Inscription Wall in Buddha Light Mountain in Taiwan

I recently visited Taiwan for sightseeing with a group ofartists. I was deeply impressed by a wall of calligraphy at the Fo Kwang (Buddha light) mountain in Kaohsiung County. The wall shows inscriptions carved on slabs of black granite. I am an enthusiast of calligraphy and poetry and that explains why I became so excited at the sight of the wall. I lingered there for a long while and studied these poems and inscriptions handwritten in different calligraphic styles.

Well, among other things, I found these poems coincidentally illustrate four success secrets for calligraphers who want to go far in this field.

The first is “Know Thyself”. A calligrapher of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) inscribed Su Dongpo’s 28-character poem on Mount Lushan. The poem describes how one may fail to take a panoramic view of the mount if he is deep inside the mount and sees only peaks. The poem is highly appreciated partly because it serves as a short lecture on how to seek truth and avoid hasty conclusions. The poem also applies to the way one tries to accomplish excellence in calligraphy. In other words, the poem is another way of saying “Know Thyself” before you can go out to know the world. A learning calligrapher needs to ask himself whether he has the aptitude, whether he is on the right track, whether he is using the right approach, whether he pays adequate attention to a full-ranged education beyond calligraphy, whether he is doing the right things beyond calligraphic studies, whether he works hard enough, whether he knows where to go, and whether he understands why masters are great.

The second is “Honest Self-Improvement”. The wall displays a poem authored and handwritten by Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) which discusses how one should practice Buddhism. The poet says concentration is the way and I can’t agree more. The world is full of temptations, but life is short and one has just that much energy and time. A learning calligrapher needs to concentrate on the art and practice it assiduously and single-mindedly. That is the only way to the handwriting art.

The third enlightenment is “Seek Greater Perfection”. I got the enlightenment from a Tang poem on the wall. It was handwritten by Kong Decheng, a 77-generation descendent of Confucius. The second part of the poem says if you prefer a broader panorama of the world, you need to get to the next higher floor. This is a poem everyone knows in China. I take it to mean that one needs to go all the way to the top. A little success should be nothing worth becoming smug and complacent about. There is always the next floor up and there is always a broader view of the world. The way to the next higher floor is through seeking greater perfection.

The fourth tip, it seems to me, is “Be Yourself”. The wall displays a poem by Tang Yin, a great artist of the Ming Dynasty. In that poem, Tang discusses how a bronze bell leaves the mould behind and becomes itself when it sends its crystal peals to the evening of frost. I like the poem very much. The best calligraphy is a calligraphy showing one’s distinct individuality. If one’s calligraphy looks like those of masters, it is by no means a success. One must stands out with one’s individual features. “Be Yourself” is surely a formula for distinguishing oneself.