On October 18, in the conference hall of the main building of VSU, a lecture “The history of the development of Chinese calligraphy” was held by Mr. Qi Ming, a professor at the Academy of Calligraphy and Chinese Painting at China Central Television. The organisers of the lecture were the Faculty of Romance-Germanic Philology of VSU together with the Department of International Cooperation.
Before the lecture, Professor Qi Ming and Deputy Director of the Culture of China Company Xia Xingchen presented a video on Chinese culture. The video showed the sights of different cities: Hangzhou, Changzhou (one of the ancient capitals of China), Beijing, Suzhou, known as the Chinese Venice, Nanjing, Changdao, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.
Traditional calligraphy is an integral part of Chinese culture. This ancient art is more than three thousand years old. It originates from hieroglyphs, subsequently becoming a special form of expressing art through writing. During the development, Chinese calligraphy absorbed the history and philosophy of the ancient nation. The concept of the art of Chinese calligraphy is self-development and the improvement of philosophical insights. Over the course of history, Chinese calligraphy has penetrated into the cultures of other countries: in many parts of the world, special schools have been created where ancient Chinese art is taught.
According to Mr. Qi Ming, he has been practising the art of calligraphy for more than forty years. In this work, the most important thing for him is interaction with representatives of different communities, professions, and cultures.
Throughout its development, traditional Chinese art has undergone significant changes. From Professor Qi Ming's lecture, students learned about the long process of transforming calligraphic styles.
According to Professor Qi Ming, the main requirement in Chinese calligraphy is soft and smooth writing of lines, as well as the use of special tools, specifically brushes. During the lecture, Mr. Qi Ming demonstrated to the participants the process of creating calligraphic hieroglyphs.
Professor Qi Ming thanked the university administration for the invitation and cooperation and presented Voronezh State University with his own work of calligraphy - hieroglyphs written on paper with the meaning “Happiness and Balance”.
This week, a delegation from China has already met with VSU Rector Dmitry Endovitsky. As a result of the meeting, both parties signed a partnership agreement on the creation of a Centre for Joint Activities. A lecture on Chinese calligraphy took place as part of this cooperation.
