Foreign friends write "Love Anhai " with writing brush

　　Foreigners in Jinjiang

Professor Paolo write "Love Anhai".

　　The four Treasures of Chinese Study, writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones, is particularly novel for foreign friends, and writing Chinese characters with writing brush is not a simple matter.

　　Paolo Vincenzo Genovese is from Rome, Italy. He is a professor at the school of architecture of Tianjin university and a visiting professor of architecture school at the university of Rome. He has lived in Tianjin for 14 years.

　　At 7pm on March 18th, professor Paolo gave a lecture in the exhibition hall at the visitors center of Anping bridge scenic spot, Anhai town, Jinjiang city. Before opening, he practiced writing "Love Anhai " on paper which was written for 'Love Anhai' edition of Jinjiang economy news. After the lecture, he went on to repeat the previous action.

　　"I want to write the three words beautifully, which means a lot to me, and I know the weight of these three words, and it has a special meaning for Anhai." To make the words in a field, professor Paolo came up with a clever trick, he folded an A4 sheet of paper into a square, placed it at the bottom of the paper, and wrote each word to the square. Throughout the writing process, he took extra care to avoid making a mistake.

　　Peporter：Professor Paolo, can you talk about the three words of "Love Anhai" ?

　　Paolo：These three words are extremely beautiful with special meaning. "Love" has a special harmony in his formal composition. It is one of the first word that every person should learn. It's full of compassion and beauty. Inside include the word "friend" , this means that love is an universal concept that connect races and genders, cultures and people. It is one of my favorite concept in the life.

　　For the words "Anhai", this is composed by "An" and "Hai". "An" is translated in English as "peace". In Chinese this is a special meaning. The separation of the word "An" means the peace that every house should have and a woman who care the harmony of the family. For the word "Hai", the meaning is "sea" which is the tradition of this city. The sea brings wealth, and from the sea, the connection around all the world are permitted. It is a very good choice to write these three words. It means love for the harmony, peace and all the world, to me.

　　Peporter：Is this the first time you write the Chinese characters with a brush? Have you written the Chinese characters before?

　　Paolo：No. In the past I practice a little the calligraphy, but not enough. It's extremely difficult. A personal issue is that my handwriting is extremely small. It's my personal habit. So, every time I have to write big character I have always big difficulties.

　　Peporter：Do you like Chinese culture or Chinese calligraphy?

　　Paolo：Yes. I love calligraphy. It's a sense of beauty express in form and meaning. It is the essence of the Chinese art and culture. I love the Chinese calligraphy as one of the highest expression of the human culture.

　　Peporter：What's Jinjiang in your eyes? What about Anhai? Can you talk about your life in Jinjiang?

　　Paolo：I am not very familiar of Jinjiang city. I know a little more Anhai where I had some investigation. My work also concern the analysis and restoration of the traditional settlements of China. Anhai is a very special case or urban settlements with splendid buildings, social relationship and urban structure. My team and myself visit several place in Jinjiang and the historical building and district are really impressive for quality and state of conservation. Anhai in specific is unique. The Anping bridge is a masterpiece of the human engineering. The quality of the technology is really high. The different part of the city especially the ancient architecture are some of the most beautiful architecture ever seen in China. This is the second year that I visit Anhai. I hope to be here again and more often.

　　中文版详见：外国友人用毛笔书写“爱安海”