坐落在浙江绍兴兰渚山下、古朴而优雅的兰亭书法艺术学院，因为有众多外国朋友前来学习，成了在绍兴外国人最密集的地方。

　　英格兰桑德兰，当地时间10月7日6点30分。

　　Roland早早起床，端坐在客厅写字台前临帖、创作。他坚持早起练习中国书法已半年多了，而以前他总是睡前练字。改变，缘于他的中国绍兴兰亭访学之旅。“绍兴的书法家都说，他们早上第一件事就是写。”Roland说。

　　“绍兴兰亭3个月的访学之旅，我收获满满。”Roland在视频连线时说，他目前正忙着筹备将在维也纳书法中心举办的中西书法跨文化展览，届时他在兰亭创作的书法作品将会展出。他还打算在全英高校开巡回讲座，分享他的中西书法跨文化研究成果，并将中国书法和绍兴兰亭介绍给英国大学生。

　　Roland是今年5月24日从绍兴文理学院兰亭书法艺术学院结业的。这一天，他含泪与几位中国书法老师深情拥抱依依惜别，他说这一幕令他永生难忘。

　　“Roland非常热爱中国书法艺术，进步特别快。”兰亭书法艺术学院院长助理董舒展对这位洋学生印象深刻，她说，像Roland一样慕名前来兰亭学习书法的外国人很多，近5年学院就接待了2000多名。

来自世界各地的书法爱好者

　　兰亭，位于浙江绍兴兰渚山下，因1600多年前王羲之在这里写下被后人誉为“天下第一行书”的《兰亭集序》，成为举世闻名的书法圣地。“小而美”的兰亭书法艺术学院就坐落在兰亭，校园古朴悠雅，全校师生350余人。

　　46岁的Roland是英国桑德兰大学艺术系的博士研究生，从事跨文化研究。他痴迷中国书法，博士课题研究方向是“中西书法的跨文化考察”。在朋友建议下，今年初他向兰亭书法艺术学院申请访学3个月。学院热情地接收了他。

　　“中国书法很美，写书法时我是那么快乐，简直如痴如醉。”Roland说，他之前学过篆书、楷书和隶书，特别想学草书，学院便安排他到2016级书法国际班插班学习。他在英国时，一星期练两次书法，在绍兴则是每天练习5个小时以上。

　　而瑞士姑娘Anne和May，则已在兰亭书法艺术学院留学3年。她们在日内瓦大学读书时，接触并喜欢上了中国书法。大学毕业后，两人相约报考兰亭书法艺术学院书法专业，并且都如愿以偿。

　　“她们学习非常勤奋，刚开始学篆书时，中国同学只要花两三个小时就能完成的作业，她们往往要写七八个小时，但她们从不厌烦。3年坚持下来，她们完全跟上了中国同学。”Anne和May的同班同学隋天翼说。

　　虽然有许多外国朋友对中国书法的技巧和意蕴常常难以理解。比如“撇”，有翻译成“left falling stroke”，从英语字面理解是“往左边下降的笔画”。而“撇”在中国书法中带着速度和节奏，用笔十分讲究。然而这并不妨碍外国人学书法，一些外国朋友把中国书法看作“线条的艺术”。

　　还有一些外国朋友把中国书法当作画来欣赏。Anne就是这样，她说，她每写完一幅字，都像是画完一幅画，开心极了。

　　“许多外国朋友不认识汉字，不了解中国文化，于是往往只能从线条、空间、结构等方面来理解书法。”董舒展说，好在书法可以在书写中把难以言表的元素展示出来，这一点外国人常能领悟得很好。

　　文化无界，书法艺术似一座桥梁，把绍兴和世界紧紧连接在一起。在兰亭书法艺术学院，除了像Roland一样的访问学者，还有许多外国团队，像瑞士的日内瓦大学和日本的创价大学等，会定期派遣书法研习团赴兰亭学习交流。这个小小的学院，成为在绍兴外国人最密集的地方。

走出国门的兰亭书法使者

　　“Miss Dong, do you think I can become a calligrapher?”（董老师，你说我能成为书法家吗？）

　　“You will be the best calligrapher among beef shop owners in New Zealand!”你会成为新西兰牛肉老板中书法写得最棒的！）

　　这是前不久新西兰牛肉贸易商John和董舒展的微信聊天对话。

　　4年前董舒展带着几位学生去新西兰奥克兰大学开设“兰亭书法学堂”，讲授中国书法。John报了名，非常认真地学了起来，和来自中国的书法老师成为了好朋友。董舒展回绍兴后，两人还一直保持着联系。

　　从2015年开始，兰亭书法艺术学院在新西兰、瑞士、波兰、意大利、俄罗斯、美国、加拿大、捷克等8个国家，先后开设了海外“兰亭书法学堂”。而董舒展，正是学院第一位赴海外传授书法艺术的老师。

　　“外国人对书法的热爱是发自内心的，文化交流互鉴会使不同国家的人们因此走到一起。”陈炬老师曾被派往意大利摩德纳大学开展书法教学。他说，虽然中意文化有所不同，但人们对艺术的欣赏和追求却是相通的。在摩德纳大学，“兰亭书法学堂”很受意大利人欢迎，这使陈炬感到自豪。现在，有800多年历史的摩德纳大学，已将书法列入硕士研究生的学分课程。

