The 2018 “Laihua Cup” Calligraphy Competition for International Students sponsored by the Foreign Student Affairs Institute of Beijing Higher Education Associationand organised by China Central Academy of Fine Arts was successfully held on 8 December. 52 foreign students from over 30colleges anduniversities participated in the contest, which is themed on a couplet comprising the firstChinesecharacters of Jin Yong’s 14 book titles with 7 characters on each line: “Shooting a white deerwith snowflakes fluttering about the sky;smiling, writes about the chivalrous heroleaning against bluish lovebirds”. With no restriction on script styles, the contest sought to spread Chinese culture and improve foreign students’ recognition and understanding of Chinese calligraphy while commemorating Jin Yong.

After nearly three hours of onsite writing and judging process, three students bagged the first prize, five won the second prize and six were given the third prize. Japanese studentsTAMASHIRO YOSHIYUKIandKIKUCHI MISAKIstudying at the School of Chinese Language and Literature of BFSU entered the contest. After intense competition,TAMASHIRO YOSHIYUKI won the second prize for her regular script andKIKUCHI MISAKI was given the third prize.

With the purpose of promoting Chinese culture and demonstrating its artistic appeal, this contest has enriched foreign students’ extracurricular activities, improved their calligraphic skills and cultural awareness and deepened their understanding of calligraphic culture and art. Foreign students said that they had a first-hand experience of calligraphy which was very rewarding during the contest.