Xue Ji 薛稷

Xue Ji (649 - 713), courtesy name Sitong, was born in an intellectuals’ family in Puzhou, Fenyang (now Wangrong County in Shanxi). He was considered one of the four greatest calligraphers of the early Tang, along with Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan and Chu Suiliang.

He was a great-grandson of Xue Daoheng, a great writer and an important official of the Tang Dynasty's preceding Sui Dynasty, and his uncle Xue Yuanchao was once a Chief Councillor during Emperor Gaozong's reign. He actually had a successful official career and held a number of senior positions in the imperial court. Unfortunately, in 713, during Emperor Xuanzong’s reign, he was embroiled into the case of Dou Huaizhen, who plotted to stage a coup. Xue Ji was arrested and imprisoned and ordered to commit suicide at the age of 63.

His maternal grandfather Wei Zheng had a large collection of books and reading materials, among them were authentic calligraphic works of Yu Shinan and Chu Suiliang. He had seen many calligraphic works of Yu Shinnan and Chu Suiliang in his grandfather’s house and was inspired to practice calligraphy. Later, when he served in the inner court, he had the opportunity to learn from works of many famous calligraphers from Wei and Jin periods like Zhong Yao, Zhang Xu, Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi.

However, Xue Ji left few calligraphic works. From his work left in small regular script, one can see the characteristics of the early Tang regular script: thin and rigid. His learning journey can be classified into three phases. During the first phase, he learned from calligraphy of Ouyang Xun and Yu Shinan. In the second phase, he favoured the work of Chu Suiliang and was very much inspired by Chu. During his later years, he was able to break away from the influences of Ouyang, Yu and Chu, and created his own style. He thus became a most famous calligrapher during the later period of the early Tang dynasty and exerted great influence on the later generations.

On the whole, Chu Suiliang had the most influential impact on Xue Ji’s calligraphy as Xue faithfully learned and retained Chu’s style of writing.

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薛稷（649-713）字嗣通，出生于蒲州汾阴（今山西万荣）的一个书香世家。他是初唐四大书法家之一，其他三名是欧阳询、虞世南与褚遂良。

他是大文学家与唐前朝隋朝名臣薛道衡的曾孙。从父薛元超在唐高宗时期做过中书令。他的仕途其实不错，在朝廷中作过不少高职官位。不幸的是，他被卷入了窦怀贞密谋政变的案件。薛稷被捕关进监牢，并被令服毒自杀，时年63岁。

他的外祖魏征，家富图籍，多有虞世南、褚遂良墨迹。薛稷因此在他外祖家中看到虞世南与褚遂良的书法而受到启发，锐精模写。后来，他在内廷做事时，有机会学到魏晋多名著名书法家的书法，例如：钟繇、张旭、王羲之与王献之等。

但是，薛稷传世作品不多。从所流传的小楷，我们到可以见到初唐书法的特征：瘦硬。薛稷的书法可以分前、中、后三个时期，前期书艺，宗欧阳询、虞世南；中期宗褚遂良，并给予较大的启发。到晚年时期则摆脱欧、虞、褚三家的影响，而独创一格，成为初唐晚期最有影响的一位著名书家。

但总的来看，褚遂良对他的影响最大，他忠实地承袭了褚书的面貌。

Practical Functionality: The Chinese Traditional Huichun Activities 书法的实用性：传统的挥春活动

The traditional Huichun is alive and well in Singapore with many activities and competitions organised by various associations and organisations during the Chinese New Year period. Huichun are strips of red papers with phrases or words of good omen. Traditionally, Chinese likes to paste these Hui Chun in prominent places in their homes and workplace to bring luck and positive energy. This is really the practical functionality of Chinese calligraphy in action.

They were three major Huichun activities organized on 13 Feb 2011. Huichun activities were organized by the Braddell Height Community Club and the Singapore Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan, while the 28th National Huichun Calligraphy Competition was co-organised by Zaobao and the Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore.

Competing in primary, secondary, tertiary and open categories, they ranged in age from 6 to 83. Mr Anthony Ho, vice-president of the Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore and chief judge of the competition, pointed out five criteria to judge Chinese calligraphy: stroke of characters; consistency in writing; similarity of size of characters; ink tone; and overall look.

It attracted 1,300 participants to put their best strokes forward at The Float @ Marina Bay. This was the first time that the competition was held at the floating platform at the Marina Bay. Due to the constraint of the venue, the contestants had to write without the calligraphy without a table. Some contestants had therefore   decided to bring their own writing tables.

The Huichun event was one of the fringe events of the River Hongbao 2011.

