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Zhao Xuemin, a renowned contemporary calligrapher and Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), donated 100 calligraphy works to his hometown Sanyuan County to congratulate the official establishment of the Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School.
Edited and Photographed by Wang Baosheng, Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Cultural Figures
On September 19th, the inaugural ceremony of the "Hometown of Youren, the Noble Spirit" Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School was grandly held at the Youren Calligraphy Square in Sanyuan County, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province — the hometown of Yu Youren. The event was sponsored by the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, Sanyuan County People's Government, Chinese Cultural Figures Magazine, and Xi'an Northern Dynasties Stele Carving Society; and undertaken by Xi'an Jiaotong University City College, Xi'an Northern Dynasties Stele Carving Society, and Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School.
Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Liu Li, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Xianyang Municipal Committee and Director of the Publicity Department, and Zhao Junqiang, Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, jointly unveiled the plaque for the "Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School".
Zhao Xuemin, a renowned contemporary calligrapher and Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), donated 100 fine calligraphy works to the CPC Sanyuan County Committee and Sanyuan County People's Government in his hometown to congratulate the official establishment of the Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School. Zhao Junqiang, Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, accepted the donation and presented a donation certificate to Zhao Xuemin and his wife.
Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), introduced his calligraphy work Snow Tune: Spring in the Qinyuan Garden by Mao Zedong to Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and Zhao Junqiang, Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee.
Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), introduced his calligraphy and poetry work The Twenty-Four Solar Terms to Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and other guests visiting the exhibition.
Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), introduced his calligraphy works to distinguished guests visiting the exhibition, including Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and Zhao Junqiang, Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee.
Su Shishu, Member of the Standing Committee of the 11th and 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Research Fellow of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History, and Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, together with Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Zhao Junqiang, Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, and other guest leaders, visited the Calligraphy Exhibition for the Inauguration of Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School and Zhao Xuemin's Calligraphy & Poetry Exhibition.
Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and Zhao Junqiang, Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, extended warm congratulations to Zhao Xuemin on the successful holding of the exhibition.
Zhao Junqiang, Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, took a group photo with Zhao Xuemin in front of the exhibited works and thanked him for his strong support for the cultural development of Sanyuan County.
On September 20th, the "International Stele Studies Symposium and Northern Dynasties Stele Calligraphy Exhibition – Yu Youren Special Topic" opened at the Museum of Xi'an Jiaotong University.
Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Wang Gaimin, former Standing Vice Chairman of the Shaanxi Calligraphers Association, and other leaders, as well as more than 200 cultural figures from home and abroad, attended the event.
Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), presented awards to the winners of the "Yu Youren Award" and commended them for their dedicated efforts and craftsmanship inheritance in the field of stele studies and calligraphy.
Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), introduced his exhibited works to leaders and artist guests including Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and Qi Shuosen, President of the Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School.
Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), exchanged ideas with leaders and artist guests including Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and Qi Shuosen, President of the Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School, in front of the exhibited works.
Chinese Cultural Figures (Edited by Wang Baosheng) On September 19th, the inaugural ceremony of the "Hometown of Youren, the Noble Spirit" Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School was grandly held at the Youren Calligraphy Square in Sanyuan County, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province — the hometown of Yu Youren. The event was sponsored by the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, Sanyuan County People's Government, Chinese Cultural Figures Magazine, and Xi'an Northern Dynasties Stele Carving Society, and undertaken by Xi'an Jiaotong University City College, Xi'an Northern Dynasties Stele Carving Society, and Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School. Zhao Xuemin, a renowned contemporary calligrapher and Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was invited to attend and donated 100 fine calligraphy works to the Sanyuan County People's Government of his hometown.
Sanyuan County in Shaanxi Province, as the hometown of Mr. Yu Youren, has long been known as "cradle of culture and humanities". In recent years, it has continuously promoted the development of the "Hometown of Chinese Calligraphy".
Su Shishu, (Member of the Standing Committee of the 11th and 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Research Fellow of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History, and Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association), Zhao Xuemin (Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the CPPCC), Zhang Xiaoyu (Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Calligraphers Association), Wang Chunxin (former Commander of the Shaanxi Provincial Armed Police Corps and Member of the 6th Council of the Chinese Calligraphers Association), Wang Baosheng (President of Chinese Cultural Figures Magazine), Jia Pingwa (Vice Chairman of the Chinese Writers Association and Chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Writers Association), Wang Gaimin (former Standing Vice Chairman of the Shaanxi Calligraphers Association), Qin Xiangdong (former Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Local Chronicles Office), Lin Yu (Member of the Party Leadership Group and Full-time Vice Chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles), Liu Li (Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Xianyang Municipal Committee and Director of the Publicity Department), Zhao Junqiang (Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee), Qi Shuosen (President of the Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School), Guo Tongqing (President of the Japan Hanmo Calligraphy Association), and other distinguished guests, as well as a large number of experts and scholars from the calligraphy and academic circles at home and abroad, attended the event.
