Calligraphy of a Daode Jing Quote by Cheng Chin-fa

Description

知和曰常 知常曰明.

‘Knowing Harmony is called Constancy – Knowing Constancy is called Illumination’ from the Daode Jing chapter 55.

This calligraphy is intuitively brushstroked with 60 years of experience by calligraphy master Cheng Jin-fa 郑进发. Its principle is to not let the mind interfere when drawing the lines, and infuse the art with qi, aliveness and vitality. As Jin-fa so often stresses, do not think, and calligraphic art is to be felt, and not dependent on its readability.

Cheng Chin-Fa, born 1948 in Taiwan, studied Chinese History and Art History in Taipei, calligraphy with master Chuang Yen 莊嚴at the Nation University of Taiwan in Taipei and Ink-Painting with Ye Shih-Chiang 葉世強.

1976                  Doctoral Candidate in Heidelberg on a German Academic Exchange Service scholarship

1987                  Study at the Art History Institute at the university of Cologne in 1987

1983-                 Exhibitions of his works initially in Germany and then in the USA, Taiwan, Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands

1995 -2002     Lecturer calligraphy in Taibei

1997-2018      Lecturer for ‘Intuitive Calligraphy‘ at the home of the Cologne architect Peter Busman

2017-2024      Lecturer for calligraphy at the university Cologne and regular invitee for exhibitions and seminars throughout Germany