Along the River (7 page)

“How did you
do
that?” Gege asks, impressed.

“Do what?” Ah Li replies.

“Sure you haven’t practiced calligraphy before?”

“You must be joking!”

Next morning, Gege shows Ah Li’s big characters to our tutor, Teacher Lai.

“Amazing! Full of
qi
(energy)! Very powerful!” says Teacher Lai. “They remind me of the
shu fa
of the Tang Dynasty master Liu Gong Quan
who lived three hundred years ago. I’m curious to see this calligrapher’s
cao shu
(cursive script). Will you ask him to write three or four lines quickly, so I can compare his cursive script with his big characters?”

“He doesn’t know how to write cursive script,” Gege says. “He’s illiterate.”

“I don’t believe it!” Teacher Lai exclaims, staring at the big characters and shaking his head.

“Maybe he was the famous calligrapher Liu Gong Quan himself in his past life!” Gege jokes.

“I’ve always considered calligraphy to be a form of art and not a form of literature,” Teacher Lai says. “This proves it!”

“Therefore proving that learning Confucian classics by heart is a waste of time!” Gege proclaims.

“Unfortunately, the examiners will be testing your knowledge of Confucian literature, not your
shu fa
. It doesn’t do any harm, though, for you to learn to write like this. Tell me, is this man artistic?”

“One of the most artistic people I know!”

“I’d like to see one of his paintings.”

“I’ll tell him,” Gege says, winking at me.

Gege and I begin to learn
shu fa
from Ah Li instead of the other way round. We develop a daily routine. Immediately after breakfast, Gege and I meet Teacher Lai in the study. Being a girl, I only have to learn five new words a day. My lesson is finished in a very short time, but Gege has to spend the entire morning memorizing and interpreting the
Lun Yu
(
Confucian Analects
), a book of Confucian sayings.

Then Gege needs to write essays and practice his
shu fa
, and of course neither of us can wait to go to Ah Li’s shed for the fun to start. We soon progress from calligraphy to drawing the things around us. Ah Li says he’s good at
shu fa
because he likes to draw, and
shu fa
is merely another form of drawing.

“Teacher Lai would agree with you,” Gege replies. “He keeps telling me that although calligraphy and drawing are known by different names, they are one and the same.”

Gege’s drawings have always been far superior to mine. Baba says Gege is quite talented, but he needs to learn to draw what’s hidden on the inside as well as what’s obvious to everyone.

“I can’t draw at all,” I tell Ah Li.

“Are you blind?”

“No.”

“Can you see?”

“Yes.”

“If you can see, then you can draw. Everything you know originates from what you see.”

“We’re not all artistic like you,” Gege says.

“Nonsense!
Xiao Jie
(Little Miss) is looking at things without seeing them. What we all need to do is to look at every object with fresh eyes.”

“How do we do that?” I ask.

Ah Li suddenly turns himself upside down and stands on his head against the wall.

“Draw me the way I am. Feet up, head down. Imagine you’re meeting me for the first time and that’s how I like to position myself.”

Gege and I laugh, but we obey and draw him upside down. When we finish, Ah Li jumps back to his feet and says, “Phew! I bet you’ve never stood on your head before. Try it sometime. It’s hard work, but I made you see me with fresh eyes just now, didn’t I? How did my nose look from that direction?”

“Bigger than ever,” Gege shouts, and we laugh again.

“Did you learn anything?” Ah Li asks me.

“Yes—that I prefer to write rather than to draw, but I’d like to be able to do
shu fa
like yours.”

“Me too!” Gege says. “Actually, I’d give a lot to be able to do everything the way you do, Ah Li. You’re so lucky, Big Nose! I wish I could change my life for yours and have your talents.”

“Change your life to that of an orphan slave?” Ah Li looks angry for a moment. “Are you mad? Why would you want a life where you are forever ruled by others?”

Gege bangs his fist on the table. “But that’s exactly what my life is like at the moment! You have no idea how bored I am with Confucius
and Mencius
! I wish those old farts would shut up, because I couldn’t care less what they said fifteen hundred years ago. I just want to paint and make things with my hands—like you. The three of us should leave and go and live by ourselves, somewhere else.”

“Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could run away together? Go to a distant city far from here and create our own
Tian Xia
(Land under Heaven)!” I say dreamily, intoxicated by the very thought of it.

“Shao Ye
(Young Master), Little Miss! You must never speak of things like that. Don’t even think of it!” Ah Li says in an agitated voice. “If Ah Wang or Nai Ma hear you, they will report me to your
baba
and
niang
. Ah Wang is already complaining that I’m a bad influence.”

“Let him complain!” exclaims Gege. “I hate memorizing those ancient books! And you’re to stop calling me Young Master, and my sister Little Miss. From now on, you call me
Gege
(Older Brother) and her
Xiao Mei
(Little Sister). Do you hear?”