Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s One Stroke Calligraphy World Touring Exhibition
The opening ceremony for “Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s One Stroke Calligraphy World Touring Exhibition” is held at New Zealand’s Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery 1 on 9th July. It is also held to celebrate Fo Guang Shan’s 50th year anniversary since it’s establishment. This event was attended by Venerable Abbess Manshin; Curator of Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery, Liang Ming; Head Secretary of Taiwan Overseas Community Affairs Council,Jami-Lee Ross; Local MP for Botany, Inspector Rakesh Naidoo; Strategic Advisor Race Relations at the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, Professor Zhou Xing; Director of Taipei Economic and Culture Office, Ms Xe Mei Xiang; BLIA Osaka Vice-President, Adele J White; Head Counsellor of Howick Local Board, Zhang Guo Ming and Peter Yong; BLIA North Island Advisors, local artists, friends of Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery, BLIA members and Chinese School Teachers, in total over 200 people in attendance.
The Abbess welcomed the guests and began to reminisce her time in Taiwan while observing Venerable Master Hsing Yun transcribing his calligraphy pieces. She has counted the Master taking about 8 seconds to finish a piece; to this the Venerable Master kindly replied that “Now I am able to finish a piece in 6 seconds.” So in 40 days he is able to created 7000 treasures pieces that only take one stroke each. With each piece you can feel the Venerable Master’s compassion, giving, warmth and energy. The Abbess also reiterated that this gallery is a platform for local artists that are gifted by the Venerable Master. This opportunity to exhibit the Master’s works is best way to repay his kindness.
Head Secretary Liang Ming expressed that the Venerable Master is a truly respectable monk. Not only is Humanistic Buddhism widely propagated in Taiwan, it has now influenced the whole world. For immigrants living here, not only do they need to make a livelihood, they also need to find a place to purify their body and mind. It is a fortune indeed that Fo Guang Shan is able to propagate the Venerable Master’s spirit of propagation in all these different places. He also emphasised that: “We should admire the Venerable Master’s words, but even more important we should pay attention to the Venerable Master’s heart.” This one stroke calligraphy exhibition has fully expressed the artistic and practical qualities of Buddhism.
Mr Jami Lee Ross praised Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery’s contribution to enrich local culture. He also mentioned he is often touched when he look at the gift of Venerable Master’s original calligraphy piece in his office.
Inspector Rakesh Naidoo expressed that the New Zealand Race Relations and Human Rights Commission works hard to achieve “Harmony and Equality”. Therefore Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s promoting of equality between genders, between monastics and lay, and between different ethnicities are highly admirable. His calligraphy treasures also fully expressed the wisdom of his through the art of language.
The Venue is decorated with tranquillity inspiring tea meditation sets and the fragrance of flowers. The Venerable Master’s wall sized pieces were especially magnificent and awe inspiring. When you carefully observe delicate yet profound strokes of the pieces, you can feel the Venerable Master’s heart and sense the deep cultivated wisdom that he possess. By watching the short documentary “The Origin of One Stroke Calligraphy”, the audiences were awed by the skills of the Venerable Master, his compassion, wisdom and the expressed virtuous beauty of Humanistic Buddhism.
BLIA North Island Advisor Yang Yuan Yong high praised these pieces. Director Zhong Li was moved to tears by the Venerable Master’s larger works of “Pure Mind” and “Avalokitesvara”. She expressed that: “The Venerable Master is great, because these two pieces opened my mind and filled my heart with brightness.”