On the 25th of February, 2012, Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer University invited Dr. Liang Hong, a renowned Chinese calligrapher, to offer a Chinese calligraphy and traditional painting lecture to the local community of Charlotte at the Asian Library. This is the second time the Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer University has offered Chinese calligraphy lectures to the community after Dr. Hong Zhao's successfully presented calligraphy lectures in 2011.

Dr. Liang Hong was a visiting scholar at Beijing University in 2005 to 2006, and the executive editor of Chinese Calligraphy Magazine in 2007 to 2011. Since 2012, he has started lecturing on Chinese calligraphy, traditional painting, and seal cutting home and abroad and writing Chinese Calligraphy Textbook for Collage Students. He serves the Jiu San Society Central Cultural Committee and is the Deputy Secretary General of the Central Painting and Calligraphy Institute in China. He is also a member of the Xiling Society of Seal Arts and the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and a guest professor of Tsinghua University and Capital Normal University. Dr. Liang Hong has published several calligraphy books. Some of his works include Changshuo Wu, Nine Modern Seal Cutting Artists--Liang Hong, altogether over 21 publications. His book entitled On Folk Calligraphy, published in 2006, received the renowned "Innovation Award" presented by Beijing University.

In the Chinese calligraphy and traditional painting lectures, Dr. Hong offered discussions of different methods to present calligraphy and painting to diverse audiences. The audience of the lecture at the Asian Library was mostly well-educated adults, with previous knowledge of Chinese calligraphy.

Before the calligraphy and painting demonstration, Dr. Hong first discussed different ways of holding the brush, like how to hold the brush with two fingers, three fingers, four fingers or five fingers. Then he demonstrated how to write the Chinese character "��" dragon in different scripts. Dr. Hong discussed the importance of arranging appropriately the signature, the date and special phrases expressing the calligrapher's feelings to make the calligraphy works complete and balanced. Chinese calligraphy, just like many American visual arts, is based on the principle of balance and harmony, which gives the calligrapher creative freedom and reflects the artist originality and imagination.

Dr. Hong also talked about how to appreciate Chinese calligraphy. He said there are three levels when it comes to Chinese calligraphy appreciation. First, people are just attracted by how the Chinese calligraphy art works looks, without understanding the Chinese characters. Then, after they understand what the characters mean, they will be further attracted by the beauty of the literal meaning. They will reach the third level if they know more about the background of the calligrapher, his aesthetic taste and under what circumstances the art works was created.

After Chinese calligraphy demonstration, Dr. Hong also demonstrated bamboo painting. He said, "Traditional Chinese painting is actually written, not painted. Bamboo painting is actually bamboo writing. Bamboo is regarded as one of the Four Gentlemen in Chinese culture, symbolizing the qualities of true Chinese gentlemen, honesty and integrity. The painting is an expression of the painter's feelings." Dr. Hong finished the bamboo writing by brightening the art works with dots of dark ink and light ink. Inspired by the Western symphony, he combines traditional ink dots techniques with light ink dots techniques, to make the art work look vivid and harmonious.

Dr. Hong's humorous and insightful lecture was warmly received by the audience. He said, "Chinese calligraphy is an art that can make people happy. It's not only a scholarly art, but also an art of self-cultivation." The local community thought high of this lecture, saying it's the best Chinese calligraphy lecture ever. Dr. Hong also expressed many times his thanks to Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer University for this wonderful opportunity to share with the community his understanding of Chinese calligraphy.