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传统的挥春在新加坡热力未减，不少社团与组织在新年期间举办挥春活动与比赛。挥春是指写在红纸上面的吉祥语。按照传统，华人喜欢把这些挥春贴在家里与工作场所显目的地方，以带来好运与旺气。这就是书法实用性的体现。

在二月十三日当天，就用三项较大型的挥春活动。布莱德岭与潮州八邑会馆举办了挥春活动，而联合早报联合新加坡书协举办了第二十八届全国挥春大赛。

比赛分小学、中学、高中与公开组，参赛者的年龄由6岁到83岁不等。书协副会长兼大赛总评判何钰峰指出中国书法评判的五项准则：字的笔画、书写的一致性、字形大小相似、墨色与作品的整体。

这次的全国挥春大赛吸引了1，300位参赛者在滨海南的浮动舞台来大显身手。这是挥春大赛第一次在滨海湾浮动舞台举行。由于场地的限制，参赛者得席地而书。所以有些参赛者就决定自己把桌子带来了。
这次挥春活动也是‘春到河畔迎新春’的周边活动之一。

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全国挥春大赛：席地而书



全国挥春大赛：自备书桌

 
Below are photos of Huichun at Braddell Heights Community Club. 布莱德岭民众联络所挥春盛况。

挥春盛况

挥春作品一览

吴多标与王怀正挥毫

洪云生挥毫

沈观汉挥毫

马双禄挥毫

余保榮挥春作品

Practical Functionality: The Attractiveness of Chinese Calligraphy 实用性：中华书法的魅力所在

新加坡书法家曾广纬的书法 By Singaporean Calligrapher Chang Kwang Wee 

We believe that the attractiveness of Chinese calligraphy comes from its artistic value as well as its practical functionality. These two elements of artistic value and practical functionality are equally important and they complement each other.

The artistic value of Chinese calligraphy is derived from calligraphers’ ability to apply skilfully the brush and ink on paper. (Click here to read more.) The practical functionality of Chinese calligraphy is evidenced by the following facts:

1. Since ancient times, it has always been a tool for written communication, fulfilling the practical function of information exchange through writing Chinese characters with brushes, ink, and paper. However, as brush writing has gradually become obsolete, Chinese calligraphy has lost this most practical and basic functionality.

2. It is a revered symbol of tradition, excellence and self cultivation. Self-cultivation means specifically those activities pursued with an eye to the eventual goals of having a healthy body, becoming a nobleman and ultimately the goal of sage hood.

3. It is closely linked to the Chinese personal and commercial lives. Calligraphic works are used to decorate sitting rooms, studies and bedrooms. Signboards with inscriptions by famous figures are often found in shops and shopping centers, adding an antique elegance to busy and noisy trading areas. Characters in special styles appear as masthead inscriptions for newspapers or magazines, or as the titles of books.

4. It condenses the Chinese culture. Usually, the calligraphic work contains a poem, a pair of couplets or a motto that will surely inspire its viewers.

5. The traditional Huichun activities during the Chinese New Year will spice things up and create an enjoyable atmosphere. Huichun refers to writing of festival couplets and short messages that express good wishes for the year. The end products are calligraphic works produced specially for the celebration of the Spring Festival, the most important traditional festival of the Chinese people. Written on red paper, such couplets and messages are posted on gateposts, door panels, rice and food containers, walls or columns of houses.

6. Chinese Calligraphic works are displayed in temples, gardens, mountains, pavilions, towers and buildings in various scenic spots. Such calligraphic inscriptions on wooden boards or rocks integrate harmoniously with the surrounding scenery, and add radiance and beauty to it.

7. It has very close relation with other traditional Chinese arts, especially the Chinese painting.

8. Calligraphy can be used as a tool for the teaching of Chinese language and culture. As Chinese calligraphy is about writing Chinese characters, it is natural that it is most suitable tool for helping out students in learning Chinese language and culture. (Click here to learn more on this topic.)

Chinese calligraphy has certainly not lost its practical functionality and much can be done by calligrapher lovers to promote this unique art form by getting more people to participate in it to realize its practical functionalities.

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我们相信中华书法的魅力来自它的艺术价值与实用性。艺术价值与实用性相同重要，它们相辅相成，缺一不可。
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不要读成吉大春新啊！书法的实用性因时相传

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中华书法的艺术价值来自书法家应用毛笔与墨汁在纸上书写的能力。（请点击这里阅读有关谈论。）中华书法的实用性有以下事实可以说明：

1. 自古以来，它一直就是书写的沟通工具，以毛笔、墨汁与纸来书写以达到信息交流的实用功能。但是，随着毛笔日常应用逐渐的消失，书法也就失去了这个最实用及基本的功能。

2. 它是最受人敬仰的代表传统、卓越与修身的符号。修身就是那些着眼于达到健康身体、成为君子及最终成为圣人的目标的活动。

3. 书法与个人生活及商业活动有密切的联系。它被用来装饰客厅、书房、卧室。商店、购物中心常常可以看到名家所写的招牌匾额，为繁忙吵杂的场所增添了古典雅致气氛。报纸、杂志的刊头及书本封面也常有特别书写的书体。

4. 它浓缩了中华文化。书法作品一般上写的是诗词、对联或名言，这肯定会对观众有启发激励作用。

5. 传统的春节挥春活动增添了节日情趣与营造了欢乐气氛。挥春是以春联与吉祥语，为庆祝华人最重要节日春节而写的书法。写在红纸上的春联及吉祥语会被贴在门柱、门板、米与食物罐缸、墙壁或屋子的柱子上。

