UN Chief Remembered Calligraphy Lessons for the Year of the Dragon

UN chief, Ban Ki-moon at the opening ceremony of the Chinese calligraphy exhibition

In anticipation of Chinese New Year of the Dragon celebrated on January, 23, exhibition of Chinese art and calligraphy was held at the UN headquarters.

Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, displayed one of his works. Ban’s work contains two Chinese characters, and means “peace.” Although the strokes seem a little bit immature, the calligraphy as a whole is well-balanced and beautiful. Calling himself a “long-time fan of Chinese calligraphy,” the UN chief told the audience, “You may wonder why I do it. Calligraphy brings peace of mind. One must concentrate. You cannot think about anything else. You need to devote yourself into every line, every dot and movement. All of them adding together bring peace of mind”.

Furthermore, Ban Ki-moon told that he began to practice calligraphy when he was a little boy at elementary school. “Calligraphy is one of the world’s long and great artistic traditions. It is also common cultural heritage of China, Japan and Korea,” the UN chief noted.

Source: The UN Radio