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Master calligrapher Qi Gong dies
Qi Gong, a top Chinese calligrapher, painter, scholar of classical Chinese learning and art connoisseur, died early yesterday in Beijing at the age of 93. His death has been greeted with sadness by the public, and has been especially felt by the country's artists, calligraphers and art collectors.
At Beijing Normal University, where Qi Gong taught classical Chinese language and literature for more than 60 years, teachers and students mourned their professor's passing. Qi Gong had set up a special grant with his own money to aid students in their studies. "I was talking about him with my roommates on Wednesday evening," said Du Zhibo, president of the Student's Chinese Language and Literature Society, in an interview. "We were discussing how to celebrate his 93rd birthday." "He is the pride of our university," Du said. Also known as Aisin-gioro Qi Gong, he was born into a Manchu family in Beijing in 1912. He grew up in extreme poverty and had to drop out of middle school when still a teenager. Yet he continued to pursue his love of art and knowledge and managed to become a private student of leading scholars and painters. He also began to develop the eye of an art connoisseur by frequenting the Palace Museum. To support his family and buy books, he often had to sell his paintings and work as a tutor. Initially Qi Gong was better known as a painter than a calligrapher. In 1935, he started work as a teaching assistant at the Fujen University in Beijing, which later became Beijing Normal University. He continued teaching Chinese classics and literature at the university and also taught the study of traditional Chinese antiques at Peking University. He tutored Master's and PhD students till a few years ago. For nearly 30 years, Qi was so busy working as a college teacher that he almost totally abandoned painting and focused on calligraphy in his spare time. It was not until the 1980s that he again picked up a paintbrush. As a renowned artist, Qi Gong served as vice-chairman and later chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers' Association. An outstanding connoisseur of Chinese calligraphy and painting, he worked as director of the National Relics Evaluation Committee. Qi had lived alone in his home and studio on the university campus since his wife Zhang Baochen passed away in 1975. The couple had no children.
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