Ancient art practiced during final fall calligraphy workshop

Students with the IU Chinese Calligraphy Club gathered Friday for the final workshop of the fall semester.

The club, founded by junior Xin Chen , typically has workshops every Friday. Chen, who learned calligraphy while growing up in China, said she wanted to continue practicing the art and promote it, as well.

She said calligraphy, a type of art related to writing, can be traced back thousands of years to ancient China.

The club currently has six mentors, but Chen said any student can become a mentor if they have prior knowledge of Chinese calligraphy.

“Our mentors are all students,” Chen said. “Ph.D. students, art school students, Kelley students — we have all types of students.”

Chen founded the club last year with the help of some friends.

“We wanted to bring Chinese calligraphy culture to Bloomington and to international students who are interested in this or to American students,” Chen said.

An exhibition, which Sophomore and Vice President Xiaoran Zhu said will include live calligraphy writing, traditional tea and showcasing of members’ work, will take place Nov. 30 in Teter Quad.

Zhu also said the exhibition and workshops will help promote culture beyond just the club.

“We want to promote ancient Chinese tradition and culture,” Zhu said. “We hope that we can promote calligraphy here in America. Then, more people will know that this is the spirit of Chinese culture.”

Only calligraphy lovers or families that have elders to teach calligraphy pass down the tradition, Zhu said.

Sophomore Molly Moffitt said calligraphy has a meditative quality as well.
“My goals are pretty much to have fun and relax because it is kind of like a meditative thing, too,” Moffitt said.

Moffitt, who was introduced to the club by a friend last year, has her own calligraphy set and tries to practice when she has time.

“I just try to practice writing ‘one’ in Chinese because that is one of the most basic, but I still mess up on it,” Moffitt said.

Zhu said both international students with experience and American students face the same challenges.

“We all have the same difficulties of holding the pen, maintaining the pen and how to round the pen,” Zhu said. “If there is some challenge, it is for us, for our mentors, to explain how to write calligraphy in English, but both international students and American students do very well.”