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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.

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Chinese is a concise language for sure

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And very hard to learn for us English speakers

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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.

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I’m happy to know that you like my dad’s calligraphy

More to come xP

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Awesome 😁
(And thank you for the forwarding, much appreciated 🙏 )

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Self-directed learning at its best! Sensei approves

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