Feature: ‘One-Stroke Calligraphy’ Shown at Yuan Thong Temple this June 9; Press con with Manila-based Master Abbess Miao Jing set

The Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s genius in the Chinese "One Stroke Calligraphy" will be brought and exhibited here in Bacolod City for nine days,

from June 9 to June 19, 2012 at the Yuan Thong Temple along Burgos Street near Lopue’s East.

Master Hsing Yun is a Chinese Buddhist monk, author, philanthropist, and founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order, which has branches throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Americas.

Ordained at the age of twelve in Jiangsu Province, China, Master Hsing Yun has spent his over 70 years as a Buddhist monk building what he calls Humanistic Buddhism that integrates Buddhism into all aspects of life and directly meets people’s needs head on.

The great 83-year-old Buddhist Master encountered diabetes for the past 40 years thus affected his eye-retinal detachment but despite unclear vision, "he let his heart guide his hands in completing the extremely rare one-stroke Chinese calligraphy."

The nine-day exhibit at the Yuan Thong Temple will open with a press confe-rence led by Master Miao Jing, Head Abbess of Mabuhay Temple, Manila this June 7 at 4:00 P.M.

"One Stroke Calligraphy" is extra significant because this means that as the visually impaired Master Hsing Yun writes a character or set of Chinese characters using the ancient brush, he cannot allow writing discontin-uation and must consistent-ly complete his work in perfect balance.

This is a demanding task for the Venerable Master knowing the stroke order of writing: aside from the aesthetics, the characters’ balance and their general appearance must be achieve for them to convey their powerful messages, readability and characters’ calligraphic study.

One wrong stroke or a mere small erroneous line will result into a totally different reading of the character thus "he is forced to complete the whole work in one stroke."

The Venerable Master Hsing Yun is not deterred by his physical condition, he keeps his brush moving from ink to paper and last year he donated all NT$ 30 million from the royalty of his published books through a bank’s benefit trust fund intended for public welfare activities.

The trust fund raised a hundred million New Taiwan Dollars which forms part of his one billion NT$ target and goal.

The public is invited to see the "One Stroke Calligraphy" at Yuan Thong Temple, 2876 Burgos Street, 6th Road near Lopue’s East, Bacolod City.*