Li, Shutong, 1880-1942.also given as 1879-1942
Buddhism Master Hongyi
The Calligraphy and Paintings of Master Hongyi
The original name of Hongyi is Li Shutong. He was born in 1879 and became a monk at the age of 39. He died at the age of 63 in 1942.
Li Shutong came from a wealthy family in the northern city of Tiantsin in China. He was only 5 years old when his father passed away. He was brought up by his half brother who was 12 years his senior.
His mother passed away when he was 26 years old. He then went to Japan to study arts and music. While in Japan, he organized a drama group, which later on moved back to China. Their performance marked the beginning of modern drama in China. Upon return to China, he worked for seven years as a music and arts teacher in the First Normal University of Zhejiang Province at Hangzhou. Li was the first artist in China to compose a chorus and nearly all of the first generation music teachers in China were his students. Li was also a famous calligrapher at that time.
In 1918, when Li was 39 years old, he became a monk in the Hangzhou Hupao Temple under the Buddhist Master Liaowu and thus became Master Honhyi. Since then, he gave up all his pursuit in artistic creation other than calligraphy and painting related to buddhism.
In 1942, at the age of 63, he passed away in the Quanzhou Senior Home in Fujian Province.
Li Shutong Memorial is in the bosom of mountains, near Hupao Spring, a top tourist attraction in Hangzhou. There used to be a Buddhist monastery on site where Li Shutong practised Buddhism a Buddhist monk. Li was a famous artist, patriot, and eminent monk in the 20th-century China.
Born in Pinghu County of Zhejiang province, Li Shutong (1880-1942) had studied abroad in Japan. A great virtuoso of oil painting, music, modern drama and calligraphy, Li taught at Liangzhe Normal College. At the age of 39, Li suddenly gave up all his worldly concerns and converted himself to Buddhism.
He took the tonsure in Hupao Temple of the West Lake. His Buddhist name was Yanyin alias Hongyi. Later he named himself Wanqing Old Man. After outbreak of the War Against Japanese Invasion, Master Hongyi called that " Buddhists should never forget to love the country." His appeal reverberated through China.
Li Shutong was one of the vanguards in ushering a new epoch in Chinese contemporary culture. He took active part in performance of "civil drama" (modern drama), and wrote songs to sing of beauty of the West Lake. His students include some top men such as Feng Zhikai. His seal cuttings and handwriting of Amitabha Buddhist Scripture are among the best treasure in the vast artistic collection at the Xiling Seal Society. The pagoda-shaped tomb of the Buddhist Master Hongyi stands beside the Tiger Spring pond.
