Mei flowers from the Chinese calligrapher Li Zuo

The Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy would like to introduce to all fine writing enthusiasts the art of Li Zuo, calligrapher, translator, poet and teacher from China. Li Zuo is a permanent participant of the International Exhibition of Calligraphy.

Li Zuo has been practicing calligraphy since childhood and his whole life is dedicated to this art. After graduating from Beijing Pedagogical University he worked on translating Russian poetry into Chinese. For this work he was awarded a gold and a silver medal at Chinese calligraphy contests.

From 2009 to 2015 Li Zuo was senior lecturer at the linguistics and country studies department of the international relations faculty of the Belorussian State University, where he taught the Chinese language and calligraphy to future international relations experts with a speciality in Sinology.

We offer for your attention several calligraphy poems from the series “On Mei Flowers” created by the poet and calligrapher Li Zuo.

.学西养东立门户;
汲古融今说未来。
I learn from the West to serve East;
I study yesterday and today to foresee tomorrow.

.挥笔之间春秋往;
舞墨自有书香来。
Creating poetry I withdraw from the world,
Unaware of the time passing by,
And when I create calligraphy I can feel the aroma
Even from under my brush.

.吟诗养寿岁;
舞墨得永年。
I compose poems so that my life will last for a long time ahead,
And I make calligraphy through all my life
So that my life is filled with happiness.

.品茶吟诗醉;
饮酒无墨狂。
I drink tea and I’m drunk with poetry,
I drink wine and I’m drunk with calligraphy.

.唯学能有人生乐;
求知必得世间甜。
Only learning gives me happiness,
Only knowledge gives me appetite for life.

.诗吟竹骨当风绿;
墨舞梅花对雪香。
In my poetry I praise green bamboo;
In my calligraphy Mei flowers blossom against the snow.