Tian Wen Temple

Calligraphy is an inherent traditional culture and art of the Chinese people. Literati and scholars of all past generations have studied calligraphy and poetry, and the writing they do in their daily lives closely involves the "Four Treasures of the Study" , thus fostering the art and culture of calligraphy unique to the Chinese people. In the more modern days, the revolution of writing stationery has caused the culture and art of traditional calligraphy to decline gradually. In order to continue the heritage of Chinese writing and its aesthetics, government agencies, private organizations have made efforts to promote the art of calligraphy.

In order to fulfill the meaning of [Tian Wen] (To study writing, manners, and integrity to comprehend humanity and understand the world's knowledge), and carry out the grand vision of [Blessings to everyone] of Xu Fu Qian Sui worshipped by the Temple, the first batch management committee had determined to promote calligraphy art as a cornerstone of Tian Wen Temple, and managed to organize 52 calligraphy competitions without interruption. All works participating in the competition are of the best selection and are extremely precious. The Temple also has collected calligraphy pieces from the former Minister of Education Cheng-Sheng Tu and other calligraphy masters and judges in competitions as precious/ valuable/ priceless cultural assets to the Temple.

Tian Wen Temple was able to compile the fine calligraphy and award-winning sketches from the collection and is very grateful to the unsung heroes who contribute to cultural heritage. We would like to thank Jih-Sheng Chen, Wen-Song Chuang, Shun-Feng Chen, Tung-Yu Hong, Wen-Shu Wu, Yong-We Tsai, Jun-Chuan Hong, Chun-Liang Li, Ching-Kuo Chung, Chin-Tsung Yang, Director Jin-Feng Chen of Yong-An Township Library, and Miss Jui-Yin Wang. We also appreciate the efforts from Professor Ping-Huang Chang, Professor Chi-Chuan Chen, Professor Chong-Ming Tsai, Professor Wen-Jen Li, Professor Zong-Yi Huang, Professor Chin-Chung Lin and Professor Chi-Mao Li for being the judges in past competitions, Chinese Calligraphy Association, consultant Mr. Chien-Chen Lan for the Temple, past committee members and team leaders of our social education teams for their dedication to every competition. Their hard work and commitment have driven the entry works to our calligraphy competition.

Our biggest regret for the calligraphy album is that the winning works from the 1st to the 10th competition were lost due to fire to our collection room in 2004. The room was vandalized and arsonized, and many works and albums were lost, and we are unable to show all the works here. We offer our sincere apology to past winners, and will try our best maintaining the integrity of works and compile them into new albums, so that the culture and art of calligraphy can be passed on for generations.