Picking up the Paint Brush

    My enlightenment did not start until very late. In 1937, the Japanese army invaded my hometown of Xuzhou, and many people fled to the countryside seeking refuge. I was only eight years old at the time. My nanny held my hand in the crowd, but the frenetic crowd soon separated us, and I couldn’t find any of my family afterward. I roamed around the country alone. Two years later, I was lucky enough to be adopted by a farming family. I survived and lived on. During this period of time, besides farming, I also worked as an apprentice. I did not have any chance to study and I often cried over my illiteracy in secret.
    The year before the end of World War II, I was 15 years

Stars Far Away 舊日星群,, ceramic slab, 54 x 69 cm, 1998

    old. Relying on my childhood memories, I found my way back home from hundreds of miles away. Although my home had already been destroyed in the battles, I was able to find my grandmother’s house where I would live for a while. At first, I could not read and did not have a school to go to. Seven years of wandering had also given me a strange accent and labeled me an outsider. So I just stayed inside the house all day, flipped through the old books and copied the pictures I found inside– for which I even received some praise.
    The Jieziyuan Sketcher’s Handbook was my book of enlightenment. At the time, my grandmother had a tablet shop.

Bust "Spring" 頭像「春」, 60cm, 1967

    My uncle wrote tablets and I helped him to draw patterns on the tablet holders. I also went to the village school for three months. After the first month, I was able to write letters to my foster parents who had adopted me when I was a refugee. After that, I finally went to an elementary school for the first time.
    My uncle wrote tablets and I helped him to draw patterns on the tablet holders. I also went to the village school for three months. After the first month, I was able to write letters to my foster parents who had adopted me when I was a refugee. After that, I finally went to an elementary school for the first time. One of the few pleasant memories from my childhood was of an earthenware basin full of water in the front yard of my grandmother’s house. Next to the basin, there was a writing brush and a big gray brick. People would practice calligraphy on the brick when coming in and out of the house. There was also an elementary English textbook with nice illustrations in my grandmother’s house. I did not just draw the illustrations but learned how to draw the letters as well. Therefore, I was eventually able to pass the placement exam and enter the eighth grade.

Darting 奔騰, ceramic slab, 67 × 225 cm, 2001

Return from Paris, No. 7 巴黎歸來之七, ceramic slab, 52 x 72 cm, 1990