Spring 2006
 
 

CONTENTS

 
  REMEMBERING LI JING 想念李箐
   By YAO Yni Ying 姚宜瑛
   Translated by David and Ellen DETERDING
   戴德巍與陳艷玲
 
  MY RUNNING MOTHER 奔跑的母親
   By Sung-fen KUO 郭松棻
   Translated by Jonathan R. BARNARD 柏松年
 
  WEDDING DATE 婚期
   By Ping Lu 平路
   Translated by Sylvia Li-chun LIN 林麗君
 
  THE MANSION OUTSIDE THE MANSION 樓外樓
   By Hsiang Ming 向明
   Translated by Lisa Lai-ming WONG 黃麗明
 
  A SKETCH OF MORNING LIGHTS 晨光素描
   By Lu Ti 綠蒂
   Translated by Lisa Lai-ming WONG 黃麗明
 
  SEVEN FEET OF CLOTH 七尺布
   By SU Shao-lien 蘇紹連
   Translated by John J. S. BALCOM 陶忘機
 
  BRIEF NOTES ON CHIAYI—
LIN SEN ROAD (THE WOODED ROAD)
嘉義速記-林森路

   By Du Yeh 渡也
   Translated by Lisa Lai-ming WONG 黃麗明
 
  CALLIGRAPHY’S BRIGHT STAR SHINING ON MINGDAO— CHEN WEI-TEH: ARTIST, TEACHER AND CHAMPION OF THE CAUSE OF CALLIGRAPHY 書法北斗在明道-陳維德先生的書法志業
   By LI Yu-chou 李郁周
   
Translated by David van der Peet 范德培
 
  CHEN WEI-TEH: A CHRONOLOGY 陳維德年表
   Translated by David van der Peet 范德培
 
  NEWS & EVENTS 文化活動
   Compiled by Sarah Jen-hui HSIANG 項人慧
 
  NOTES ON AUTHORS AND TRANSLATORS
作者與譯者簡介,
 
  APPENDIX: CHINESE ORIGINALS
附錄:中文原著
 
  Right: “BLESSED FOREVER WITH ONE HUNDRED FELICITIES” — CALLIGRAPHY WRITTEN IN SEAL SCRIPT 篆書 永受百福斗方, 69 × 66 cm
 
  Left: A BLUE-AND-WHITE ROUND VASE ENGRAVED WITH TAO YUANMING’S POEM “DRINKING WINE” 陶淵明飲酒詩青花圓腹瓶, Height: 40 cm...................................................COVER
 
  DU FU’S POEM ADDRESSED TO GERNERAL HUA WRITTEN IN RUNNING SCRIPT 行書 杜甫贈花卿橫披, 69 × 136 cm ..............................BACK COVER
   By CHEN Wei-teh 陳維德

 


LI Yu-chou 李郁周

CALLIGRAPHY’S BRIGHT STAR SHINING ON MINGDAO — CHEN WEI-TEH: ARTIST, TEACHER AND CHAMPION OF THE CAUSE OF CALLIGRAPHY
書法北斗在明道-陳維德先生的書法志業*

Translated by David van der Peet 范德培


1

  About two kilometers west from the urban township of Beidou in Changhua County a newly established school of higher learning rises from the extensive flat, green plains of central Taiwan: Mingdao University, lying in the administrative area of the Beitou rural township. In the August of 2004, the Institute of Chinese Studies was set up within the Chinese department. This Institute offers two programs, one specializing in Chinese Literature, the other in the Art of Calligraphy. It is the first graduate school in all of Taiwan to award a master’s degree in calligraphy, making Mingdao a pioneer in the research, practice, and promotion of this ancient Chinese art.
  In today’s Taiwan, there are a considerable number of graduate students of literature, history, the fine arts or education who write their master’s theses on topics relating to calligraphy. Yet very few of them undergo a systematic and comprehensive training in the art. Instead of being able to rely on a well-organized curriculum and clearly structured research program, they usually struggle to find their own way into the complex world of calligraphy, and only after many setbacks and difficulties can they eventually complete their master’s theses. It is hard not to be moved by their persistent and arduous efforts, and often excellent results, yet society at large has

An Engraved Blue-and-White Square Vase 隸書李白山中問答鏤刻青花方瓶, Height: 24.5 cm

done little or nothing to provide them with the adequate environment and support they deserve. Certainly the professors who teach calligraphy classes,and who have in the past served as mentors for some of these graduate students, guiding them in their studies and helping them with their theses, feel the same way! Against this backdrop, the establishment of a graduate program in calligraphy at one of Taiwan’s universities provides the welcome opportunity for a fresh start in calligraphy education.
Over the past ten years, there have in fact been a number of professors in the humanities and fine arts departments of various universities who have actively sought to set up graduate

programs in calligraphy at their respective schools, but even repeated requests and applications were turned down with reasoning along the lines of “this isn’t relevant for economic growth or the welfare of the people, and neither would it advance our school’s development, so there is no urgent need to establish a graduate school for calligraphy.” Yet if we take a look around and survey the development at universities in Japan, Korea or Mainland China, we find that they began to enroll students for master’s degree study of calligraphy as early as the 1980s, and even went so far as to set up departments of calligraphy to nurture talents at the undergraduate level. But in Taiwan at the beginning of the 21st century, the government and decision-makers at universities still think that there is no urgent need to set up calligraphy programs, an attitude . . . .
Vase Carved Small Ke Tripod Inscription
小克鼎銘鏤刻花瓶
Height: 45 cm


From Chen Wei-teh’s 陳維德 Chen Wei-teh huan-li tsuo-pin chi《陳維德還曆作 品集》[A collection of works by Chen Wei-teh in celebration of his sixtieth birthday], Taipei: National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, 2005.

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