On the afternoon of January 17 2017, an event themed “Master calligraphers presenting Spring Festival couplets”, organized by the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles (SZFLAC) and the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), took place under the banyan before the student dining hall of SUSTech.

Li Fengliang, Vice Chairperson of SUSTech, along with Liang Yu, Full-time Vice President of SZFLAC; Wang Daoguo, Wang Xianrong, Chang Hongcai, Sun Xianhua, Zhao Yongjin, Ning Shuheng and Yu Yanfeng, Vice President of the Shenzhen Calligraphers Association (SZCA); and Wan Dilong, Deputy Secretary-General of SZCA, took up brushes to write Spring Festival couplets, bringing the warmth of spring to SUSTech’s teachers and students.

Li Fengliang and Liang Yu write the first stroke

Calligraphers are writing Spring Festival couplets

At the brief opening ceremony, Li said this event created a strong festival atmosphere for teachers and students, and immersed SUSTech in a strong atmosphere of traditional Chinese culture and art.

Calligraphy art is a disseminator of traditional Chinese culture, said Liang, expecting that this event will make SUSTech’s teachers and students love calligraphy and traditional Chinese culture.

Teachers and students receive Spring Festival couplets

Under the banyan tree more than 300 years old, teachers and students came to watch calligraphers’ performance and receive Spring Festival couplets. Wang Yifu, a fourth-year undergraduate student at the Department of Finance, was one of them. Early before the beginning of this event, he joined the queue. “This couplet of strong human interest is my new year gift for my family,” said him. Wang from Luoyang, Henan Province wanted to give his parents a special gift when he returned home this year. “Pheasants bring good fortune throughout history, swallows fly into the home of Wang”. He asked a calligrapher to write it. “Though the words are not professional, my mother is surnamed “Shi” (pronounced like “history” in Chinese) and my father “Wang”, this couplet is memorable to my family,” he added.

The perfume of ink attracted SUSTech’s foreign teachers and visitors. Bill Moran, a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, was visiting the campus of SUSTech by chance at that time. He joined the event with relish. After receiving a couplet, he said happily, “These couplets are so beautiful, I will put up one in my Australian home.”

During the event, ten calligraphers wrote 500 couplets and presented all to SUSTech’s teachers, students and visitors. Besides, tables were set for teachers and students to write to experience the charm and fun of the traditional culture.

Teachers and students dry couplets on the lawn

Calligraphers pose for a photo