To greet a brand new year, National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall will present five major series events and eight major art and cultural citizen-friendly events to create a new era full of art and cultural energy belonging to National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall with the spirit of “innovation, heritage, friendliness, and equality.”The first spring festival series event for “Ink Play and Lantern Display in the Year of Rat” was officially held at the hall in the afternoon today (January 14) including “Spring Couplets Writing,” “Painted Lantern Lighting Ceremony,” and "Pass Love Forward: Painted Lanterns Giving." Besides inviting the public to welcome the year of Geng Zi (2020) together, we also pray for the wellness and happiness of the citizens and our country with Dr. Sun Yat-sen's fraternity.
To promote the traditional Chinese New Year culture and revitalize the spring couplet writing art, our hall, partly sponsored by Jonnesway Enterprise Co., Ltd., Energetic Development Corp., and Yu Fu International, grandly co-host the spring festival couplets writing event together with Buddhist Association of the Republic of China and The Republic of Chinese Society for Calligraphy Education today. The joyful atmosphere prevailed everywhere on the scene. Besides the seventy first-writing guests from the nine major fields including the cultural circle, business world, calligraphy circle, academia, educational circle, entertainment industry, disadvantaged groups, charity groups, and new immigrants first completing the first-writing ceremony, the public happily asked for the spring couplets written by the 109 famous calligraphers in the process of the event and welcomed the arrival of the Chinese New Year joyfully.
Our hall has held the spring festival couplets writing event before every Chinese New Year since 2005 and has never stopped until now. This event has received the attention and positive feedbacks from the public. This year, our hall specially expands the event by inviting seventy first-writing guests. They completed five spring couplets in five terms. One of the first-writing guests, artist Lin Fan-yu, said that as she is losing her eyesight, this first-writing experience will become the precious memory when she can still see things. The new immigrant from the UK, Ran Ting-en, is transforming to be a youtuber. She also recorded the traditional custom of Spring Festival with her camera. After living in Canada for years, Zheng Yi, who used to be a famous folk singer and now works as a radio hostess, said it’s her honor to be invited to join the festivity full of tradition today. Feeling the warmth of the hometown, she finds it very meaningful.
Department of Dance, National Taiwan University of Art, gave the performance of the new dance as the start of the event. Through the dance moves with the water sleeves, the dancers showed the beautiful and elegant lines of the Chinese characters. The event also invited Taipei City Taichi Martial Art Association to give the performance of the Taichi sword. The body language and traditional sword play interpret the vigorous and forceful calligraphy writing momentum. The hall also offers the free paper cutting experience to the public to personally experience the fun of paper cutting. The works can also be taken home for the new year decoration.
Director-general Liang Yung-fei expressed his gratitude to the guests and participants for their visit to the hall. The new year of 2020 sounds like “love you love you” in Chinese. Our hearts should be filled with love. Besides loving ourselves, we should also love people around us, love our family, and love the country so that the country will get stronger full of love. For today’s first writing, the first writing of expectation is “Mutual Help and Unity, Prosperous Country and People at Peace.” The second writing is “Favorable Weather, Prosperous Economy.” The third writing is “Stable Body and Mind, Wellness Forever.” The fourth writing is “Happy Family, Good Descendents.” The fifth writing is “Social Harmony, Mercy and Joy.” The sixth writing is “Gold Rat Bringing Good Luck, Happy Chinese New Year.”
Our hall also provides 2,500 copies of printed spring couplets written by the calligraphy master Xue Ping-nan, Chen Kun-yi, Guo Fang-zhong, Cai Ming-zan, and Master Jing Yao for the disadvantaged groups including the residents of Zhongqin Li, Wanhua District, and Northern Region Senior Citizens’ Home. On January 15, we will participate in the banquet for the elderly living alone held by Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly to give the lucky draw gifts and spring couplets. On January 16, we will visit Senior Services and Daycare Center, Xinyi District, Taipei City. Besides giving the spring couplets to the citizens there, we will also accompany the demented elderly to write the spring couplets and make handicrafts.
