Monday, April 30, 2012

Our World: In Borneo

In many old premises in Malaysia and Singapore with Chinese connections, they often have arches with Chinese architecture. They have famous people penning the calligraphy.  This one was erected in the 60s, and at the school I taught in Binatang, called Kai Chung school. This view is taken from the school.


Sense of propriety, justice, integrity  honour. The words are written by a famous Calligrapher Yu Youren (于右任) from Taiwan in the 1960s.


In 1963, Sarawak and Sabah n and Singapore joined Malaya to form Malaysia. Bahasa Malaysia became the official language. One side is taken from the road.  The new words just say the name of the school.







忠 Loyalty 孝 Filial piety 仁 Benevolence 义 Righteousness


My ex student Francis wrote this words for me this morning. I verified with him, Francis, did you write them? Wow! just to confirm, how come the 4th word on the arch has a XIN, heart next to the ear, and yours has a different word. One of the Chinese virtues taught to students is humility. Francis said he hasn't done calligraphy for 30 years. What a great job he has done.







  • Chen Francis I wrote this morning, both words are correct.







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    11 comments:

    lotusleaf said...

    Beautiful arch and wonderful words!The calligraphy is lovely too, though I wouldn't know to read it!

    Jenn Jilks said...

    Hello, Ann! I live near Perth, Ontario. Thanks for visiting my teaching resource blog.
    I love these photos. Happy to travel through your blog!
    Greetings!

    Gattina said...

    I love the chinese architecture !

    Ginny Hartzler said...

    This type of writing is so very hard, I would think it takes a very long time to learn. It is like a type of artwork. You could even say bad words and it would still look beautiful!!!

    genie said...

    Oh, Ann....This is wonderful. The Chinese architecture and the arch are lovely. I love Chinese and Japanese calligraphy. It is so beautiful even though I cannot read it. It takes so many years to learn how to do it correctly. Is this one of your schools? I wash;t sure from your post. genie

    eileeninmd said...

    Beautiful shot of the arch and lovely architecture. You must be very proud of all your students, Ann!

    Joyful said...

    I've always liked these kinds of arches. I find them quite beautiful.

    Arija said...

    How wonderful Ann that you went back to visit. It is indeed a lovely gate.

    Eden said...

    Their arches are really beautiful.

    Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

    A very interersting lesson, Ann. Your former student did well!

    Ensurai said...

    Chinese schools continue to revere four worded values and wise sayings..and get famous calligraphers to pen them...later enlarge them for various purposes. Today many calligraphers sell their work for thousands of remmibi...(yuan)