84-year-old Do Duc Hoang, member of the UNESCO Calligraphy Club, says “At this time of the year I have to write up to 12 or 14 hours a day but I don’t feel tired. On the contrary, I’m very happy. It’s a chance to meet people who love the calligraphy, the Chinese and Vietnamese languages. My customers are not only Vietnamese – there’s a fair smattering of foreigners as well. My works appear in France, Russia and Germany. One Russian spent hours waiting for me in order to obtain my calligraphic work. In addition, they give me money to express their gratitude.”
Hoang was born in an educated family. When he was young, he listened to elders talking about the Chinese script, as well as poems and idioms every day. He absorbed a love of the script. When he was 50 he started to write it again. Joining the UNESCO Calligraphy Club, he spoke to others about the art, learnt from friends, studied from books and watched Chinese television programmes on the subject, and he now has a giant collection of the Chinese script.
“Now, even though I’m old, I can live on my own earnings due to the money I earn from writing the script” Hoang says. Another member of the club, Pham Van Khoi, says “I do Chinese script calligraphy to let my children understand that even though I’m old, I still study. I have to act as an example and encourage them to study more”. At the moment, besides traditional calligraphy, a new form, Tien Ve has become popular. Tien Ve aficionados are viwed as pioneers, willing to seek out new forms of calligraphic expression.
According to the self-described cultural guru, Nguyen Hung Vi, Tien Ve calligraphy is a indispensable development of Vietnamese calligraphy. Similarly to writing itself, which developed from Chinese to Nom (the simplified, Vietnamese ‘demotic’ version of the Chinese script), then to the Roman script used today, Tien Ve developed through a similar process. It is the combination of an impressionist form of art which incorporates painting with along with the Nom script. Tien Ve calligraphers use handwriting very flexibly in order to create a visual impression.
People who do not understand the Chinese or Nom script can still enjoy Tien Ve calligraphy because the intent of the calligrapher is not to make the viewer understand intellectually but through feeling. Modern and traditional calligraphy are different in many ways. Traditional calligraphy is based on old poems and classical references, while modern artists use everything in life – from a black tooth to rubbish – as subject matter. Traditional calligraphy rests on the shape of the script such as the Le, Trien, Hanh, or Thao ‘fonts’, while Tien Ve is free form.
Longer sentences useful Chinese script, while the newer form of calligraphy uses lines in any of Han, Nom, or the Roman script and the line of script is simplified. The two forms also differ in their use of space: the old style is a harmonious combination of black and white, while the new focuses on blurring the line between the two. The writers of Tien Ve can create layers of script in their works. While traditional artists always write on paper, newer artists write on all sorts of materials. Tien Ve calligraphy can be written not only on paper but also on glass, wood and even people’s skin. Tien Ve originated in China but it developed strongly in Japan in the 1980s and rose to popularity in the last year of the twentieth century in Vietnam.
The man who played a critical role in bringing Tien Ve calligraphy to Vietnam was Le Quoc Viet, who sports a set of specially dyed black teeth. When he visited China and saw Tien Ve calligraphy he instantly fell in love with it. On his return to Vietnam, he promoted this new kind of calligraphy among his friends, who then formed the ‘Zenei Gang of Five’ group. Since 2006 they have held six exhibitions, becoming increasingly well known. “Calligraphy originated in China, so if we continue to follow traditional calligraphy, we will never overtake them. That’s why I want to develop Tien Ve calligraphy – because we can create our own style. The combination of painting and calligraphy creates something new. Even if people do not understand the script, they can still enjoy the artistry of Tien Ve calligraphic works. With this new calligraphy, meaning is not so important. The most important thing is that the writer can tell his story however he likes. Calligraphy becomes the key by which a writer liberates themself from tradition” Viet says.
In order to create Tien Ve calligraphy, the writer is not bound by the tradition of studiously working at a desk, but instead Viet creates new art by running around his canvas. He sprays water, splashes ink, and uses bamboo leaves to create his works. A dog has the right to run through his art to create lovely flowers with its paw-prints. A chicken can step on his cloth to make a fragile star.
When Viet boarded at the Cot Pagoda on Hoa Bang Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi the bonze hung one of his scripts in the pagoda. “I like to see their works spread out in the pagoda – they choose the best ones for exhibition – and I enjoy watching them work. With their strange materials and their new ways of writing, it’s fascinating to see them at it.” Even while controversy as to the ‘authenticity’ of the more modern style of calligraphy has raged, Tien Ve has continued to develop.
“I’m old, so I follow traditional calligraphy. But Tien Ve calligraphy is a new art and I admire Tien Ve practitioners. They are creative, brave and artistic. They will be ones who bring Vietnamese calligraphy to the world,” says The Anh, a member of the Vietnam Linguistics Club.
Nguy Ha (The Vietnam Nation)
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