San Antonio College Library

Writing in Water follows two generations of Chinese calligraphy teachers, Wang Tongxing and Liu Lanbo, through the eyes of an American anthropologist who learned to write with them in Tuanjiehu Park, Beijing, where they practice writing on the plaza every day. The program introduces viewers to these funny, philosophically inclined teachers and their community of retired students who have been left behind by China's get-rich quick reforms. With their...

"Calligraphy is a defining feature of Chinese culture, both a means of communication and a revered form of art. It has changed more dramatically during the half century since Mao Zedong established the People's Republic in 1949 than over the preceding 1,500 years. At first the traditional art of calligraphy was transformed into an instrument of political power and protest, wielded on an unprecedented scale. Over the past three decades it has emerged...

This title investigates the art of a pivotal figure in Chinese art history, the controversial early Yuan-dynasty artist and statesman, Zhao Mengfu. The book is a comprehensive assessment in a Western language of his work and its legacy over seven centuries.