Ｄｒａｇｏｎ　ｆｌｉｅｓ　ｉｎ　ａｒｔｉｓｔ’ｓ　ｂｒｕｓｈ.docVIP

Ｄｒａｇｏｎ　ｆｌｉｅｓ　ｉｎ　ａｒｔｉｓｔ’ｓ　ｂｒｕｓｈ 　　 Dragons are deeply rooted in the Chinese culture. For thousands of years, dragons have been regarded as a symbol of Chinese nation and frequently depicted in artworks like paintings, carvings and writings. 　　A huge sculpture featuring the Chinese character ``long (dragon) was recently unveiled on the north bank of the Yellow River in Lanzhou, Northwest Chinas Gansu Province. The sculpture was created based on a handwriting of Wang Guowen. 　　Born into a farmers family in East Chinas Fujian Province, Wang was admitted to Beijing University about 40 years ago. After graduation he set foot in Northwest China to start his career. When he began to study calligraphy at the age of 50, he was particularly interested in ``Caoshu (cursive style). After years of practice, the self-taught calligrapher evolved a unique individual style and his works have been on display in the National Art Museum of China, Chairman Maos Memorial Hall and Zhongnanhai. In Wangs calligraphy works, the lines -- either strong or soft -- are very much changeable. He allows the brush to ``gallop across the paper, curling, twisting or meandering in one unbroken stroke, thus creating an original style. The handwriting of ``dragon is one of Wangs representative works. Few would expect that such an impressive writing was actually completed by chance. 　　On December 21, 1994, Wang, who was secretary of the Party committee of Wuwei of Gansu, returned to his study after attending a meeting. As usual he planned to relax himself by practicing handwriting. When he picked up a brush, his secretary came in and asked him to have lunch. As Wang talked to his secretary, a drop of ink fell from the tip of the brush onto the paper. Hardly bothered by the incident, Wang wrote a character of ``long in one stroke in a few seconds. To his surprise, the ink stain added a lively touch to the handwriting. 　　When we first saw the handwriting, we were impressed by its changeable style of str