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An old man with a hot temper and often impatient with many things in life like me, yet seeing Vincent Liang (Luong Trieu Minh's nickname on social media) leisurely and attentively moving his pen on the scroll, suddenly felt at ease.
Preparing to set out the pens, ink, and parallel sentences, the young scholar honestly declared, “This Tet, I am the year of the Snake.” “Ah, in common parlance, the dragon is more majestic than the snake, right?” I laughed. Minh smiled lightly: “Yes, everything in life exists for a reason.” I listened attentively as the scholar Minh briefly explained the meaning of the eight words “Linh xa nap phuoc” and “Tuong xa nap phuoc.”
“First of all, I write these words for myself and my family with the wish for a sacred year of the Snake with good things and more blessings.
The Five Blessings include: Happiness, Prosperity, Longevity, Health, and Peace.
The story of an individual cannot be separated from the common story of the community, the country...
Reading newspapers, listening to the radio, going online, welcoming the new year 2025, we decided to add the words: "New Era", "Persistence in Efforts", "National Prosperity".
As citizens of a country, everyone certainly hopes for “a smooth national fortune” (basic understanding: everything in the country goes smoothly). The country develops, so does our family and ourselves. But in all things in life, no matter how much we love our homeland and say “I love my country”, if we do not personally work hard, contribute our efforts (as simple as from our own profession, job position) to the common work/career, and turn the wish for “a smooth national fortune” into reality, then everything will be “impossible” (nothing will be achieved).
Each person, in the “New Era”, if they “Persevere in their efforts”, then “The nation will prosper”. Each person, in a new mindset, contributes their efforts to the common efforts of the whole country to have a new and better era for all”.
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"Teacher" Luong Trieu Minh currently teaches Mandarin, Cantonese, Chinese calligraphy in Kai Shu and Han Shu styles to about 300 students. Regarding the "career background" of "Luong Trieu Minh - my husband", Pham Xuan Quynh - a pretty female employee of Agribank Ba Ria - Vung Tau said that her husband's family is Cantonese Chinese, 3 generations living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, in Cho Lon area.
At 40, Luong Trieu Minh has been following his family's main profession for more than 20 years: Calligraphy. When he was 9 or 10 years old, Minh helped his father grind ink, stir ink, and fold paper so his father could write calligraphy. His father was Minh's first calligraphy teacher. Minh learned to write in the "Traditional Craft" style. Minh's older sister, Luong Vien Du, also writes calligraphy, and her writing is beautiful.
Following the career of writing, Minh often borrows words to convey his thoughts, feelings, or to admonish himself.
For wife, give two words "Depending on fate".
Give students a pair of 7-word couplets to welcome the Year of the Snake:
(Sacred snake offers blessings, welcomes new luck)
(Purple air fills the house, bringing fortune)
Writing a couplet as a gift for someone is also for yourself: "Doing good deeds will bring blessings to yourself and your descendants. Doing bad deeds will lead to disaster and misfortune."
I asked Minh, what are the pros and cons of teaching, learning Chinese, and writing Chinese calligraphy in the digital transformation era? Minh smiled gently and asked his wife to answer, while he focused on writing.
Quynh humorously said: “Direct interaction between people is still better and more wonderful than through a screen. When directly watching the teacher write, the person asking for the calligraphy can feel the emotions and feelings of the person giving the calligraphy.
Direct learning helps both teachers and students promptly detect even the smallest errors/misunderstandings during the learning process so that they can make timely adjustments, such as how to hold, use, and preserve a pen, how to pronounce, etc. It best satisfies the visual aesthetic sense"...
Regarding the custom of asking for/giving calligraphy, Minh paused and added softly: “The North is different from the South. In the North, from the 28th of Tet onwards until the 10th of January, sometimes until the 15th of January, people go to ask for calligraphy; but in the South, the request for calligraphy is usually completed before the 30th of Tet; asking for calligraphy, bringing the calligraphy home to decorate the house on Tet. Usually, the golden calligraphy is embossed on a red paper background - wishing for a bright, prosperous, and lucky new year. When Tet comes, depending on their wishes, people often ask for the words: “Tien tai man tien”, “Phuc man duong”, “Phuc tho te lai”, “Hop gia hoan”, “Thap toan thap my”...
For the year of the Snake 2025, in addition to "Tuong xa nap phuc" and "Linh xa nap phuc", I added 4 words "Xa ngo quy nhan".
Welcome the New Year of the Snake with joy, hope and trust!
(Posted on the special edition of Lao Dong Xuan At Ty)
