BEIJING (THE PEOPLE'S DAILY), October 21, 2003:
A group of Beijing senior citizens are improving their physical fitness after seeing the writing on the wall -- or at least on the ground.
Every morning in the Jingshan Park, east of the Forbidden City, they are seen carrying long brush pens soaked in water, and keenly writing huge Chinese characters on the ground.
Zhang Jinbiao, 73, joined the group several years ago and became infatuated with the art. Spending five to six hours each day in Jingshan Park, he has become a ground calligraphy expert and an active promoter of the activity.
What amazes onlookers most is Zhang's one-meter-long brush.
"It is so simple", he said, holding the self-made pen, with thick sponge trimmed sharp like a pen-point and a wooden stick as the pen-holder. "I write with clean water and it fades away soon after. How economical and environment-friendly."
He Fengshan, deputy-director of the Ground Calligraphy Association in Jingshan Park, explained the draw of practicing calligraphy on the ground.
Calligraphers inhale before the start of a stroke, hold their breath during the course and exhale by the end. Their eyes follow the movement of the brush tip and the whole body is stretched in anatural way, he said.
"You know what? Chinese people prefer it to doing Chinese martial arts. It happens in an unlikely place," said Zhang.
Major parks in Beijing witness similar scenes every morning as ground calligraphy gains popularity. The association of ground calligraphers in Jingshan Park, inaugurated in the late 1990s, nowboasts 137 members compared with about 20 at the beginning.
Ground calligraphy is a creative branch of Chinese calligraphy,along with calligraphy with fingers.
It has also taken off in Shanxi, Jiangsu, Hubei and Fujian Provinces.
Ground calligraphy fans gather each morning for exercise, as well as for fun, passing anecdotes and sharing opinions.
Zhang remembered once he was asked for a piece of work by a Canadian friend, a Chinese calligraphy and painting collector, whoran into him by accident in the park.
"This guy kept saying 'amazing' and followed me home for one ofmy works," Zhang recalled. As he seldom gave out works, Zhang had nothing to write on.
"Just at that moment, my wife brought out a piece of quilt," he continued. So Zhang spread the ink on the quilt and finished a masterpiece.
"My work has been preserved at last," he said.
People's Daily Online
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