idea of fighting on his own. In other words, he tries to imply that the Taiwanese and mainland Chinese are as close as flesh and blood, and this fact will never change. Put it simply, Taiwanese will not want to fight alone (without mainland?) any more.
There were others who praised the calligraphic skills of Lian Chan. The word ‘Zhong’ (centre) is well written, proper and upright. The word shan (mountain) is also well written, and the best is the word mei (beauty). The whole piece is well composed; so well that it has surpassed all others of its kind before and since.
I shall quote no more, it is best to let our readers judge for themselves.
Note: Readers with little or no knowledge of Chinese writing system may find it rather difficult to understand the last few paragraphs above. What the mainland Chinese are trying to say is that Mr Lian Chan wishes that Taiwan will re-unify with China, and this shows up unconsciously even in his calligraphic work.
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2005 年4月26日至5月3日，在台湾的中国國民黨主席連战第一次到中国大陆访问，展开了所谓的和平之旅。
连战的和平之旅在南京中山陵展開第一站。孙中山先生与清政府对抗，在1911年革命成功后成立中华民国，结束君主政治。孙中山先生的墓地于1926年1月开始建，并于1929年春完工。
或許是因為心情不錯，连战竟然現場揮毫，提筆寫下「中山美陵」四個字，並且應媒體之邀展示給大家看。
书法是中国特有的文化艺术，受到不少民众的喜爱。爱好书法的高官贵人也是不少。能够自愿当众挥毫的，自是练习书法多年，功力不小与信心十足。
可是，作为政治人物，尤其是在中国，每个动作都可当作政治来解读。连战的中山陵挥毫，引起大陸人热烈讨论就不令人感到惊奇了。
不少人指出‘美’少一横，意为美中不足，祖国没有统一。至于“陵”少一撇，涵义更为深刻。陵字右下的偏旁部首是反文旁，连战先生不写“反文”旁，表明他不反孙文，拥护孙中山，实际是对孙文国父的缅怀之意。连战的繁体字签名是：“连战”，此次签作“连战”，很有讲究。 “连”字未变，“战”字的左边“单”改为“占”，写作简体字“战”，取“不再单独作战”之意。合起来意思就是：血肉相连，从来未曾改变。化繁为简，不再单独作战。
有人还大大称赞连战好书法。“中”字写得好，端端正正。“山”字写得好！“美”字最好！整幅字，不论单个的写法和布局，均是前无古人，后无来者。
不好再引述了，让读者自己来评价吧。