by Website Editor, 10 August 2012

Master Du Benji, one of the most highly regarded calligraphers in China and best known for his "One World, One Dream" calligraphy for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, visited The Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh on 9 August.

The event was part of Master Du's "World Harmony" tour, which has already taken exhibitions of his calligraphy to Los Angeles in April 2012 and London this month, to tie in with the 2012 Olympics. Master Du noted in his remarks that "we all have a duty to work together to make the world more harmonious and to overcome conflict", adding "I try to do this through my art".

Left to right - Du Benji demonstrates his calligraphy ; the VIP guests with Du Benji's Olympic Manifesto ; Du Benji presents a sample of his calligraphy to the Institute

Master Du was born in 1947, and as a student was greatly influenced by Xu Beihong, a grand master of calligraphy and painting in China who led the way in creating contemporary styles for these ancient traditional arts. Master Du now carries forward "the Spirit of Xu Beihong". The Du style of calligraphy is powerful, bold and vigorous, and draws on the traditions of the Su, Huang, Mi, Han and Wei styles of handwriting. He also incorporates Chinese and Western styles in his traditional Chinese paintings.

Master Du presented a copy of a unique 56m long version of the "Olympic Manifesto", for which he created the Chinese version, to The Scottish Government. Another copy has already been given to the British Library (and we hope this one might become part of the collection of the National Library of Scotland). This is the text originally drafted by Pierre de Coubertin outlining his vision for the revival of the Modern Olympic Games, and the book (seen in the first photo above) includes the text in French, English and now Chinese.

Master Du also delighted the audience with a short display of his unique combination of calligraphy and tai chi in the Institute gardens, before demonstrating his true art by creating superb calligraphy for the Institute, SCEN and the Consulate General.

Representatives of The Scottish Government, the Consulate General of the PRC, the Scotland China Education Network, the SCA, CBBC, and many friends of the Institute attended this fascinating event.