耿相曾   Geng, Xiang-Zeng   1921~1996

Born in Henan Province, China in 1921, Xiangzeng Geng had been able to recite the Four Books and Five Classics with ease since his tender age, and had a photographic memory for literary works. He was enrolled in the Graduate Institute of Educational Research, Taiwan Provincial Teachers’ College (now National Taiwan Normal University) in 1956, and pursued advanced study at Southern Illinois University in 1958. He came back to Taiwan after earning his Master’s in education in 1959, and thenceforth taught at Taiwan Provincial Normal Schools in Chiayi, Tainan and Hsinchu. Throughout that period, he not only promoted calligraphy education in an active manner, but also cultivated a great number of talented calligraphers. After his mandatory retirement from the frontier of education, Geng immersed himself in the world of calligraphy by practicing and studying calligraphic scripts. Geng modelled his calligraphy upon Xizhi Wang, Xianzhi Wang, Zongyuan Liu, and Fu Mi. His standard and running scripts were as elegantly graceful as those by Xinyu Pu. The poised and strong brushstrokes of his running-cursive script had a close parallel to those by Yoren Yu. His small seal script was so powerful that burst with vitality, demonstrating his mastery of “yu zhu zhuan” (i.e. jade-chopsticks seal script), a calligraphic style effloresced in the Tang Dynasty. His simple and unadorned calligraphic style stood out from the crowd, yet he was very modest about this achievement, claiming that his calligraphy “is not qualified to have any style yet.” His reserved, distinguished bearing thus manifested itself in such a disposition. Geng devoted all his leisure time to calligraphy. His lifelong passion for the Chinese culture found expression in his calligraphic works. He also dedicated himself to calligraphy education by guiding and supporting many young calligraphers par excellence without taking any credit. As a calligrapher, educator, and scholar, Geng unquestionably embodied the traditional virtues espoused by Chinese literati.