Found this photo on my phone. My dad wrote this idiom when we visited Gardens by the Bay some time ago. You can tell that I admire his calligraphy, which explains why this photo is still in my possession.
The idiom is 国泰民安 (guó tài mín ān).
Let’s unpack these characters, one by one.
国: country
泰: peaceful
民: citizens
安: safety
So, this idiom expresses my father’s hopes for Singapore to be a peaceful country and have citizens who feel safe and secure.
I suspect this will resonate heavily with @didiplaywell who spent the best years of his life working towards this ideal for his country. 😆
That’s interesting. Just those 4 characters say all that.
Chinese is a concise language for sure
And very hard to learn for us English speakers
I love the mix of loose and minimalist line-style of your father's calligraphy. This indeed resonates deep within my core on what I crave for the most. We have the spirit but not such succinct words for those sentiments. I genuinely hope this graceful Chinese culture can permeate more in the future in our country :)
Thank you as always for bringing up this lovely micro-poems, sensei.
I’m happy to know that you like my dad’s calligraphy
More to come xP
Awesome 😁
(And thank you for the forwarding, much appreciated 🙏 )
This is amazing too:
https://chatgpt.com/share/685a9bc4-e958-800c-9040-cb4b0e9ad2e0
Self-directed learning at its best! Sensei approves