蔡世珍Cai Shizhen

Cai Shizhen, male, a member of the Communist Party of China, with the courtesy name Hanshi and the house name Cunzhentang. Born in Lincheng County, Hebei Province in 1948. I started working in 1968, first in the education front and later transferred to the administrative department. I am currently a member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, an outstanding artist of the Chinese Popular Literature and Art Research Association, a member of the Chinese Elderly Calligraphy and Painting Research Association, a member of the Calligraphers Association of the China News Press, a special calligrapher and painter of the Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Guide, a member of the Beijing Couplet Society's Zhongxuan Shengshi Cultural and Art Exchange Center, a senior member of the Beijing Zhongyi Xingguang Green Platform, and the vice president of the Beijing Jinghua Ge Calligraphy and Painting Academy.

 

From a young age, I have been educated and influenced by my family to love calligraphy and painting art. I am truly a member of the "third generation". During my student years, I gained some fame in the village. He once studied under two famous calligraphers and painters, Ma Liangchen and Xue Hongqun. Over the years, he has come to imitate many steles and calligraphies. His calligraphy strictly adheres to tradition, pursues simplicity and elegance, and studies the ink of famous calligraphers today, drawing on their expertise. His works have won gold and silver awards (first and second prizes) more than 30 times in the National Calligraphy Exhibition Competition. In 2008, the calligraphy and painting exhibition celebrating the 30th anniversary of the reform and opening up won a gold medal. In 2009, the "Harmony Cup Calligraphy and Painting Competition" celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China won a gold medal. I participated in the competition every year and received awards every year. In 2018, I was selected for the "Diamond Sutra" National Calligraphy Exhibition at Huazhen Pavilion in Shanghai. In December of the same year, I won a gold medal in the large-scale calligraphy and painting exhibition celebrating the 125th anniversary of the birth of the great leader Mao Zedong. In December 2019, I participated in the Excellent Culture Summit Forum of. The 2020 Anti Epidemic Love Exhibition won a gold medal and was named a meritorious figure. In April 2021, I was specially invited to participate in the "Pen Song New Era. National Calligraphy and Painting Masters Invitation Exhibition" (Beijing Tianya Art Museum). At the end of the year, Pan Zhenzhou, the former vice minister of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee and the first director of the National Museum, awarded him the award at the first Beijing Elite Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition in September 22. Yan Zhentang, the former deputy director of the National Cutural Heritage Administration and president of the Collection Association, collected calligraphy works; Chairman Wang Kuohai of the Central State Organs Artists Association had a cordial conversation on artistic creation. In August 2023, the Guangdong Zhanjiang Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition was jointly organized by the Beijing Zhongyi Xingguang Green Platform and Gansu Dunhuang Calligraphy Academy, and its calligraphy scroll won the gold medal. All calligraphy and painting works brought were sold at a high price on site; In January 2024, I participated in the annual commendation conference organized by the Zhongyi Starlight Art Platform and other organizations, and was awarded honorary titles such as Outstanding Worker of the Year 2023 and Signed Artist of Several Collections. In September 2024, I participated in the National Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Lushan and won the gold medal. In June 2025, he won the title of "Excellent Calligraphy and Painting Master" at the "Splendid Jiangnan" National Calligraphy and Painting Art Exhibition Competition in Hangzhou. He has also been included in the Chinese Culture into Ten Thousand Boutique Calendar for three consecutive years (19-21). His works have been collected by multiple media outlets and museums, and have also been exported to Southeast Asia, Thailand, Singapore, and other places. Several auction records can be found on the Artron Auction Catalog website, and he has donated calligraphy works to charity organizations and nursing homes multiple times. Director Yin Suping of CCTV has written a special report for him. From 2006 to 2008, he co published "One Hundred Tang Poems in Four Style" and "Four Style Thousand Character Script, Hundred Family Surnames" calligraphy series with calligraphy colleagues, which are deeply loved and welcomed by readers.

 

Brush and ink carry the ancient meaning, while hills and valleys convey a sense of melancholy

——Impressions of Cai Shizhen's Calligraphy and Painting Art

 

Huang Jinliang (Editor in Chief of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Guide)

 

Cai Shizhen's calligraphy and painting art finds self-expression in traditional brushwork, showcasing a deep inheritance and personalized interpretation of the cultural context of Chinese calligraphy and painting between mountains, rivers, hills, and calligraphic lines.

 

In the field of landscape painting, he deeply studied the traditional brush and ink language and composition paradigm of landscape painting. His landscape works, such as the "Rising Sun in the East" series, adopt the classical landscape artistic conception of "hopeful, feasible, playable, and livable". The mountain ranges are layered and textured using the method of texturing, or the hard stone is represented by the use of axes, or the verdant mountains are represented by the use of hemp texturing. This is a contemporary practice of the "texturing method to distinguish quality" theory of Jing Hao in the Five Dynasties. In terms of color design, it also has a clear and elegant style, with heavy shades of green and green, or light shades of red and light dyeing. It not only captures the beauty of the "staggered gold carving" of the Six Dynasties, but also embodies the simplicity of literati paintings such as "clear water hibiscus", balancing decorative and freehand elements between rich and light, dry and wet.

 

His calligraphy also has remarkable qualities, as can be seen from his calligraphy works such as "Ding Feng Bo" and "Lin Jiang Xian". He incorporated seal script and clerical brushwork into cursive script, and the lines were lifted and pressed to create a sense of "room leakage marks" between turns. In terms of layout, he pursued the principle of "appropriate density and combination of reality and virtuality", which is in line with Wang Xizhi's principle of "one point into one character, and one character is the final standard". The mutual infiltration of books and paintings gives his landscape the backbone of calligraphy lines, and calligraphy the charm of landscape composition, achieving the traditional artistic pursuit of "painting and calligraphy sharing the same origin".

 

Cai Shizhen's art is a deep reflection and active exploration in the long river of traditional calligraphy and painting. With a solid foundation in traditional art, he practices an understanding of the spirit of classical art in terms of brushwork, color design, and composition. His works not only echo the creative concept of "learning from nature, but also from the heart", but also provide valuable reference for how contemporary calligraphy and painting can be inherited and developed. He sees new ideas in ancient meanings and expresses emotions in the mountains and valleys. The value of his artistic exploration is waiting for further exploration and appreciation in academia and the market.