Author:

Size:Length:300 x Width:87 (cm)

Introduction：Chen Kun-yi (1944- ), style name Tzu-chien, was born in Hengshan Township, Hsinchu County. He has had a passion for calligraphy since childhood, leading him to study under Wang Chuang-wei, Chen Chi-chuan, Li Yu, and Wu Ping-chu. His motto is to “let the will be set on the path of duty; let every attainment in what is good be firmly grasped; let perfect virtue be accorded with; let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite arts,” hoping for the arts to serve as his spiritual sustenance. Expressing a free and natural style in creation, he shies away from the competitive ailments of the literati, wishing to remain in a most pure, artistic state. Once awarded first place in the National Fine Arts Exhibition, he has served as a member of the review committee for the Sun Yat Sen Literary and Artistic Creation Award, the National Fine Arts Exhibition, and the Taiwan Provincial Arts Exhibition, as well as a retired Counselor of the Council for Cultural Affairs, Executive Yuan.
Chen Kun-yi has dabbled in various calligraphy scripts, including clerical, seal, and regular. In particular, he holds exceptional talent and passion for semi-cursive script. Chen Kun-yi sets down simple, cautious, yet lush strokes, allowing his works to flow naturally and not overly pretentious. In addition to his talents in calligraphy, he is also proficient in Chinese literature. Not only is he gifted at extracting poetic inspiration from daily life, but he is also skilled at creating with different materials, such as seal carving and printing. His variety of artistic styles aim to project the soft brushwork of calligraphy through the knife’s hard-cutting feature, the architectural quality corresponding perfectly to his calligraphical works.
Written in semi-cursive script, the characters spell out Lu Fang-weng’s “Sentiments Passing by a Countryside House”–“A horse stands in the afterglow of the setting sun. Whose well is that, hiding behind the silent door? A passerby walks down the road, triggering the dogs behind the fence. The box full of silkworms writhe, their hungry stomachs for mulberries await. In ten years have I thoroughly seen the world, and I dream often of my home thousands of miles away. Plowing was initially a hero’s work, but to die of old age in Nanyang, isn’t that a hero’s work also?” The work is finished in thick ink, with the light and heavy segments evenly balanced as well as tightly aligned. Taken from Lu Fang-weng’s “Sentiments Passing by a Countryside House”, the poem expresses the poet’s conflicting emotions: although the poet is ambitious, his long-term experience within society has led him to revere for the countryside. The poet imagines that even if Zhuge Liang withdraws to farm in the countryside, his heroic spirit would still shine through his unremarkable demeanor.

Accession number:PT09301200