Works of Chinese art, handshakes of friendship
Print Edition
Chinese artist Zhan Renzuo is a firm believer in the concept that art can play a positive role in bringing people around the world closer together.
Zhan, 61, an art professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has created ink and water paintings given as gifts to Taiwan and the United States.
He is now engaged in painting for the centennial anniversary of National Central University in Taiwan. His theme: bamboo. His idea: people engaged in education should be as humble and pure as bamboo.
“It seems that I have a special bond with Taiwan,” said Zhan. “Three of my paintings have been given to Taiwan as presents from the mainland in the past 10 years.”
At the end of 2004, Zhan received a message from Wang Daohan, the late president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, asking him to do a painting for a Taiwan delegation planning to visit Shanghai in 2005.
The guests included Soong Chu-yu, founder of the People First Party in Taiwan, and Lien Chan, former chairman of the Kuomingtang.
“Since Soong was born in Hunan Province, Wang suggested I choose a theme from the poems written by Mao Zedong, who was also born in Hunan,” said Zhan. “But I had different ideas.”
Zhan counter-proposed that the painting should contain elements of Shanghai, since Soong would be visiting the city. Wang agreed.
Zhan’s completed work featured the magnolia, the city flower of Shanghai. He said the magnolia blooms in the spring, symbolizing a new spring in mainland-Taiwan relations with the visit by Soong and Lien.
“Wang actually wanted me to create a separate painting for Lien, but the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council had already prepared one for Lien,” said Zhan.
The opportunity came a year later, when Wang’s daughter accepted an honorary doctorate for her father at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. On that occasion, she presented Lien, who was also being honored at the event, a painting by Zhan.
The work featured plum blossoms and bamboo, which symbolized two noble men appreciating one another.
Zhan’s art diplomacy has stretched across oceans.
In 1998, he was asked to do a traditional Chinese painting to be presented to then US President Bill Clinton in honor of his trip to China. The visit included Shanghai.
When Clinton, his wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea visited Yuyuan Garden, Zhan was there, painting a picture before their eyes.
The work was entitled “Spring Refreshing the World.” A separate painting featuring peonies was presented to Chelsea.
“I could see that they were amazed by Chinese painting,” said Zhan. “I heard that Clinton prolonged his visit to the garden so he could watch me paint.”
Zhan started studying traditional Chinese painting when he was five.
“When I was a child, I painted 20 to 30 works a week,” said Zhan. “My mother was always worried that I wasn’t getting enough sleep.”
Qiao Mu, a renowned artist in China, later became Zhan’s mentor. He always told his protégé that an artist should be humble in words and bold in works. Zhan’s brushwork specialties were flowers and birds.
After graduating from the China Academy of Art, Zhan devoted full time to painting and teaching. In 1981, he was recruited as an art teacher at Jiao Tong University.
“It was the first time the university established art courses,” said Zhan. “In the beginning we didn’t have an art major, just optional courses. And we didn’t even have textbooks.”
Zhan made his own textbooks. He had 50 students in class, so for every class, he painted 50 artworks to give his students as examples. Even today, those paintings are still used as university textbooks in art.
“I always tell my students that they need to adopt a professional attitude even if they don’t want to become professional artists,” said Zhan. “Otherwise, it’s very easy for them to step onto a crooked path.”
Despite his achievements, Zhan views himself as an ordinary art teacher. Apart from his university courses, he often visits community centers, senior citizen halls and children’s facilities to talk about art and demonstrate brushwork. Having lived in Minhang for nearly two decades, he said he now regards the district as his hometown.
“Being a traditional Chinese artist,” he said, “what I think about most is how to lend my skills to an ancient form of art. That is a goal well worth a lifetime of effort.”
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