6. 中华书法在华人庙宇、花园、山岭、庭院、高塔及建筑物，随地可见。这些刻在木板或石板上面的书法作品和谐的融入周围环境，增添光彩与亮丽。

7. 书法与其它的中华艺术关系密切，尤其是绘画。

8. 书法可以作为教导华文与中华文化的教学工具。书法本来就是书写中华文字，很自然的它适合用来帮助学生学习中文与中华文化。（请点击这里阅读有关课题。）

书法肯定还没有失去其实用性，书法爱好者还可以为推进这门独特的艺术，吸引更多人参与并实现其实用性做出更多的贡献。

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Learning Calligraphy: Chen Kuoye’s Story 陈扩业学习书法的故事

On 28 January 2011, the Chinese newspaper Zaobao reported the story of an 83 year-old Chen Kuoye and his interest in Chinese calligraphy.

Chen Kuoye developed an interest in Chinese calligraphy when he was 28 years old. At the beginning, learning calligraphy for him was all about hard work. He was not supposed to place his hand on the table, and the writing strength must come not only from his hand but also from his abdominal muscles. He spent two whole years practising before he could master the skills. However, after he worked as a carpenter, he had less time to practice it. He could only take some times off during the off peak periods to earn some extra cash by writing New Year couplets for his fellow villagers.

When he retired, he was more than 50 years old. In order to participate in calligraphy competitions, he started practicing very hard again. He would spend at least half an hour a day in calligraphy. Finally, he won a national calligraphy competition organised by Bishan Community Club and a national Huichun (writing on the spot) competition organised by the Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore. He said: ‘These two winnings have inspired me a lot.’

Chen Kuoye currently works as a cleaner in the Ngee Ann Polytechnic. After his daily routine of cleaning the floors, he would use a brush made by him to write on the floor. Every day, he is seen by many students writing on the floor with water, demonstrating his Chinese calligraphic skills. He chooses to write on the floor with water in order to save money on buying ink and paper. After writing, the water will evaporate, leaving no trace of his writing on the floor.

Many people are quite curious about his practice of writing on the floor. After having a chat with him, a lecturer engaged him to give a talk about his learning and understanding of Chinese calligraphy, hoping that the talk would inspire the students. Inspiration indeed!

Second year student Wang Xiaozheng, 20, learns from this old uncle that in learning Chinese language and culture, there is a need to have a natural environment and cultural atmosphere. She said in an interview: ‘The recent announced changes to be made to the mother tongue language curriculum place greater emphasis on real-life usage. However, this type of learning is coercive, because students learn the Chinese subject for examinations. I think the key thing is that the students must have interest in the subject, and this can be achieved only when we live in a cultural atmosphere.’

Another student Zheng Suxin, 19, also feels the same way. She feels that at a deeper layer, once we can see the beauty of our culture, we will naturally develop an interest in it. She learns from this old uncle that for things that we are interested in, we should not give up easily.

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一月28日，联合早报报道了83岁校工陈扩业与书法的故事。

陈扩业对书法的兴趣，是在28岁那年养成的。21岁从中国来到新加坡的他，原本是名小贩，后来开始学习木工。开始学习书法时，陈扩业感到非常吃力，练字时手不但不能靠着桌子，而且力度不仅来自手部，腹部也要使力。他花了整整两年才掌握技巧。可是，当上木工后，他练笔的时间也跟着减少了，只是趁工程淡季时，写一些春联卖给村里的人赚点小钱。

50多岁退休以后，陈扩业为了参加一场书法比赛，再度提笔加紧练习，每天至少练半个小时。后来，他赢得了碧山民众联络所主办的全国书法比赛，以及书法协会主办的挥春比赛。他说：“这两个冠军荣誉给了我很大的鼓励。”

陈扩业目前是义安理工学院的清洁工人。他平时除了用大扫把扫地，也用自制的大毛笔在地上写字。许多学生经常见到他在校园内以黑砖地板为纸，以清水为墨，即兴表演书法。选择在黑色砖上用清水写字，是为了节省纸和墨的钱。写完后，等清水蒸发了，地上也不留痕迹。

陈扩业在地上写大字的做法引起了很多人的好奇。一位中文系讲师和他聊过后，决定邀请他到课堂上分享书法心得，借此启发学生。它的确是有启发了学生。

二年级生王晓铮（20岁）从这位老伯伯身上领悟到华文和中华文化的学习，应该要在一个自然的环境和氛围中推广。她受访时说：“最近推出的母语教改，讲求学习实用的华文，但这样的学习仍然是强制性的，学生还是为了考试而读华文。我认为关键是学生自己要感兴趣，而这只能通过强化文化氛围达成。”

另一名同学郑素鑫（19岁）也有同感。她觉得，文化是深层的，一旦看到它的美，兴趣便会油然而生。她从老伯伯身上也学到了，自己感兴趣的事，千万不可轻言放弃。

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