Discussion:Tsai Yulung

The smart acting like the clumsy

Masunda Yusaku

A sudden come-across sometimes is like a must, sudden and nature. I first saw Tsai Yu-long’s calligraphy in Nov. of 2007 on a slightly rainy and dull afternoon. I went to visit No.50, Moganshan Rd. in Shanghai, an old former national factory, huge walls and multiple spaces whereinnumerable numbers of galleries had gathered. To avoid the rain, I walked into a gallery by the roadside, suddenly I was shocked by black lumps and curves before me. Just like this paper implies, “vine-like” strong lines mutually entangled and crept on the slender scroll overflowing vigor of life everywhere. I walked inside and looked around the walls, at the beginning, I couldn’t tell what were on the works. Gradually I recognized most of them were “Bo-Jo-Po-Ro-Mi-Do Heart Scripture”. As though it contained and condensed the writer’s whole life, emotion and prayer. Those smooth curves, overlooking the space between lines, crept all over the paper and overflew out the paper as if the exciting emotion can not be suppressed.

Tsai Yu-long’s calligraphy easily reminds people of Huai Su and Chang Hsu’s wild cursive style from Tang Dynasty. But the ideas between them are paradoxical and it is Tsai Yu-long’s originality. The writing is not from his subtle hands, the writer dedicates all his body and soul at the tip of the brush letting us feel the burst of life, rhythm, and the tempo of time; while listening carefully, the sound of the friction between brush and paper is so clear and audible.

Tsai Yu-long ever wrote: “Stele characters of Han, Wei and Chin Dynasties are my instructors who taught me to be clumsy, plain, strong, straight, true”. Tsai Yu-long’s calligraphy absorbs and combines Chinese classic essence. It’s also lucky for his calligraphy career that he was born and raised in Taiwan. Like a hermit, he is solitary from the outside and humble to face inside universe to write, write and write. Stroke by stroke, his works respond to life beat and rhythm, just like first class ballet player’s strong and well-proportioned body which has ever been thoroughly knocked and ground.

“Clumsy, plain, strong, straight, true”, the five characters just contain the nature of Tsai Yu-long’s calligraphy. Especially “clumsy” and “plain”, they actually are the externalization of spirit. Keeping clumsy and cultivating clumsy are always from the ancient time the noble living attitude going away from being rich and luxurious as well as the important ideal in art domain. This talent can only be owned by the chosen person. “The smart acting like the clumsy”（Lao Tze）. Just because of “clumsy” and “plain”, the viewers free themselves from the ideology distance of appreciation, everything looks like reachable and so friendly.

While viewing Tsai Yu-long’s works, what’s important is not to read the characters, that is, to understand. Instead, we should get rid of the preconceived subjectiveness and directly perceive those lines penetrating and flowing. In that case, we can discover that automatic note sublimated by Tsai Yu-long’s rhythm tempo making the characters before eyes become a painting space from a calligraphy space. In the fine art domain of northeast asia’s Chinese character culture circle（especially, after Sung Dynasty）, calligraphy, painting and poetry are mixed as one so that calligraphy sublimating to be painting is not something incredible. On the contrary, those perspectives treating calligraphy and painting separately are just unhealthy and sick. Thus, today that we face Tsai Yu-long’s calligraphy displayed with vigorous lines meanwhile means we face a painting-like poet.

Chinese characters, born in China, spread into Japan through Korea to become their individual tools for recoding languages. Though on one hand they became hiragana and katakana, on the other hand they became Korean. However, they two have both originated from Chinese characters. However, after World War II, Chinese characters were simplified in today’s trend of globalization. Using a brush and ink to write has become far away to our daily life. And the loss of writing will surely bring about the loss of ideals. Under such a crisis, being in Shanghai and developing his depth, the significance of Tsai Yu-long’s works seem especially precious and important. I wish that Tsai Yu-long’s works will not only be limited in Chinese character cultural circles, but the world will work together to re-gain the aesthetics of handwriting through his works.

Fine art historian/critic

Masunda Yusaku

July of 2008