Ngoc-Thanh with Calligraphy
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Once, upon entering Nhat Nam supermarket’s fifth floor, I was suddenly stunned when coming across a verse from a poem by Xuan Quynh: “ Only the ocean knows where the boat goes and comes to. Only the boat understands how immense the ocean is.” It was written on a sheet of poonah paper hung in the art supply department. The words were written in a very beautiful, artistic and easy-to-read style. Though having been very fond of this verse which I learned by heart a long time ago, I still felt moved seeing it presented as a picture-in-word, because it looks more special, more dignified and more vivid. There are plenty of impressive verses, maxims written on hard papers, bamboo sheets … displayed in houses, offices, buildings or even streets that make men’s thoughts – belonging to the world of abstraction - all at once turn into something concrete because they appear so obvious and vivacious in front of us, directly affecting viewers, moving deep and hidden parts in their soul, creating strong and lasting feelings. I especially like the calligraphy works “ 14 commandments by Buddha” – One’s biggest sin in life is impious in filial duty. One’s worst mistake in life is losing oneself. One’s biggest shortcoming in life is lack of knowledge. One’s worst bankruptcy in life is despair. One’s most admirable deed in life is rising after a fall… These words and quotes when being written anywhere in any style carry in themselves the meaning of life’s truth, helping people educate themselves. And the more viewers read, the more these quotes penetrate their heart, mind and soul.
Someone has said that it is not advisable to call writing Vietnamese characters in an artistic style calligraphy because they are sound-imitating, not shape-imitating like Chinese. In fact, calligraphy (the method of writing words) is the art of writing characters in a beautiful, artistic and expressive style that any country in the world that has written language commands, and is not limited to pictographic languages like Chinese.
Coming into the calligraphy circle only since 2001, Ngoc-Thanh is a calligrapher who has her own style of writing – well-defined. Her characters - artistic, gentle with a well-ordered layout are written in a clear, easy-to-read style. This is the aspect the majority of viewers like because most calligraphy is written in an artistic style that is too entangled and hard-to-read (some calligraphers have to type what they write under their calligraphy works for viewers to understand its meaning) When done this way, a calligraphy work does lose its role of conveyance. Ngoc-Thanh is also a remarkable calligrapher because those words and sentences she has written express profound thinking and humanity, not only in Vietnamese but also in English and French. She told me that since her childhood, her hobby has been collecting poems, inspirational quotes, and quotable sayings from East to West. She has written them out displaying her emotions in each and every line of the characters for the viewers to absorb mankind’s quintessence. For them to reflect upon themselves ; and thus live a more respectable and more meaningful life.
While our forefathers have said that “ Literature can convey Tao – the right path”, nowadays we can also say that “ Calligraphy can convey Tao – the right path”. A calligraphy work can only be of true value when it can fulfill two major functions: helping the viewers feel the beauty of the words’ shape and soul. Through that can their heart and mind and soul be uplifted, making their life better and more meaningful. It is not that any handwriting (though being very beautiful and artistic) can be called calligraphy. Calligraphy is the method of writing words. The way of drawing pictures-in-words. The impressiveness and notability of Vietnamese calligraphy is that the works are as beautiful as pictures and can concurrently convey ideas meaningful to Vietnamese. Viewers can enjoy Ngoc-Thanh’s calligraphy works at the 2nd floor 183 Nguyễn Thái Bình – District 1; Mây Space – L’Ethnie shop 82 Nguyễn Du – District 1; 185/40 Phan Ðình Phùng – Ward 17 – District Phú Nhuận. All are in Hồ Chí Minh city. |
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