Angelic Benevolence-Master Shi Xianjie's Vigorous and Seasoned Multi-Style Exquisite Masterpieces! (No. 33)

The long and splendid history of the Chinese nation has given rise to rich and valuable cultural resources, constantly nourishing the children of China. Its powerful spiritual essence subtly influences us!

Nurturing Hearts and Bestowing Virtues to Future Generations

Master Shi Xianjie (Calligrapher Association Member) Pen Name: Shi Runzhang, Shi Chenxu, and Shi Hanqi.

Mr. Shi, of Han ethnicity, graduated from Beijing Normal University. He previously worked at the local taxation bureau in Miyun County, Beijing. From a young age, he has had a passion for calligraphy and painting, and has received professional training in regular script, clerical script, running script, and cursive script.

Mr. Shi's calligraphic works exude a spirit that fully manifests his mastery of techniques within the bounds of calligraphic principles. His compositions are structurally balanced, with a harmonious blend of steadiness and dynamism, contraction and expansion, uprightness and inclination. In terms of form, his works exhibit freshness and grace, vigor and power, lines that seem to penetrate the paper, elegance and loftiness, rhythmic charm, and an effortless disposition, encompassing both squareness and roundness, executed with a single stroke, as if a spirited steed leaping into the air and leaving all dust behind. They resemble a soaring dragon, twisting and turning, emerging from nothingness and returning to the vast expanse. Moreover, his brushwork is dashing and unrestrained, sweeping and scattering, profound yet agile, combining strength and softness, concealing sharpness while subtly revealing it, and revealing sharpness while maintaining restraint, abruptly stopping at the end of each stroke. The variations in line, ink treatment, and spatial arrangement in Master Shi's works evoke a vivid and intoxicating sense of rhythm and beauty for the viewer to appreciate.

President of the Beijing Jingmi Hanmo Calligraphy and Painting Academy

Academician of the Daqing Saibei Calligraphy and Painting Academy

Top-Level Master Calligrapher and Painter at the Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Artists Creation Center

Artistic Consultant at the Hanmo Calligraphy and Painting Academy

Director of the Xuchang City Painting Sage Cheng Daoyu Research Institute

Member of the International Oriental Art Collection

Gold Awards

June 2000 - China New Century Bishu Mountain Cup Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition Competition

September 2003 - China Calligraphy and Painting Dedicated to the Motherland (Nanjing Yan Zhenqing Calligraphy and Painting Competition)

June 2005 - China Commemorative Huang Tingjian Calligraphy and Painting Creation Competition

October 2005 - China's First "Cursive Script Master" Zhang Xu's 1330th Anniversary Calligraphy and Painting Praise Competition

November 2005 - China's First Literati Couplet Calligraphy and Painting Competition

November 2005 - China's Fourth Hua Biao Calligraphy and Painting Creation Competition

February 2006 - China's Second Calligraphy and Painting Competition

Grand Prize

June 2000 - China's First Hometown Affection Calligraphy and Painting Competition

First Prize

August 2004 - China Commemorative Calligrapher Saint Yan Zhenqing Calligraphy and Painting Competition

March 2005 - China Lei Feng's Song Calligraphy and Painting Competition

June 2005 - China's First Harmony Cup Calligraphy and Painting Competition

November 2005 - China's First Oracle Bone Script Style Calligraphy and Painting Competition

Excellence Award

August 2000 - China Famous Calligraphers and Painters Calligraphy and Painting Competition

July 2004 - China "Hua Biao" Calligraphy and Painting Competition

June 2005 - China's First Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics Cup Calligraphy and Painting Competition

Elite Award

June 2000 - China Grand Event Chinese Cup Calligraphy and Painting Competition

May 2006 - China Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of Mao Zedong's "Ode to the Plum Blossom" Calligraphy and Painting Competition

In his calligraphic creations, Master Shi Xianjie upholds the parallel pursuit of artistic practice and theoretical study. With profound skills, elegant style, and a unique artistic voice, his works not only showcase diverse forms but also highlight the essence of calligraphy, demonstrating remarkable versatility and adaptability. He steadfastly adheres to the artistic concept of harmonizing stele inscriptions and model calligraphic works, continuously absorbing and cultivating his own profound, vast, yet unadorned aesthetic inclinations. His brushstrokes are imbued with literary and spiritual qualities, expressing emotions freely and spontaneously, resulting in romantic, vibrant works brimming with imagination. Master Shi Xianjie often says, "I hope to nurture a vibrant art through vivid emotions, while upholding the banner of originality in the process of inheriting artistic traditions, simultaneously preserving a scholarly and humanistic spirit amidst the soaring of passion and the expression of individuality."

Master Shi Xianjie has always believed that in addition to understanding calligraphy, calligraphers must also strengthen their cultural literacy in various aspects. In the lines of his works, one can sense a profound scholarly aura, as well as his talents beyond calligraphic skills. He says: "In their youth, calligraphers should compare their talents; in middle age, their cultivation; and in old age, their realms!" After decades of wielding the brush, Master Shi Xianjie's dual cultivation in calligraphy and culture is extraordinary, enabling his calligraphic art to achieve "sustainable development."

Hiscalligraphy upholds the spirit of stele studies, harmonizing stele inscriptions and model calligraphic works. By absorbing the quintessence of tradition and grasping the characteristics of the times, he has formed a distinct and mature artistic style. He possesses profound and unique insights into the development and trends of contemporary calligraphic art, which guide his own calligraphic creations.

