(Ecns.cn) – Wang Deshui, a Japan-based Chinese artist, opened his calligraphy and painting exhibition on Tuesday in the hometown of Mao Zedong, to mark the 118th anniversary of the late Chinese leader's birth in central China's Hunan Province.
The exhibition at the Mao Zedong Memorial Museum in Shaoshan displayed 118 pieces, all inspired by Mao Zedong's poems, including Changsha, Jinggang Mountain and many other famous pieces he wrote in his early adulthood.
Wang said these works are a testament to his deep respect and admiration for Chairman Mao.
"The poetry of Mao Zedong expresses not only his personal emotions but also the zeitgeist of his generation," he said. "As the most faithful representation of his thought, it is an indispensable treasure of Chinese literature."
Wang donated ten of his works to the memorial museum at the exhibition's opening ceremony.
Kong Heping, a public relations officer with the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, praised Wang for his patriotism, saying that the exhibition will help spread communist culture and Chinese ethics.
Wang Deshui was born in south China's Zhejiang Province in 1954 and is a descendant of Wang Xizhi, one of the most esteemed Chinese calligraphers of the Jin Dynasty (265–420). He started to study art and Chinese calligraphy at a very young age and moved to Japan in 1987.
He now lives in Tokyo and his work has been exhibited since the 1990s in China and a number of Japanese cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka. His paintings usually integrate traditional Chinese style with Japanese colors and modern Western ideas.
