施孟宏   Shih, Meng-Hong   1922~1994

Born in Fuqing City, Fujian Province, China, in 1922, Meng-Hong Shih laid a solid literary foundation at the age of ten by reading The Four Books, The Classics of Poetry, The Classics of History, and Guwen Guanzhi, all under his father’s mentorship. As early as the age of seven, the artist began to learn calligraphy from Qi-Shan Su by employing the method of tracing over red characters. He adopted Zhen-Qing Yan’s Crane Couple Inscription as his calligraphic model, and imitated Sui-Liang Chu’s Stele of Buddha Niches at Yique and Wild Goose Pagoda Preface to the Sacred Teaching as well as Tomb Epitaph of Dai-Lin Zhu of the Northern Qi Dynasty and Stele of Meng-Long Zhang of the Northern Wei Dynasty, thus gradually developing his sui generis calligraphic style. After moving to Taiwan in 1946, the artist devoted decades to observing and imitating both the clerical script of the Han Dynasty and running-cursive script. He drew from the merits of various schools of calligraphers and grasped the evolution of script over the course of time. His running script appears robust and magnificent, while his clerical script exudes quaint and orderly charm. The powerful brushstrokes and the rigorous composition of his calligraphic works demonstrate brilliantly the artist’s unique gift and superior skills as a distinguished calligrapher. To promote calligraphy education, the artist co-founded the Eight-Peers Calligraphy Society in 1961 with Shao-Wen Ma, Bai-Shi Gao, Zhong-An Xie, Guang-Xian Yo, Qi-Quan Chen, Shu-Ming Shih, and Ji-Rong Feng. He also won the Zhongshan Literature and Art Awards in 1976. Extolled as a master of calligraphy, Shih contributed tremendously to the perpetuation of calligraphy art in Taiwan.