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Eventful life explored in calligraphy exhibit
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AN ongoing exhibition showcases 180 calligraphic works by Ma Yifu (1883-1967), a noted Confucian who was devoted to reviving old traditions and passing them down to younger generations.
Ma was known as one of the “three saints” along with Liang Shuming and Xiong Shili because they adhered to their beliefs despite living through a turbulent political period in the 1940s and 1950s.
Peers praised Ma’s calligraphy for its individualistic style. He was also dubbed “the leading master of Chinese calligraphy” by Feng Zikai, a pioneering cartoonist.
But his path to becoming a Confucian started surprisingly with an infatuation of Western political ideas.
Ma was born in 1883 in Zhejiang during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when the country still selected officials through the imperial examination. Young Ma ranked first in the Zhejiang area at the time, but he chose to establish a newspaper in Shanghai to spread Western ideas. His articles were popular with readers.
He had studied in the United States, Germany, Spain and Japan. Influenced by Western democracy, Ma supported Sun Yat-sen’s democratic revolution when returning to China in the 1910s. He wrote a series of essays to promote Western ideas. He was even the first person to bring Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital” to China.
Ma’s zeal for Western concepts eventually cooled due to his pessimism toward the unstable domestic political environment. He returned to traditional Chinese culture and thoughts, finding a special fondness for Confucian teachings. He lived in a remote area of Hangzhou until the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in 1937.
During his time in seclusion he studied traditional Chinese culture, literature, philosophy and Buddhism.
Noted educator Cai Yuanpei invited him to teach at Peking University, but Ma declined because he disagreed with Cai’s idea of eliminating Confucian principles from textbooks. He also turned down Chiang Kai-shek’s offer to work for the government.
“Make people understand Chinese culture and carry it forward. Help them develop a fine personality regardless of the unfavorable environment, and teach them to contribute to the country and society,” Ma later wrote in his book about why he taught Chinese culture in university.
Ma dreamed of building a traditional academy to carry forward traditional Chinese culture, which was eventually supported by the then Kuomintang government.
He established Fuxing Academy in Sichuan Province and applied his ideas. Students were cultivated according to traditional Chinese Confucian schools. However, the academy lacked funds, teachers and students. During the turbulent times, its graduates could not meet with the demands of the modern age.
Though the academy was later closed, historians believe it was a beneficial experiment in how to revive Confucian education in the modern age.
Ma’s endeavors at Zhejiang University and Fuxing Academy made him the first to introduce a systematic Confucian education.
His life spanned an intriguing period of history from the downfall of the Qing Dynasty to the establishment of the Republic of China and eventually New China.
Date: Through July 10, 9am-5pm (closed on Mondays)
Address: Zhejiang Art Museum, 138 Nanshan Rd
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