One of the pleasures of being a new author is hearing that one’s book is being read in other places. It is so warming to receive a photo of Master Tek Wah Eng, Tiger Claw teacher and calligrapher, with a copy of the book. Acupuncturist Amy Yam, a student in the Philippines, also sent me her photo (below); so did Myles Dunlop. Shaolin and Tai chi teacher in UK and Aishuan Wang in Taiwan.
I did not know much about the art until I saw his work and did a little research into the zen circle. I remember seeing many years ago one version of the Buddhist or Taoist Ox-herding pictures that showed a circle. There are also samples of the enso (drawn by monks and samurai) in the book “The Art of the Budo” compiled by John Stevens. Was Giotto also required to practice it when he was a studying with his master? The enso is a symbol of emptiness, infinity, sunyatta, completion and perfection, sun and moon, nothing, zero.
I cannot say I could almost feel how the enso was drawn by Sifu Eng, the way he loaded the ink on the brush and pressed against a piece of rice paper drawing the circle until the ink began to diminish as the circle closed. I really am not sure if I could intuit his emotion although it is said that one could “read” the state of mind of the calligrapher from his writing. Did he go clockwise or counterclockwise? How much pressure was applied at each point in the circle? Did he do it in one breath? When I was learning calligraphy, I began with the character Yong or forever/eternity. It is supposed to teach the 8 different strokes of the brush. I have not done the exercise since I returned from teaching English in China 12 years ago. It’s kind of cumbersome and messy — preparing the ink and cleaning the brush — and without a teacher there’s nobody to critique my work or my progress.
There’s more about the enso online. Here is one of them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enso
Here are the Ox-herding pictures. At the end the enso appears. Enlightenment, infinity, everything, sunyatta, emptiness, zero, nothing,