China News Service Phnom Penh, January 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Cambodian calligraphy lovers send "blessings" to thousands of homes.
Written by Yang Qiang Li Haiyue.
Walking into the office building of the Cambodian Chinese Council General Association, the words "Fu" and "Dragon" are hung on both sides of the hall with the fragrance of ink, regular script, line script, official script, cursive script, different styles, and the breath of the New Year is coming. The author of these works is Feng Lifa, chairman of the Cambodian Chinese Calligraphers Association, who is wielding a pen in the middle of the hall.
The picture shows Feng Li, chairman of the Cambodian Chinese Calligraphers Association, creating calligraphy works on the spot and sending New Year's greetings to the guests. Photo by Li Haiyue from China News Service.
Early in the morning of January 9th, Feng Lifa came to the Cambodian Chinese Council to prepare for the new year's "Wave Spring and Welcome Ruiqi, Blessing to Tens of Millions of Families Around the World" activity. He told China News Service that since 2019, every year on the eve of the traditional Chinese New Year, the Cambodian Chinese Council and the Cambodian Chinese Calligraphers Association will hold a cultural activity to send "blessings" in the Spring Festival, with the aim of conveying the blessings and joy of the Spring Festival to the global Chinese community.
The "Blessing" activity with the same theme is held in dozens of overseas countries every year through Chinese calligrapher groups from various countries. Cai Weihua, vice president of the Cambodian Chinese Council, said that the significance of this event is not only to promote traditional Chinese culture, but also to promote cultural exchanges between Cambodia and China and enhance the friendship between the two peoples.
This year's Chinese New Year "Blessing" event attracted the participation of the Confucius Institute of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Cambodia and the support of Chinese enterprises in Cambodia. Nearly 100 teachers and students from the Teacher Training Center of the Cambodian Chinese Council and local Chinese calligraphy enthusiasts in Cambodia also came to the scene to write together and experience the unique charm of Chinese calligraphy art.
The students came to the scene today to experience the traditional Chinese culture, and after they participated in the work, they will also spread the Chinese Spring Festival customs and calligraphy art to Chinese schools and local people in all provinces of Cambodia. He Yan, a teacher at the Teacher Training Center of the Cambodian Chinese Council, said. At the event site that day, she told the students the story of the Chinese zodiac and led everyone to appreciate the beauty of the changes in the strokes of Chinese characters.
Du Lina, a student at the Teacher Training Center of the Cambodian Chinese Council, paid full attention to writing "Li" and "Na" stroke by stroke – this was her first challenge to soft-pen calligraphy and wrote her Chinese name in Chinese characters.
Du Lina's classmate Chen Huijin wrote the words "All the best" that day, and her calligraphy was skillful and natural. Chen Huijin has been exposed to Chinese calligraphy since primary school and has now learned a good hand. She said that the Chinese New Year is approaching, and she also took the opportunity of this event to write down her best wishes to her family and friends, and to preserve the memory of this Chinese New Year in the form of calligraphy works.
"Dragons" was another important theme of the event. Feng Lifa said: This year is the Year of the Dragon, and the descendants of the dragon are not only a title for the descendants of Yan and Huang, but also a summary of the unique culture and spiritual outlook of the Chinese nation. This title contains a deep affection for the history, culture and spirit of the Chinese nation, as well as a firm belief in the future prosperity and development. He encouraged the guests to write down their New Year's wishes and wishes, and to demonstrate them in person.
Recalling the Spring Festival when they were children, the older generation of Cambodian Chinese present were quite emotional. At that time, the family wrote their own Spring Festival couplets, and now they basically buy Spring Festival couplets, although they are exquisite and beautiful, but they lack the unique aura and earthiness of handwritten Spring Festival couplets. "The New Year is a time of year for family reunions, and we create a festive atmosphere by writing Spring Festival couplets, dragon and lion dances and other customs, so as to maintain the Chinese feelings belonging to overseas Chinese. Feng Lifa said.
At the end of the event on the 9th, Feng Lifa gave dozens of "Fu" and "Dragon" characters written by him to the guests. He is excited to connect the Chinese diaspora with the local people in Cambodia through the art of calligraphy: "We are all one family, regardless of each other. (ENDS).