The Lingnan Style
On 24 September, a number of S.H. Ho College students gathered in a tranquil corner of Ho Sin Hang Hall to observe Prof. Ng Yuet-lau’s virtuosity in Chinese painting, who demonstrated mastery in drawing fruits and bamboo leaves with a blend of firm and flexible brushwork. Prof. Ng was exposed to the art of Chinese painting at her early age. In a bid to help the young generation taste the delight of Chinese painting, Prof. Ng conducted a workshop at the College and demonstrated the painting skills at the cultural dinner. A staff of the College played several songs like Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake and High Mountains and Flowing Waters with Guzheng accompaniment. Each musical segment nicely set off the exquisite brushwork of Prof. Ng.
In the 70s, Prof. Ng was under the tutelage of, Prof. Chao Shao-an and Prof. Huang Chun-pi, masters of the Lingnan School of Chinese painting and acquired the essence of the creative Lingnan style. Since 1980, she has been holding solo exhibitions in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Harbin, Guangzhou, Xi’an, Kaiping, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, the UK, Malaysia, Singapore. Her award-winning and highly acclaimed paintings have been collected by major art galleries, museums, universities and collectors.
Prof. Ng led 12 students of the College to sketch in Shaoxing, Zhejiang and experience the local culture in early November. Participants would visit scenic spots like Anchang ancient town, the former residence of Lu Xun and Xu Wei, together with sketching in historical site like the Orchid Pavilion. They would imagine the way the calligrapher Wang Xizhi in the East Jin dynasty recited poems and played a drinking game ‘Floating Wine Cups in a Winding Stream’, during which some people sat on both riversides waiting for the wine cup being flowed from the upstream. Those who got the porcelain wine cup flowed by water current would compose a poem; whoever failed in composing a poem would be punished to drink a cup of wine. Having enjoyed an aromatic pleasure, Wang Xizhi wrote an internationally-acclaimed calligraphy Preface to the Orchid Pavilion.
To echo the theme of ‘Shaoxing Sketching and Cultural Tour’, the College prepared Shaoxing cuisine including Shaoxing Drunken Chicken, Dongpo Pork and Glutinous Rice Balls in Osmanthus Sweet Rice Wine. Shaoxing people love to cook with wine, which explains the culinary skill of Drunken Chicken. Though the sketching tour had not commenced, S.H. Ho College students’ taste buds had already enjoyed the aroma from the water village.
