Light of Life (FYW Award: First Prize, Style)
by Xiaxi Fei
It is Mid-Autumn Festival.
Taking a box of moon cakes, I go to Mr. Wang’s house alone. Although his is a traditional Chinese courtyard house, there is no atmosphere of celebrating the traditional festival; everything there is desolate. The red paint on the gate is no longer bright but mottled. The water in the fish tank has dried up, accumulating a thick layer of ash. Perhaps because of yesterday's strong wind, the leaves and the petals of the osmanthus tree have been knocked down, leaving a heap of branches, leaves, and petals on the ground.
It is very easy for me to find out where Mr. Wang is because that is the only room with lights on. I walk into the room through the long corridor which is decorated with many pictures of famous ancient Chinese calligraphers and their works. Although the whole room is in a mess, with rice paper and ink marks everywhere, I can easily see the white-haired old man standing in the middle at first sight, bending over to write.
Immersed in his work, Mr. Wang fails to notice my arrival. I approach closer, finding that Mr. Wang is writing a poem: May we all be blessed with longevity. This is a piece of a poem which I am so familiar because it is the poem that I have been practicing and understanding in the whole process of learning Chinese calligraphy. This poem and Chinese calligraphy have accompanied me for many years to spend my childhood and experience many things. They witness my growth.
Looking at the characters on the rice paper, they remind me of my dear grandma. It was my grandmother that firstly gave me an image about this poem. Over the years, no matter when I see this poem on any occasion, the scene of my grandma reciting the poem and teaching me to practice Chinese calligraphy will always float in my mind.
In fact, I grew up with my grandmother. Without the company of my parents, my grandmother was the only relative around me. She sent me to school, taught me to write Chinese calligraphy and brought me up. However, my grandma was not a very warm person and she was even a bit strict. After I entered the primary school, she began to teach me to practice Chinese calligraphy. In the beginning, I was reluctant to learn to write Chinese calligraphy not only because of my grandmother’s strictness on me but because I didn't want to lose my fun times after school. However, my mind changed after a few months. I started to enjoy those after-school hours which were spent in practicing one stroke after another. Because in those days of learning to write with my grandmother, I could clearly feel her love for me hidden behind the strictness. I loved the time when my grandmother accompanied me to practice. In addition, since my father was also good at writing Chinese calligraphy, my grandma sent some drafts of my calligraphy writing to my father. After receiving my drafts, my father gave me a piece of his own artwork with the same poem that my grandmother always recited: " May we all be blessed with longevity.” When I saw my father's work, I felt as if I was communicating with my father through that writing although he was thousands of miles away. I could feel his longing and love for grandma and me. As a result, I began to love calligraphy. Because it brought me to be closer with my grandmother and my father in heart. And I really enjoyed the feeling of satisfaction after finishing a piece of writing.
When I was twelve years old, I went back to the city to live with my parents. It was also at that time that I met Mr. Wang. He was a friend of my father's and my father invited him to become my new calligraphy teacher. From his teaching, I learned the other typefaces which were different from the one my grandmother had taught me and I gained a deeper understanding of calligraphy.
Unfortunately, I lost my dear grandma who had accompanied me in my whole childhood in the winter of that year. She was a loyal fan of Chinese calligraphy, and it was she who guided me to the path of Chinese calligraphy. But she left me without seeing many more progress of my skills to write Chinese calligraphy. I didn't even have the last chance to see her. When hearing of her death, the pen in my hand fell down and left a large stain on the paper with the poem " May we all be blessed with longevity.” I was so sad that I even wanted to give up calligraphy. However, it was Mr. Wang who stopped me and made me consider calligraphy as the light of my life the first time.
In the beginning, he didn't say anything but wrote the same poem which he is writing now: May we all be blessed with longevity.
After witnessing Mr. Wang writing on the rice paper, I felt incredible and amazing. At that moment, I thought that the Chinese brush in his hand was a magic wand! Every time when the magic wand splashed on the white rice paper, it would leave a beautiful stroke. Even written by the same writing brush, these strokes were totally different. Some thick while others were thin; some curved while others were straight; some long while others were short. It was a magical wand which even made me feel like that I was in a magical world!
“This piece of poem has shown the best your grandmother can wish for you,” he said to me with his hands pointing to the characters after putting down the brush, "Grandma has gone and can't come back, but what grandma loves most are calligraphy and you. You should keep practicing. What a pity it will be for Grandma to know that you give up calligraphy because of her.”
Looking at those characters, tears filled my eyes. In the haze, I seemed to see grandmother’s happy smiling face which often appeared when she watched me write. Therefore, I made a decision: I would go on practicing calligraphy. Each time when I practiced, looking at the characters I wrote, they made me feel like that my grandma was still with me. Although grandma has gone, calligraphy has replaced grandma to be the light of my life and accompany me year after year.
When I went back to the calligraphy class again after my grandma’s funeral, I asked Mr. Wang: “Why did you write this poem to ask me not to give up calligraphy at that time?”
“Because this poem and calligraphy is not only your grandmother's best wishes to you, they are also the light of my life. Without them, I would have ended my life.”
And then, he told me his story and life about calligraphy. Mr. Wang had lost his wife and children many years ago. They left Mr. Wang because of an earthquake. He even wanted to end his own life to follow his wife and children after their deaths. However, the last text message his wife sent him contained the following verse: May we all be blessed with longevity. Mr. Wang finally chose to live because it was his wife's expectation. But he spent the rest of his life practicing calligraphy. Because what his wife loved best when she was still alive was the scene that he was writing. On his wife’s phone which was found after the earthquake, there were many of his calligraphy works and photos of the scene that he was teaching their son to write calligraphy. Calligraphy was the light in his rest life, helping his dead wife and children to accompany him.
Each year when the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, Mr. Wang always writes this poem again to miss his wife and children who have turned into stars in the sky. In fact, each year on the anniversary of my grandmother's death and on Mid- autumn Festival, I would also write the poem “May we all be blessed with longevity” in calligraphy to miss my grandmother. Whenever I write the poem in Chinese calligraphy, I feel like my grandmother is accompanying me.
Calligraphy has become a part of my soul and the light of my life these years. Even to this day, when facing difficulties and feeling that I can't overcome them, as long as I stop working and write calligraphy I can calm down and get power again.
Moving away from those sad memories, I find Mr. Wang is still immersed in the world of calligraphy characters in front of him. Calligraphy is the light of his life, accompanying him through one lonely day after another. Even on such a beautiful day of reunion, the company of calligraphy, for him, is like the company of family, making him no longer lonely.
The moon light shone on Mr. Wang and spread on the characters in front of him. One after another of the beautiful characters seemed to be shining, illuminating many lives.