Calligraphy in Running Script

WANG JINGWEI (1883-1944)
Calligraphy in Running Script
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
97.5 x 36 cm. (38 ³⁄₈ x 14 ¹⁄₈ in.)
Inscribed and signed, with two seals of the artist
Dedicated to Mengheng (Ho Mang Hang) and Zhongyun
NOTE:
Hanging scroll made by Rongbaozhai

Originally named Wenjie, Ho Mang Hang was born in Zhongshan, Guangdong, and graduated from the Department of Agriculture Economics in Jinling University. Since his mother’s family had been active in the 1911 Revolution, Ho had been acquainted with Wang Jingwei and his family since childhood. In 1939, Ho married Wang Jingwei’s daughter Wang Wenxing (Zhongyun). He left for Hong Kong in 1948 and later took up a position as Laboratory Superintendent in the Botany Department in Hong Kong University. After retiring in 1980, he devoted his time to gathering and studying materials and documents written by and related to Wang Jingwei. In 2010, Ho co-founded the Wang Jingwei Irrevocable Trust with his wife.

Wang Jingwei remains one of the most fascinating and complex political and literary figures in modern Chinese history. As a revolutionary, Wang played an important role in the fall of the Qing dynasty and called for democratic and social reforms during the 1920s and the 1930s, before becoming a leader of the Peace Movement during the Second Sino-Japanese War. An accomplished calligrapher, poet, writer and friend to many artists, Wang is also well-known for his collection of poetry, titled Shuangzhaolou shicigao, including Xiaoxiuji (A Little Rest) and Saoyeji (Brush Leaves) collections. A selection of poems and translation has been published in Poems of Wang Ching-wei (London, Allen & Unwin, 1938).