　　在飘洋过海的书法教学中，中国书法老师也常受到许多外国学生的启迪，使他们对这门艺术生发出别样的思考和更深的领悟。吴加锡是兰亭书法艺术学院2016级书法国际班的一名学生，2017年他参加了俄罗斯陶里亚蒂国立大学“兰亭书法学堂”的书法教学活动。一次一位俄罗斯铁路工人来听讲，课后请教他一些很有意思的问题，比如欣赏一幅书法作品该如何去体会书法家创作时的心情等。吴加锡说，“这些我以前从来没有想过，但又确实是我们应该研究和了解的。”

　　如今，书法艺术已在世界许多地方落地生根，“兰亭书法学堂”在海外的影响力也越来越大。2015年以来，兰亭书法艺术学院共选派10多位书法老师和150多位优秀学生分赴各国授课，吸引了上千名外国书法爱好者走进中国书法课堂。

　　兰亭书法艺术学院副院长王晓亮说，今后，“兰亭书法学堂”还将在日本、韩国，以及欧洲、南美等国家和地区开设，方便更多的外国朋友能接触、学习中国书法。

（部分图片由Roland和绍兴文理学院兰亭书法艺术学院提供）

Orchid Pavilion School of Calligraphy, set up in 2004 as part of Shaoxing University, lies at the foot of Mount Lanzhu, about 12 kilometers southwest of Shaoxing City. The region is called Orchid Pavilion, where Wang Xizhi (303-361), presumably the greatest Chinese calligrapher in history, lived and wrote the famous , a masterpiece in both prose and calligraphy. Orchid Pavilion is a pilgrimage destination for calligraphers from all over China. The school is also a place where foreigners with a passion for Chinese calligraphy study and pick up the ancient penmanship. Over the past five years, the school has trained over 2,000 international students. In no other places in Shaoxing can you find so many international students. “These international calligraphers are like seeds. They disseminate Chinese calligraphy all over the world,” says Dong Shuzhan, a calligrapher and assistant to the director of the school. 

The school itself is small. The students and faculty members add up to about 350. It not only offers 4-year undergraduate studies of calligraphy but also runs short-term calligraphy courses for international students.

Roland, a British scholar, studied calligraphy for three months at the school in early 2019. He graduated from the short-term course on May 24, 2019. The study has changed his vision of calligraphy and changed his practice time. Before he came to Orchid Pavilion, he usually practiced in the evening. He switched to morning after he began with the course at the school. His classmates and his teachers practiced in the morning. He has adhered to the morning routine. Back home, he is now heavily engaged in work connected with Chinese calligraphy. He is now making preparations for a calligraphy exhibition. The purpose of the exhibition is to introduce Chinese calligraphy and Orchid Pavilion in Shaoxing to college students in the United Kingdom. His calligraphic works created during his three-month study at the school will be exhibited at the upcoming exhibition.

The college also offers long courses for international students. Anne and May, two Swedish women, have been studying at the school for three years. They fell in love with Chinese calligraphy while going to college in Geneva. After they graduated, they came over to the school in Orchid Pavilion. Chinese calligraphy is their pursuit now. They have caught up with their Chinese classmates in calligraphy thanks to their hard work.

It is quite common that many international students do not have a commanding knowledge of Chinese, but that problem doesn’t prevent them from studying calligraphy. For many of them, Chinese calligraphy is an art of lines. They write as if they were making a drawing. In order to grasp calligraphy, they examine Chinese characters in terms of space, line and structure, etc. “An excellent calligrapher highlights the inexplicable beauty of Chinese characters. International students can do that pretty well,” explains Dong Shuzhan. 

The school not only attracts individuals like Roland, Anne and May. It holds special exchange programs regularly. Foreign universities and colleges often send groups of calligraphers over to attend these short-term programs.

Moreover, the school sends teams of teachers and students out to visit foreign countries and hold short-term courses there. This international program is known as “Orchid Pavilion Calligraphy Classroom”.

In 2016, Dong Shuzhan headed a platoon of students from the school and visited New Zealand, where they held a calligraphic course. Local students in the course were from all walks of life. John, one of the students, is a beef trader, signed up and studied Chinese calligraphy. He keeps in touch with Dong through WeChat, a Chinese social media.

Since 2015, the school has run the calligraphy program in New Zealand, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Russia, the United States, Canada, and Czech. Dong Shuzhan is the first teacher of calligrapher sent overseas for this program. More than ten teachers and 150 students have gone overseas to be part of this program. Chen Ju, a teacher with the school, conducted a “calligraphy program” at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy, which was founded in 1175. “Though the two countries have different cultures, people enjoy art in the same way,” observes the Chinese calligrapher. “That explains why the Chinese calligraphy course is so popular on the campus.” Chen is proud of the course he first conducted there. Now the Chinese calligraphy is a must-do course for postgraduate students of the university.

The program is scheduled to expand to include many other countries in East Asia, Europe and South America, according to Wang Xiaoliang, vice director of the school.