On Master Yun Long Zi’s Calligraphy Art - Speech by Li Mingquan (2/2)

Master Yun Long Zi’s calligraphy exhibition, coinciding with the traditional Chinese festival Dragon Head-Raising Day, aims to deeply and multidimensionally analyze his fengshui art and, amid the clash of different cultural contexts, evoke a resonance and encouragement in the art fields within and outside China, from techniques to artistic concepts. The exhibition was truly a spectacle of dragons soaring and phoenixes dancing, birds returning to their nests!

Master Yun Long Zi, a sixth-generation descendant of a fengshui family and born into a scholarly family, is the first Chinese artist to hold over a hundred calligraphy and painting exhibitions worldwide. His fengshui art advocates “Celebrationism,” celebrating everything worth celebrating, anytime, anywhere. Day or night, victory or loss, surprises or disappointments, all are moments for celebration. This is not just a mindset but a state of being, enlightening people to celebrate, reflecting genuine wealth and elegance.

A peculiar phenomenon has emerged in the domestic calligraphy scene, where some seek to subvert tradition with a bizarre fascination for ugliness, promoting “ugly calligraphy” without any cultural or artistic content, changing the structure and layout of Chinese characters arbitrarily for sensationalism and shock value, in a rush for quick success and instant benefits, mistakenly believing they are “innovating”. In contrast, Master Yun’s calligraphy is a true innovation, rooted in and promoting the excellent traditional national culture. With a profound foundation in Chinese culture and integrating his understanding of the world into calligraphy art, he has created a form that thrives and flourishes on Singapore’s soil, embodying both form and spirit with a strong vitality.

During his “Seeking the Way in the Central Plains” study trip, he enriched his artistry through learning traditional Chinese culture, studying at the Songyang Academy and Zhongyue Temple on Mount Song, and pondering ancient, free, vibrant, and dynamic characters and paintings. His day visits and night reflections, amidst early winter winds and snows, travelling to Laozi’s hometown and ancestral lands, drawing nourishment from the rich loess, transplanting the art of Chinese calligraphy to Singapore’s soil, organically merging with the local cultural atmosphere and spiritual aura, blossoming into vibrant flowers of the soul, bearing the unique fruits of his art.

May Master Yun Long Zi’s calligraphic and painting works achieve greater success in this kingdom of art! May the flowers of China’s excellent traditional culture bloom across the world!

Mr Li Mingquan

National First-Class Artist

Silk Road Alliance China Cultural Cooperation Ambassador