On the afternoon of February 9, the opening ceremony of Calligraphy Festival in Lunar New Year 2018 was organized by Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam Scient and Culture Center in coordination with Contact Board of Calligraphy Clubs in Hanoi. This is the annual event that meets the demand for “Asking for calligraphy – Giving calligraphy” in spring every Lunar New Year, and also a traditional cultural features.
Ribbon cutting ceremony Calligraphy Festival in Lunar New Year 2018
Calligraphy Peformance in Opening ceremony
… awarding to participants with excellent works in the exhibition “Sage”
This year, Calligraphy Festival in Lunar New Year 2018 was prepared to create a “playground” for more than 63 calligraphers to compose and write; therefore, people asking for calligraphy can be reassured and happy to bring home the standard and beautiful calligraphy with many good wishes.
Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam is the largest education and training center in the past in the country. At present, the Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam special national relic is a place to store and preserve many precious traditions of the nation such as fondness for learning, dutifulness and loyalty, respect for teachers. Therefore, in springs every year, with the hope of a new year with prosperity and successful and hard-working descendants, the people in the capital and the surrounding area flock to go to the Van Mieu Temple to ask for calligraphy.
Calligraphy Festival this year has many activities of calligraphy, Calligraphy Festival in Lunar New Year 2018 also reflected the ancient space of education in addition to the presence of many handicraft villages with diverse traditional items such as: paper, silk, lacquer, mosaic, artistic bamboo and rattan, potteries, five-fruit tray….The decoration of the booths and the context of decoration space of Calligraphy Festival in New Year reflected the system of former competition-examinations with many folk games, art performances of Ca Tru, Quan ho, Cheo, Chau Van, Xam singing, and flower lanterns in Van Lake to wish a happy- prosperous new year, which created the freshness and traditional culture for Calligraphy Spring Festival this year.
Booths to display traditional products of Vietnam
Additonally, in the Calligraphy Festival, the people and visitors also had the opportunity to contemplate the exhibition entitled “Sage” with 34 calligraphic works made of many materials and with the styles of calligraphers participating in the Calligraphy Festival. The contents of the works not only reflected the values of “Respect for the talents” of the nation but also encouraged the young generation to constantly strive to learn more, inherit the tradition and step by step contribute to the level of calligraphers as well as the aesthetic level and knowledge of calligraphy art of the people in the Capital.
Some of the works to be displayed in the exhibition “Sage”
“In spring every new year, in the joyful atmosphere of welcoming a new year, the participants in caligraphy who recreate the scene and the traditional customs feel very warm as more and more people are searching for the forgettable values in the past and the valuable ancient values”, said Scholar Kieu Quoc Khanh – participating in the Calligraphy Festival for many years.
Scholar Kieu Quoc Khanh is completing his calligraphy work in Vietnamese script
“In recent years, the calligraphy in Vietnamese scripts has gradually formed the styles asymptotic to traditional techniques. The use of caligraphy pen and ink-taking of the scholars are gradually improved. The “smearing into the Vietnamese script” no longer occurs. Scholars have spent a lot of time in improving, rehearsing, taking part, and passing the tests to participate in writing at the Calligraphy Festival”, added Mr. Khanh.
Calligraphy Festival in Lunar New Year 2018 lasts until February 25, 2018 (the 10th of lunar January). Especially, on the night of the 30th of Tet, the Calligraphy Festival was opened until 2:00 AM on the first day of the Lunar New Year. On the first and second days of the Lunar New Year, it was opened until 10:00 PM to serve the people wishing to ask for caligraphy at the beginning of the lunar New Year.
Nga To