Yang Honggang, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee and Magistrate of Sanyuan County, presided over the conference.
In his speech, Zhao Junqiang, Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, stated that Sanyuan has a profound historical heritage and has long been known as "a prominent county in the Guanzhong region" (Guanzhong Jiayi Zhuangxian). It is the hometown of Mr. Yu Youren and also a nationally renowned "Hometown of Chinese Calligraphy". The establishment of the Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School is an important measure to implement the strategy of building a culturally powerful country and promote the inheritance and development of China's excellent traditional culture, and it will also inject new impetus into the high-quality development of Sanyuan's cultural undertakings.
Han Peng, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, read out the list of members of the Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School.
Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Liu Li, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Xianyang Municipal Committee and Director of the Publicity Department, and Zhao Junqiang, Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, jointly unveiled the plaque for the "Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School".
Tian Guangjun, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee and Director of the Publicity Department, introduced the preparation and establishment of the Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School.
The conference also presented appointment letters respectively to Su Shishu and Zhao Xuemin (Honorary Presidents of the Yu Youren Calligraphy School), 10 academic advisors including Jia Pingwa and Lin Yu, as well as Qi Shuosen (President), Wang Zhijie (Vice President) and Yu Hongjun (Deputy Secretary-General) of the academy.
At the conference site, Zhao Xuemin donated 100 of his personal calligraphy works to the CPC Sanyuan County Committee and the Sanyuan County Government. Zhao Junqiang, Secretary of the CPC Sanyuan County Committee, accepted the donation and presented a donation certificate. Zhang Ji, Research Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Calligraphy and Painting, introduced the details of the donated works.
Qi Shuosen, President of the Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School, Lin Yu, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Full-time Vice Chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and Zhang Xiaoyu, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, delivered speeches successively.
Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, announced the opening of the Calligraphy Exhibition for the Inauguration of the Sanyuan Yu Youren Calligraphy School and Zhao Xuemin's Calligraphy & Poetry Exhibition.
Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Member of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Councils of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, hails from Sanyuan, Shaanxi Province. As a fellow townsman and younger generation of Mr. Yu Youren, he received personal instruction from Li Chucai, Secretary of Mr. Yu, in his early years. Having devoted himself to the art of calligraphy for decades, he has developed a unique style characterized by "stele strength with script elegance" — his regular script draws inspiration from Northern Dynasties stele inscriptions such as Zhang Menglong Stele and Zheng Wengong Stele, boasting a profound and broad brushwork; his cursive script inherits the essence of Yu Youren's standardized cursive script, integrating the strengths of calligraphers like Huaisu and Huang Tingjian, thus reaching an artistic realm of "bold and unconstrained yet not departing from rules, free-spirited yet with a clear foundation". Just as calligraphy critics have commented, "He learns from Yu yet transcends Yu, moving freely between ancient and modern styles to form his own distinctive manner."
At this Zhao Xuemin Calligraphy and Poetry Exhibition, the displayed works cover a variety of calligraphy styles including running script and cursive script, with rich content. The themes involved range from Mao Zedong's poems, classic poems of ancient China, to self-created poems and essays containing profound philosophies, as well as ecological protection. Notably, his calligraphic work Twenty-Four Solar Terms Poems integrates artistic beauty, scientific accuracy, and intellectual depth, demonstrating the author's abundant talent, profound skills, extensive scholarship, and his love for Chinese traditional culture. Also featured are widely circulated poetic calligraphy works on themes such as giant pandas and "cross-Strait kinship" — which vividly reproduce the touching stories between compatriots on both sides of the Strait and reinforce bonds of familial affection.
In 2008, Zhao Xuemin, who then served as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Deputy Director of the State Forestry Administration, and President of the China Wildlife Conservation Association, was tasked by the Central Government with selecting and gifting a pair of giant pandas to Taiwan. This initiative broke the long-standing deadlock of isolation across the Taiwan Strait, built a bridge of kinship between the people on both sides, and marked a "ice-breaking journey" for cross-Strait non-governmental exchanges.
