李普同   Li, Pu-Tung   1918~1998

Born in Wuling Po, Taoyuan County, Taiwan, Putung Li studied the Trimetric Classic, the Thousand Character Classic, and the Analects at the age of five. Later, he sat at the feet of famous scholar Shijing Li to learn Chinese classics, poetry and proses, which laid a solid foundation for his literary achievement. Highly interested in writing large characters, Li used to consult Shundō Nakamura and Kuroki Haiseki about calligraphy. He apprenticed with Youren Yu in 1958, becoming one of the four beloved disciples of Yu. Having tremendous momentum, Li’s calligraphic style features saturated, vigorous, and delightful strokes that stand out from the crowd. His works in standard, running and cursive scripts have received hordes of accolades by the calligraphy circle, and those in standard cursive script has been widely recognized as his tour de force. In addition, his influence on the development of modern calligraphy in Taiwan is nothing if not profound and enduring, which facilitated the integration of the Taiwan-born calligraphy after the Qing dynasty and the Mainland-born calligraphy introduced after the retreat of the Nationalist government in 1949. Li has cultivated numerous calligraphic talents by founding the Taiwan Chinese Calligraphy Society and the Chinese Standard Cursive Script Association. Making good use of his proficiency in Japanese, he actively promoted the exchange of calligraphy between Taiwan and Japan, and was therefore awarded the International Cultural and Art Medal from the Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, who was also the former prime minister and the president of Japanese Culture Promoting Association. In sum, Li could be construed as a significant contributor to modern calligraphy in Taiwan.