Author:

Size:Length:188 x Width:80 (cm)

Size description：135×68 (畫心)

Introduction：Li Tuan-hsi (1917-2013), courtesy name Chung-chieh, art name Wan-shi, son of the famous Hsinchu calligrapher Li Hsiao-pu, was born in Hsinchu. Receiving family education since childhood, Li has been burying himself in Chinese Studies and Calligraphy. While Li conducts business between Taiwan and Japan during his middle age, he has never forgotten his pursuit and love for calligraphy. After retiring at the age of 60, Li saw the contest for entries from All Japan Expo during his travel. He resumed his pursuit of calligraphy and participated in the exhibition. His first exhibition makes a large splash and has since started his cultural exchange journey. At that time, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Japan's diplomatic situation was in the doldrums; Li Tuan-hsi's calligraphy and devotion to art thus became his way to promote national diplomacy. For thirty years, he started as a participant, then the critic, the judge, and even the special reviewer of All Japan Expo. He was awarded All-Japan Order of Culture in 2007, the first Taiwanese calligrapher to receive such honor. In 2013, Li passed away due to illness.
Although fully trained by his family, Li Tuan-hsi exhibits a style closer to modern Japanese calligraphy rather than the traditional Taiwanese calligraphic style. In addition to learning traditional Chinese calligraphy from mainland China, Taiwanese calligraphers have also integrated Japanese calligraphy expression during their rule, resulting in a diverse and rich calligraphy outlook.
The work calligraphed one of the poems from Song Dynasty's Ou Yang-xiu's Picking Mulberries in semi-cursive script. The poem, "viewed from a light boat with short oars, West Lake is fair. Green water winds along the banks overgrown with sweet grass; here and there faintly we hear a flute song.
The water surface is smooth like glass when no wind blows; I feel the boat moves no more. Leaving ripples behind, it goes, the startled waterbirds skim the flat sandy shore," is a song about West Lake's beautiful scenery in spring. The semi-cursive scripts are smooth, with a perfect balance between dry and wet ink. There was no hesitation in Li's writing; the ink serves as an outrage expression of his feelings. Li's calligraphy style is sophisticated and free.

Accession number:PT09400700