Calligraphy Handscroll "On Nourishing Life"


Dimensions: 130 × 14 cm
Artist: Lin Changmin (China, 1876–1925)
Colophon: "Written in March of the Jiazi year as a birthday gift for Liang Sicheng — Changmin"

Also known as Zezé, courtesy name Zongmeng, and by the literary names Ju Dongzi and Owner of Shuanggua Cottage, Lin Changmin was a prominent cultural figure and acclaimed calligrapher of early Republican China, and the father of writer–architect Lin Huiyin.

Educated at St. John's University in Shanghai and Waseda University in Japan, Lin served as Minister of Justice, Secretary-General of the Provisional Senate, and Director of the Bureau of Law and Politics. He was an early advocate of constitutional monarchy and an influential voice leading up to the May Fourth Movement.

Praised by Kang Youwei as Fujian's finest calligrapher, Lin combined elegant structure with dynamic energy. This handscroll, inscribed with the essay On Nourishing Life and presented as a birthday gift to Liang Sicheng, exemplifies his refined yet vigorous brush style.