First, with the sensitivity of an artist, he has recognized and engaged with the contemporary development of stele studies as a significant issue of our time, actively practicing it through his calligraphic creations. During a period when the so-called "mainstream" calligraphic style was dominated by the "new model copybook learning," recognizing only the "two Wangs" as tradition, and the development of stele studies was intentionally or unintentionally diminished and belittled, with the calligraphic circle following trends and suffering from severe homogenization, Mr. Shi persisted in his artistic direction and style, demonstrating his independent artistic character and outstanding artistic ability.

Second, by taking the path of harmonizing stele inscriptions and model calligraphic works, and dedicating himself to diversifying the styles of stele calligraphy, reaching considerable heights, Mr. Shi's creative practice has proven the feasibility of the contemporary development of stele studies, thus serving as a model. In his works, upholding the free spirit of stele studies, he has drawn inspiration from calligraphers like Zhao Zhiqian and Xu Shenggong, while also incorporating elements from model book learning, bamboo slips, and even modern styles, synthesizing and assimilating various approaches to enhance the artistic appeal of his works. This reflects Mr. Shi's open artistic concept and the modern characteristics of his calligraphic art.

Overall, Mr. Shi's calligraphic style is characterized by simplicity, vigor, and unadorned elegance. These stylistic features are expressed through his unique language of ink and brush, manifested in his distinctive character structures, compositions, and brushwork techniques.

The structure of characters most reflects a calligrapher's talent. After the Tang Dynasty, the forms of Chinese characters became relatively stable, making it difficult for calligraphers to freely express themselves through character structures. However, Master Shi Xianjie's calligraphy often displays ingenious and creative character formations, with characters varying in squareness, elongation, size, and inclination, yet handled with a deft and measured touch. This demonstrates his profound understanding of the character structures found in stele inscriptions, model calligraphic works, seal scripts, clerical scripts, and bamboo slips, which he has internalized and expressed through his brushwork. He excels at adapting character forms to suit compositional needs, writing each character in relation to its surrounding characters and lines, allowing the form to emerge from the circumstances and the circumstances to shape the form, resulting in a lively and graceful dynamism. His works exude a sense of harmony, breadth, ruggedness, and unadorned elegance, yet with a slight adjustment of the position or length of a stroke, he can infuse a sense of artlessness, achieving both variation and unity without appearing abrupt or forced.

Composition expresses the overall rhythm and charm of a calligraphic work. Great calligraphers place great emphasis on compositional principles, as Lin Sanzhii said, "The arrangement of characters is the breathing of characters." The compositions in Master Shi Xianjie's calligraphy are highly creative, with elements such as character size, line inclination, and movement pace all unified at the tip of the brush, inviting contemplation. His line spacing is relatively even, conveying a sense of order, while the character spacing varies, sometimes grouping characters together, creating a rhythmic sensation and embodying the principle of "orderliness within disorderliness" in composition. He also borrows from the format of handwritten letters, writing on rectangular paper, hanging scrolls, and horizontal scrolls, breaking away from conventional compositional formulas and creating contrasts between density and sparseness, reminiscent of the literati painters' use of white space as black, achieving a balance of "sparseness that allows a horse to gallop through, and density that leaves no room for a needle," while maintaining a coherent rhythm and clarity.

Brushwork is the core of calligraphy, determining the accuracy of stroke forms and the quality of lines. The quality of lines is a primary indicator of a calligrapher's skill level, as calligraphy has a "one-stroke" characteristic, where strokes cannot be modified or retraced once written. Therefore, precise brushwork and control of brush pressure are paramount. Master Shi Xianjie deeply understands the critical importance of brushwork, comprehending the similarities and differences in brushwork between stele inscriptions, model calligraphic works, seal scripts, and clerical scripts, particularly the stele brushwork principle of "moving when it should move, and stopping when it should stop," and the deliberate, restrained brushwork. His strokes often begin with a reverse-sharp start, proceed with a centered brush, and turn with rounded transitions, resulting in lines that appear composed and solid, capturing the essence of brushwork found in cliff inscriptions like the "Stone Gate Inscription" and embodying Sun Guoting's principle of "cursive script values smoothness and fluency." In recent years, his brushwork has become increasingly refined, achieving a harmony of brush and strength, particularly in his masterful use of dry brushwork, where the faded ink does not diminish the solidity of the lines, conveying a sense of power penetrating the paper.

Art is the most poetic part of ideology. In a calligraphic work, what impresses people is the calligrapher's skill and mastery of techniques. However, what truly touches the soul, evokes emotions, and resonates with the viewer lies in the spiritual essence of the work. Techniques are the building materials of a calligrapher's artistic style, but the choice and application of these materials are determined by the calligrapher's personality, tastes, vision, and breadth of mind, just as different architects construct different buildings from the same bricks, wood, and stone. Therefore, Master Shi Xianjie believes that writing should not be sacrificed to rigid imitation and obsession with technical skills, but rather should focus on metaphysical aspects, such as the work's spirit, taste, and charm. He has an inner passion for writing, constantly immersing himself in it and finding joy. The lightness and heaviness, urgency and leisure of his brushwork, the softness and vigor of his lines, the concentration and dilution of his ink, the inclination and separation of his line spacing and use of white space – all become a "heart monitor" reflecting his spiritual and emotional state. "I write my heart; I write my emotions." Technique is no longer a constraint or limitation, but rather the foundation and platform for his self-expression.