On the afternoon of February 9th 2018 (on 24th December of the Lunar calendar), the annual Spring Calligraphy Festival was held at Literature Lake, a part of the National special site Van Mieu (Temple of Literature) – Quoc Tu Giam where Hanoians and visitors come to have meaningful words written in calligraphy, which aim to attract good fortune for the New Year. The calligraphic works are then used to decorate their houses during the New Year celebrations.
The opening ceremony was attended by Madame Dang Thi Bich Lien, Deputy minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism; Mr Pham Dinh Phong, Deputy Director of Department of Cultural Heritage; Mr Truong Minh Tien, Deputy Director of Ha Noi Department of Culture and Sports; Mr Tran Quoc Chi, manager of the liaison committee of the Department of Hà Nội Calligraphy Club; Mr Le Xuan Kieu, Director of the Centre for Scientific and Cultural Activities Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam.
(Panorama of the Spring Calligraphy Festival 2018)
During the Ceremony Mr Tran Quoc Chi, manager of the liaison committee, department of Hà Nội Calligraphy Club began the calligraphic writing for the Spring Calligraphy Festival 2018 with the sentence “Virtuous and talented men are the essence of the State’s vitality” which means that Virtuous and talented men are highly appreciated and used at all important functions. This sentence is an excerpt from the text on the stele for the examination held in 1442 written by the Scholar Thân Nhân Trung and this has been the guideline used to build up a powerful and prosperous nation for eras.
(Performing calligraphy - beginning calligraphic writing for the Spring Calligraphy Festival 2018)
The most beautiful calligraphic works of 34 calligraphic writings displayed at the Exhibition “Virtuous and talented men” were chosen to be awarded. Two first prizes belonged to the Vietnamese calligraphic writing: “Hiền Tài” (Virtuous and talented men) written by Tran Van Son and Han – Nom calligraphic writing: “Kiến Học Dục Tài” (Building the national school to train virtuous and talented men) written by Hoang Anh Diep. Besides these there were two second prizes and two third prizes.
The annual Spring Calligraphy Festival has been held at the Literature Lake, a part of the National special site Van Mieu (Temple of Literature) – Quoc Tu Giam for the past 5 years. The Organizational Board have tried their best to make the Spring Calligraphy Festival better and more meaningful, and to become an indispensable cultural event of the Hanoian new year.
Translator: Hoang Tuyet Huong
