First National Meeting on Human Rights-theme Calligraphic Works and Paintings on February 16, 2003 in Beijing. The meeting has left behind many works of high artistic value.

The meeting aimed to promote a human rights spirit, extend human rights-related knowledge and encourage people to care about, support and promote development of the human rights undertaking in the country.

Attending the meeting were not only renowned painters and calligraphers but also celebrities in various social circles of the country. Among the participants were Shao Huaze, president of All-China Journalists Association and dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication of Beijing University, Wang Zhaohua, executive director of All-China Care forth Younger Generation Working Committee, Zhou Jue, president of China Society for Human Rights Studies, Liu Wenxi, vice-president of Chinese Artists Association, and Zhong Mingshan, vice-president of Chinese Calligraphers Association.

Some ten days after the notice of the meeting was sent out, the organizing committee received more than 200 works from around the country. Of all participants, 90 are painters and 66 calligraphers. One month before the meeting, a number of people had been actively involved in making preparations. They included ZhangHu, deputy secretary-general of Chinese Calligraphers Association, Long Qianshi, of ethnic Miao, who specializes in painting and engraving dragons, and Ji Peili, an ink and wash painter specializing in portraying the Great Wall.

On the morning of February 16, the First National Meeting on Human Rights-theme Calligraphic Works and Paintings was held in a hall in Jianguo Hotel in Beijing. Pictures of Mao Zedong, DengXiaoping and Jiang Zemin hang at the center of the hall; and comments on human rights made by Mao, Deng and Jiang written by well-known calligraphers also hang there as calligraphic works. Standing out were Mao Zedong's classic words "The Chinese people who constitute one quarter of mankind have stood up from now on;"Deng Xiaoping's "Ultimately, national sovereignty is far more important than human rights" and Jiang Zemin's "Respectand Protect Human Rights" taken out from his report delivered at the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

To the left and right of the above exhibits hang a picture titled "Dragons in a Prosperous Era" done by Long Qianshi of Miao and a giant picture titled "Reclining Dragon Against Golden Mountains" done by Ji Peili known for his Great Wall paintings. Inscriptions written by Party and government leaders on the occasion of the first founding anniversary of Human Rights magazine were displayed on both sides of the pictures. All around the hall were pictures featuring landscape, birds and flowers, human figures and animals as well as human rights-theme calligraphic works.

The meeting opened at 9:00 in the morning. It was presided over by Zhang Hu, president of China Arts News. Dong Yunhu, president and editor-in-chief of Human Rights and chairman of the organizing committee for the meeting, made a speech. He said, "This meeting is China's first calligraphic and painting activity with human rights as its theme. Works by the artists vividly portray stories in which the Chinese government and the Chinese people fight for human rights. Graphically, they reflect the spirit of the Chinese people in their strife for a xiaokang, or relatively well-off, standard of living and a vigorous development of the human rights under-taking in China. The hard work of calligraphers and painters will leave a precious page in the history of human rights development in the country."

Artists then created works of art impromptu. Shao Huaze, president of All-China Journalists Association, was the first to do so. A calligrapher, Shao wrote "Long Live the People" in huge letters. He was followed by Zhong Mingshan, Liu Wenxiand other artists.

Works done by artists come in different styles, but the theme is the same: "human rights" and prosperity for the Chinese nation.

In calligraphic works, comments wrought in fine handwriting are slogans of human rights-related ideals proposed by Western thinkers, famous sayings of ancient Chinese sages, propositions made by Karl Marx and comments made by Chinese leaders.

Impromptu creations of paintings and calligraphic works brought the gathering to a climax. Wielding painting or writing brushes, artists showed their confidence in and enthusiasm for China's human rights undertaking in the works they created. Catching particular attention were three giant paintings that were done collectively. They are titled respectively "Beautiful Landscape," "Flowers in Full Bloom" and "Flying Dragons and Galloping Tigers." All portray the painters' love for their motherland and their wish that their motherland would become even better in the future.

Many artists were moved by the atmosphere of the gathering. Zhang Wenhua, 75, vice-president of the Qi Baishi Art Society, said, "This human rights-theme gathering is a great success. Using traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy to display a human rights culture that has Chinese characteristics will have a far-reaching significance. Painters and calligraphers I know and I myself are quite inspired. With our writing and painting brushes, we old painters and calligraphers are willing to promote China's human rights culture and display achievements China has made in the human rights field."

The gathering lasted until 5:00 PM. This was followed by a reception hosted by the organizing committee. Topics at the reception continued to be human rights, paintings and calligraphic works. Artists continued to create works impromptu. Shen Aniiang, founder of a calligraphic school that uses the bamboo pencil to write characters, gave a demonstration of his skill. Young painters, including Wang Haiyi and Feng Xingzi, used a combination of traditional Chinese and Western skills to do pictures on the occasion. Human rights and artistic creation became one.

Prompted by the vivacious atmosphere, Yang Zhcngquan, vice-president of China Society for Human Rights Studies, went to the podium and sang a Shandong-style clapper ballad. He was followed by others who entertained the audience with other forms of folk art they excel in. Henceforward, the artists have established a close relationship with China's human rights undertaking.

Human Rights magazine has collected the works of art exhibited and done impromptu at the gathering. The magazine will carry some of them in coming issues. And a complete collection of them will be published for distribution at home and abroad.