In order to further promote traditional culture and broaden the horizons of teaching staff, on 27 October 2020 the Faculty of Humanities of the Open University of China (OUC) invited Pang Zhonghua, founder and chair of the China Hard Pen Calligraphy Association, to give a lecture titled "Focus on One Thing in Life": A Talk on Living and Calligraphy.

Jing Degang, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the OUC; Liu Xianghong and Liu Chen, deputy secretaries of the OUC Party Committee; and staff, faculty and students of the Experimental School, attended the lecture, which was presided over by Tang Yingshan, dean of the Faculty of Humanities.

In the lecture, Pang Zhonghua discussed his many years of experience promoting hard-pen calligraphy, and the people and books that influenced him as a youth, emphasising the role of reading, and of taking notes on one’s reading. As a geologist, working in the Taihang Mountains, he took advantage of solitude to refine his calligraphy and accordion skills, building a solid foundation for his future success. He also told of his persistence in submitting his first monograph, Learning Hard Pen Calligraphy, after having it rejected 12 times.

Based on his years of experience, Pang Zhonghua laid out the unique and practical teaching methods he had developed, integrating educational psychology with other aspects. He explained the synaesthetic relationship between calligraphy and musical rhythm in simple language while playing the accordion, which made his lecture vivid and impressive, and during the pleasant interactions demonstrated hard-pen writing on the blackboard. Pang Zhonghua concluded by emphasising the value of persistence, focus, and making good use of one’s time.

By Yu Qingyao,OUC