Recently, Pang Zhonghua, founder and chair of the China Hard-pen Calligraphy Association, and dean of the Hard-pen Calligraphy Academy, wrote a poem for the Open University of China (OUC) titled My Love for You – A Song Dedicated to the OUC.

Recently, the OUC named Pang Zhonghua a distinguished professor of Art. On 27 October 2020, he was invited by the OUC to give a lecture titled “Focus on One Thing in Life: A Talk on Living and Calligraphy,” in which he discussed his many years of promoting hard-pen calligraphy, and the people and books that influenced him as a youth, emphasising the importance of reading, and of taking notes on one’s reading. He played the accordion to convey the synaesthetic relationship between calligraphy and musical rhythm. Speaking of his experience lecturing at the OUC, he said he was impressed by its atmosphere of passion and vigour, as well as its educational philosophy of “respecting learning and making it universally available”. His impressions inspired him to convey his emotions in the poem shown above. He also wishes to encourage OUC students and faculty to use Chinese calligraphy to express what they think and feel.

The poem, while expressing Pang Zhonghua’s feelings, also demonstrates his pride as an open and distance educator, as well as his hopes for the cause of teaching Chinese calligraphy.

According to him, the OUC is a university of far-reaching vision and reach, providing everyone opportunities to receive education by integrating it with modern information technology, bringing together all kinds of high-quality learning resources, and giving full play of the advantages of the system as a whole. Pang says he values and enjoys the openness, freedom, diversity, sharing and inclusiveness of the OUC.

As a distinguished visiting professor of the OUC, Pang Zhonghua said he considers himself part of the OUC family, working hard to share his skills and ideas on the vast platform the OUC provides, both online and offline, and training teachers of calligraphy in order to help the art spread. Pang Zhonghua wishes the OUC a glorious future as a world-class open university.

By Yi Xin, OUC