Artist Creates Miracles with His Teeth

Born in 1965, Chen Weiqiang lost his arms at age five. Today he has established himself as an artist of calligraphy and painting, an art that usually needs the finest coordination of eyes and the hand. The armless artist has miraculously won eight international awards and more than twenty national awards for his painting and calligraphic masterpieces. He is now a member of China National Calligraphers Association and China National Artists Association.

Chen Weiqiang was born in Lihai Town, Shangyu in Zhejiang Province. At the age of five, the boy playing on the river side was struck down by a fallen high-voltage power line. He survived, but his arms were amputated. He was often jeered by former playmates, ruthlessly dismissing him as a monster. He was depressed. What was more, as his father had died in his early years, the boy now suffered alone without his father’s spiritual support and protection.

It was not until 1975 that Chen first went to school. And he began to fasten a pen between his teeth to write. Writing gave him a new hope and a sense of happiness. As brush-pens were too expensive, his mother cut bamboo into fine threads and then wrapped the threads onto a wood stick. The home-made writing instrument served as a brush-pen. But the biggest problem was more than brush-pens. The family did not afford to buy paper. So the mother collected used newspapers everywhere. To get ink, the mother and the son swept chimneys in neighbors’ houses and made the ink themselves.

The little boy wanted to be a calligrapher and painter. But it was doubly hard for the ambitious boy. He realized that it is actually hard for even a physically healthy person to make it, but he was determined to be a calligrapher and artist for his mother.

He never wavered a bit. Every month, the learning calligrapher consumed about 25 kilograms of used newspapers and 7 kilograms of home-made ink.

Using a pen between his teeth to write was really difficult. While learning to write this way, he made a lot of mistakes and his throat, lips and gum were often hurt by the unwieldy pen. Sometimes the gum hurt so much that he couldn’t chew. His mother had to spoon-feed him.

Evenings were his best practice time, for his mother or elder sister was at home to get paper and ink ready, and help him change to a new piece of paper after one was used. Sometimes his mother or sister dozed off while he soldiered on. They woke up and found he was still at it. Sometimes he dozed off. Once he dozed off and crashed to the ground. His face was full of blood. In summer evenings, his mother would sit with him, wiping sweat from his forehead now and then and driving away mosquitoes with a fan.

It was more than a fight against physical pain and inconvenience. It was a battle of will power. As he used his teeth to hold a pen, he often felt thirsty. But he did not dare to drink too much water, for he needed help to urinate. His teeth and neck often felt stiff and his eyes felt strained.

His painstaking efforts paid off in October, 1978. Two of his paintings received second awards in a children’s calligraphy and painting competition at the county level. Shortly afterwards his award-winning paintings were published in China Children’s Weekly, a national publication for youngsters. Looking at the award certificates, Chen Weiqiang wept.

After graduation from junior middle school, Chen stopped going to school. He thought it would be useless to go on to senior high school because of his disability. For a while, he felt hopeless. Things began to look up in March 1990. With the support of the local association for disabled people and with encouragement of his mother, Chen was able to take a one-year advanced course at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (the predecessor of the present-day China Academy of Art) in Hangzhou.

He treasured the opportunity. His classmates were astonished and amazed when they found they had an armless artist as a classmate. They admired him for his commitment and endeavor. He worked so hard that he fainted once in the study room in one evening. His classmates carried him back to the dormitory. The study at the academy greatly enhanced Chen’s professional capabilities. He learned various painting genres systematically; he mastered calligraphic styles in an all-round way; and he committed many ancient poems to memory. He graduated as the best student in the class.

The valuable study and experience at the academy opened Chen’s eyes and made him dare to dream big dreams. In 1993, China Calligraphers Association and China Artists Association jointly solicited artworks from artists. It was a nationwide competition for honors. Chen Weiqiang came up with a plan for his participation. He decided to write an inscription of two characters 奋进 (meaning endeavors) and create a painting of his hometown Shaoxing.

To write a perfect inscription, he spent a long time experimenting. After more than 100 used newspapers and dozens of pieces of rice paper, he finally created a flawless inscription that satisfied his aesthetics. But it drove him to despair when he got down to creating a perfect painting. He spent three sleepless nights trying to make a good painting, but he was dissatisfied with the ones he had created. His teeth protested strongly and his eyes were exhausted. He was totally frustrated and even considered to drop the painting. His mother accused him of lacking motivation and will power the national competition called for.

He stopped worrying and calmed down and concentrated. Finally a vivid river scene appeared under his brush. His mother and sister were amazed by the impressive beauty of the painting.

In the autumn that year, Chen Weiqiang received a letter of congratulation from Beijing informing him that his painting and inscription were both awarded the national first award of excellence.

Chen Weiqiang was electrified by the good news. He shared it with his mother immediately. And then he went to the capital to get his trophies. At the award-giving ceremony he was asked to demonstrate his art to the audience. When he put the brush-pen into his mouth and stood there getting himself ready to the painting mood, the emcee stopped him and said that it was not his time to stage a showy stunt on this important occasion and that he was supposed to demonstrate his real art. With blood rushing to his face, Chen did not explain. He slowly took off his jacket, displaying the two artificial arms to the audience. All the people present were stunned. After they finally came to understand what they were witnessing and what kind of artist Chen was, they burst into thundering ovation.

When Chen’s mother held the trophies, tears came to her eyes. It meant everything to her, a rural woman with an artist son without two arms.