Archives for November 2025

30/11/25. 3 min read

At the Orchard Pavilion, Holy Land of Calligraphy, Shaoxing city, China

Writers need inspiration. They need to be moved emotionally by people, situations and stories around them.

I have decided to write about the relevancy and lessons learned from my experiences. If it is of value to readers, then it is a purpose well served.

ShaoXing city 绍兴 is 20 minutes away by high speed train from Hangzhou. I have the good fortune to be inspired there. ShaoXing is known for her famous traditional cooking wine and cultural literati.

One of the most famous personalities is Wang Xizhi . He is to Chinese calligraphy what Shakespeare is to poetry and Da Vinci is to painting.

He was known as the Sage of Calligraphy in the 4th century during the Eastern Jin dynasty. His works had inspired many later generations of Calligraphers. Even Emperors collected his works and learned from his craft. Wang Xizhi’s art form involved various styles and he had excelled in all the scripts.

Works of Emperor KangXi and grandson, Emperor Qianlong(back) engraved on the same Steele. They were avid practitioners of Calligraphy and ardent collectors of Wang’s works.

Wang Xizhi was unique as he had breathed life and motions into the written words. It does not matter if I cannot read the inscriptions fully. Nor was I particularly interested in this skill until now.

I am greatly impressed by his spirit that went into the work he had created. For Calligraphy is not only an art. It involves discipline, grit and creativity.

Wang xizhi dedicated himself to learning Calligraphy from a young age, constantly training. Even without a brush, he would use his fingers to write on his clothes.

He practised so much that washing his brushes in a nearby pond turned it black.

His keen observation of nature led him to mimic the movement of geese that gave him insight into the fluidity and control of his brush strokes especially the semi cursive style.

Geese pond, Lanting, Shaoxing city

His most famous work is Lantingjixu or Preface to the Orchard Pavillion, in which he described a gathering of scholars and poets at the Orchid Pavilion, where they engaged in a poetry competition.

Cups of wine were floated down the winding water and when it stopped, the person next to it would drink wine and write poetry.

The poems were collected and made into a poetry anthology and Wangxizhi’s preface became the masterpiece of Chinese Calligraphy.

The stream where the preface to “poetry Anthology “ was created

This art is like meditation that builds character, no pun intended. You need patience, focus and calmness to indulge in this art. It connects one to the past which is a rich culture ans heritage of China.

Wang Xizhi’s legacy lives on today through his masterful works, which have inspired generations of calligraphers and art lovers alike.

We learn from him Character building through his art.

As they say, “The past determines the future”. What you have sowed, you will reap. It’s never too late to achieve what you set your sights on. Even if it’s not your ultimate goal, you will still harvest along the way.

Successful people have an air of nobility about them and it’s not just money that enlighten them.

The list is not exhaustive but they have at least three good habits that are enablers. And we are not talking about persistence here.

1 Simplicity

2 Humility

3 Kindness

1 ‘Simplicity is the ultimate Sophistication’— Leonardo da Vinci.

It is not simple per se nor does it mean you do away with many things and be spartan.

It is a concept where you achieve a high level of complex and perfect result through refining and simplifying. 

For eg, a sophisticated design is achieved through repeated deliberation, experimentation, and optimization. If a product requires one step instead of three steps to reach its goal, that is a simple product that is sophisticated.

It is very commonly applied to lifestyle these days—pursue a simple life through elimination of unnecessary material and information and you emerge simple and sophisticated.

This leaves room for clarity in vision and more creative thinking.

2 Humility is an underestimated virtue. The tendency for a person who has attained success is that he becomes proud and elated on his pedestal of success. He who lets success gets to his head never progress further. His cup has  runneth over.

A humble person is open to more ideas and learning, understanding that there are far more capable people than oneself.

He sees the strength in others and one’s own shortcomings. Correction of one’s deficiencies results in more success. 

Humility draws people to you from whom you can learn more as everyone has his or own unique talent.

A good example is Jack Ma.

He is the humble billionaire who never fail to share his many failures and he overcame them with persistence and strategy.

He suggested a big heart and a small ego. 

He is humble enough to surround himself with people better than him hence building a strong team.

3 Kindness is the willingness to help others without expecting anything in return. 

We see acts of kindness from renowned figures in history but we also see ordinary people in our daily lives that manifest kindness.

A call to a friend who is down, a helping hand to lift somebody out of his gloom, and giving money and goods to a charitable organisation.

An act to lessen somebody’s stress or trouble.

Kindness heals the person being helped but it also brings mental and physical benefits to the giver including self satisfaction and more social connections in society.

Being kind does not mean that we take over the problems of another. If we can first give a good listening ear to someone who is troubled or dejected, we can help them view issues from another perspective This will encourage or bring about a solution to the troubled person.

Life has a way of rewarding a kind person and it could mean an inner happiness that money can’t buy. 

Let us imbue these three traits into our daily lives — simplicity,  humility and kindness. Life can be as smooth as you have never imagined.