Seizing the opportunity presented by the pandas “Tuantuan” and “Yuanyuan,” Zhao Xuemin organized a series of calligraphy and painting cultural activities. He successively organized events such as the "Cross-Strait Reunion Calligraphy and Painting Workshop", the "Cross-Strait Great Wall Centimetre-Long Scroll Calligraphy Workshop", and the "Cross-Strait Ascending Heights Calligraphy Workshop". He also hosted four consecutive sessions of the "Elegant Assemblies on the "Four Gentlemen" (Plum Blossom, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum) in Calligraphy and Painting".
Today, cultural exchanges through calligraphy and painting have become one of the most direct and effective ways for compatriots on both sides of the Strait to interact with each other. These exchanges have effectively enhanced a shared identity rooted in excellent traditional Chinese culture and deepened the sentiment of "being one family". During the process of selecting and sending the giant pandas to Taiwan, Zhao Xuemin made a special effort to convey the deep affection of compatriots on the Chinese mainland toward their Taiwanese counterparts through his calligraphy and poetry works. These works are imbued with a vivid spirit of the times and embody the author's feelings for his family and country.
The 100 donated works can be regarded as a concentrated manifestation of Zhao Xuemin's artistic achievements. Among them, there are not only classic poems that highlight the essence of traditional culture, but also self-created poems that reflect the concept of ecological protection. These works not only embody the humanistic feelings of "caring for the people and all living things, and advocating virtue and righteousness", but also practice his artistic philosophy that "calligraphy should serve the people and social culture". Particularly worth mentioning is that some works are specially inscribed with Mr. Yu Youren's poems and essays as well as quotations from historical and cultural celebrities of Sanyuan, continuing the cultural context of his hometown through brush and ink. This is not only a cultural feedback to Sanyuan, the "Hometown of Chinese Calligraphy", but also the deepest artistic tribute from someone who carries his native soil in his heart.
Zhao Xuemin has always cared deeply about his hometown and has offered suggestions for its cultural development on many occasions. This large-scale donation continues his long-standing efforts to give back to his hometown — from writing Spring Festival couplets for fellow villagers to help them out of poverty, to demonstrating calligraphy teaching at schools, from promoting research on Yu Youren's culture to participating in local cultural activities. His sincere affection for his hometown is not only embodied in his brush and ink works, but also reflected in his actions. He said, "The loess of Sanyuan nurtured my original aspiration for art. Being able to repay my hometown with brush and ink is the most precious honor for a wanderer."
The 100 donated works not only add valuable cultural assets to Sanyuan, but also highlight the sense of responsibility of contemporary cultural figures to inherit the cultural context and serve their hometown. They will become an important carrier for inheriting China's excellent traditional culture, boost the implementation of local cultural projects benefiting the people, enable the art of calligraphy to radiate new vitality in the new era, and provide a vivid model for how calligraphy art in the new era can be rooted in tradition and oriented towards the public.
On September 20th, the "International Stele Studies Symposium and Northern Stele Calligraphy Exhibition – Yu Youren Special Topic" opened at the Museum of Xi'an Jiaotong University. Zhao Xuemin, Deputy Director of the Calligraphy and Painting Studio of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was invited to attend the event. Together with Su Shishu, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and more than 200 other well-known figures in the cultural circle from home and abroad, he discussed the historical context and contemporary value of stele studies art, appreciated the powerful and vigorous style of Northern Stele calligraphy and the artistic charm of Mr. Yu Youren's brushwork. He also joined Wang Gaimin, former Standing Vice Chairman of the Shaanxi Calligraphers Association, in presenting the "Yu Youren Award" and "Yu Youren Award Nomination" respectively.This is not only a high recognition of the recipients’ dedicated efforts and meticulous inheritance in the field of stele calligraphy, but also a continued promotion of the stele studies spirit represented by Mr. Yu Youren. It guides young artists to uphold cultural roots, have the courage to innovate and make breakthroughs, injects new vitality into the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture, and enables the ancient art of stele studies to shine more brilliantly in the new era.
Chinese Cultural Figures is committed to promoting Chinese culture to the world.
（Editors-in-Charge: Liu Sheng, Zhang Yan）
