Large steps, slow movements and quick snaps of red fans: students demonstrated tai chi amid equally graceful strokes of their peers’ calligraphy.
The Chinese Culture and Civilization class joined the Chinese Calligraphy class at its semesterly Chinese calligraphy exhibition for the first time Tuesday. Both the exhibition and demonstration took place in the Honors College and International Center lobby. The calligraphy exhibition showcased student work across 16 colorful trifolds.
Guests are encouraged to vote on the top 10 works using the QR code at each table. The exhibition and voting will remain open until Thursday.
“I’m not an artist, but I used watercolor on this, which is something I did not know how to do,” Owen Foley, a senior film production major, said.
Foley used seal script for his work, one of the two scripts covered in the class. Illustrations of birds, fruit, dragons and women decorated many submitted calligraphy pieces, including Foley’s.
“I’ve had some friends who have taken the class, and they said that they loved it,” Foley said.
His friends also appreciated Na Li, an instructor of Chinese who teaches the calligraphy course.
The culture and civilization class demonstrated nine of the 18 tai chi forms and wore tai chi fu, traditional Chinese uniforms.
Farley gave spoken directions to the other eight demonstrators. Farley picked a red tai chi fu to wear, while all but one of her classmates picked black. Instructor of Chinese, Zhuqin Borders, Farley’s professor, asked her to lead her classmates to reflect the unique color choice.
“I feel like western culture is just go go go all the time, particularly if you’re a college student,” Evie Farley, a junior Chinese education major, said.
She said that doing tai chi movements throughout her day helps her feel grounded.
Borders and her students passed out extra fans and invited calligraphers to learn the steps following the initial performance.
In addition to the tai chi unit, Borders class covers tea ceremony, feng shui and traditional Chinese medicine units. Farley said she drank medicine from class when she got a cold and felt better the next day.
“Her class is honestly so much fun,” Farley said. “As a junior who has a lot of intensive language courses, it’s one of those courses where I just get to enjoy the culture that I’m learning about and not really stress too much.”
Borders said she plans to host more demonstrations in the future.
