Live Demonstration of Chinese Calligraphy with Shengchen Huang

Mr. Shengchen Huang, a calligrapher from Beijing, was introduced to a large group of Fordham students and faculty on September 15th (coincidentally the day of China’s Mid-Autumn Festival) by Professor Yiju Huang (Assistant Professor of Chinese, Modern Languages and Literature, Fordham University Lincoln Center). Clusters of us sat around a screen which projected Shengchen’s makeshift workspace, eating White Rabbit candies and sipping tea.

Before giving a demonstration, Shengchen explained that calligraphy is all about the external expression of something internal. He spoke of calligraphy’s rhythm, the way that the characters dance across the white of the page.
Professor Huang translated for Shengchen, but the artist’s passion for his work was evident in the enthusiasm of his expression, tone, and lively demeanor. When Shengchen dipped his brush into ink, he glowed even more.

“Each character,” Shengchen explained, “encapsulates a universe in itself.” The artist began by showing us pictographic symbols for a man leaning against a tree, signifying “rest” in the metal script. The artist likened the long and short lines of the characters to paths, anthropomorphizing New York’s “big avenues and small streets.”

Shengchen dipped his brush into the ink once more, and showed us the character for “king,” 王, and explained how each line compromising the character has a metaphorical meaning (the top line symbols the heavenly realm, the 2nd line the human realm, and the bottom line the earthly realm, connected by the vertical line). Thus, calligraphy is accessible as art even for those who do not understand the literal translation of the characters.

Shengchen ended the event with a presentation of his poem “Moonlit Night On the Spring River,” and again expressed his appreciation for New York’s splendor; namely, the way that the moon reflects off the waves of the Hudson River.

“Calligraphy,” Shengchen finished, “Can be likened to black and white. Yin and yang.” Just like the moon upon the river, the white of the paper and the black of the ink encapsulate the totality of the universe.

Professor Huang will be teaching as a guest lecturer in Professor Ikeda’s ARHI 1102 (Introduction to Art History: Asia) about Chinese calligraphy on October 23, 2016.