On January 17, our hall will hold the lighting ceremony of “Lantern Festival Celebration, Painted Lantern Exhibition.” National Taiwan College of Performing Arts will give the performance “Gongs and Drums to Celebrate Festival” as the start. Then Director-general Liang Yung-fei, famous hostess Xu Xiu-zhi, artist Luo Zheng-xian, and calligraphy and painting master Lin Chang-hu will light the lantern together. After February 21, when the lantern exhibition ends, our hall will hold the event “Pass Love Forward: Painted Lanterns Giving.” Director-general Liang Yung-fei will personally give the lanterns to Senior Services and Daycare Center, Songshan District, Taipei City, to show fraternity and care for the seniors. Besides the lanterns for Lantern Festival, our hall has also made 200 small eco lanterns to give the citizens for free at the main hall of the building after Spring Festival. The art exhibitions will continue during Spring Festival, including “From Lines to Network: Chen Cheng-po’s Collection of Painting and Calligraphy” at Chungshan National Gallery, “Membership Charity Joint Display by China Pacific Asia Watercolor Art Association” at Bo-ai Gallery, and “The First Retrospective Exhibition of Lois Kuo” at Yat-sen Gallery. Welcome to visit the exhibitions and claim the lanterns.
National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall 2020 “Ink Play and Lantern Display in the Year of Rat”
List of Spring Festival Series Events
108/11/22-109/2/8 09：00~18：00 From Lines to Network: Chen Cheng-po’s Collection of Painting and Calligraphy Chungshan National
Gallery
1/1~12/31 09：00~18：00 Democratic Pioneer Dr. Sun Yat-sen 1866-1925 East Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s History Exhibition Room
1/1~12/31 09：00~18：00 Dr. Sun Yat-sen and Taiwan West Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s History Exhibition Room
1/4~ 2/2 09：00~18：00 The First Retrospective Exhibition of Lois Kuo Yat-sen Gallery
1/14（Tue.） 14：00~16：00 “Ink Play and Lantern Display in the Year of Rat” Spring Festival Couplets Writing Event Main
Entrance Corridor
1/15（Wed.） 11：30~13：30 Banquet for the Elderly Living Alone, Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly Armed Forces Officers’
Club
1/15~ 2/4 09：00~18：00 2020Taipei International Calligraphy Exhibition and Demonstration for Spring Festival Wen-hua
Gallery and 2F Culture Gallery
1/16（Thu.） 10：00~11：20 Care for Senior Services and Daycare Center, Xinyi District, Taipei City: give spring couplets and
accompany the demented elderly to write spring couplets Senior Services and Daycare Center, Xinyi
District, Taipei City
1/17（Fri.） 16：30~17：15 Lighting Ceremony of “Lantern Festival Celebration, Painted Lantern Exhibition” Main Entrance
Corridor
1/17~2/4 09：00~18：00 Beyond Boundaries- An Elegant Pursuance Su Mu-chen Watercolor Painting Solo Exhibition De-ming
Gallery
1/18（Sat.） 14：30~16：30 “Learn about Lung Cancer” Speaker: He Zhao-ji Lecture Hall
1/19（Sun.） 14：30~16：30 “Flying Youth, Moderate Life: A Retrospection of 50 Years” Speaker: Li Tian-duo Lecture Hall
1/18~2/9 09：00~18：00
(14：30 Opening) Membership Charity Joint Display by China Pacific Asia Watercolor Art Association Bo-ai Gallery
1/18~2/9 09：00~18：00
(14：00 Opening) Memberships’ Excellent Artworks Display of Taipei Photo Society Tswei-heng Gallery
1/31（Fri.） 15：00~ 15：30 Give out Small Eco Lanterns Main Entrance Corridor
2/1（Sat.） 14：30~ 16：30 “Against the Wind, Fly Bravely” Speaker: Yu Xiu-zhi Lecture Hall
2/2（Sun.） 10：00~ 12：00 “Endless Power of Employment” Speaker: Wu Si-hui Lecture Hall
2/2（Sun.） 14：30~ 16：30 “Exposure to Plasticizers and Cardiovascular Diseases” Speaker: Su Da-cheng Lecture Hall
2/9（Sun.） 14：30~ 16：30 “Truth under the White Robe” Speaker: Huang Yuan-hui Lecture Hall
2/15（Sat.） 14：30~ 16：30 “With a Breath, Hope Never Ends: Respiratory Diseases You Have to Know” Speaker: Gu Shi-
ji Lecture Hall