

YU MINGQUAN 于明诠

qca_info@qualiagallery.com www.qualiagallery.com

BIOGRAPHY
YU MINGQUAN 于明诠
b. 1963 in Leling, China; Lives and works in Shandong, China
Yu Mingquan, with alternate signature Yu Shihu Deng, is a professor and graduate advisor at Shandong University of the Arts, and chief expert of key disciplines in Shandong provincial universities. He serves as a member of the Cursive Script Committee of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, a researcher at the Chinese Calligraphy Institute of the China National Academy of Arts, a member of the Canglang Calligraphy Society, and a distinguished professor at several universities including Nanjing Normal University, Yunnan Normal University, and Hubei Normal University.
Since 1991, his calligraphy and seal carving works have been featured in national exhibitions and have received multiple awards. He has published numerous essays on calligraphy and poetry. In 1999, he participated in the National Symposium for One Hundred Outstanding Young Artists to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, where he was awarded the title of “National Outstanding Young Artist” by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles
His publications include Between Is and Is Not, What I Care About Is That Little Bit of Fun in Calligraphy, Ten Lectures on the Aesthetics and Practice of Epitaph Calligraphy, Looking with Eyes Closed, Where and What is Calligraphy, Complete Works of Chinese Calligraphy: Huang Binhong, Lin Sanzhi, Tao Bowu, Calligraphy and Seal Carving Tutorial, Regular Script Tutorial, Selected Works from the Studio of Frequent Dreams, Self-Righteous, Ink Writing New Literature: Yu Mingquan Calligraphy Collection, Chinese Ceramic Seals: Yu Mingquan Volume, Contemporary Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Series: Yu Mingquan, Trying Wine in a Single Garment: Selected Poems of Yu Mingquan, Chinese Contemporary Masters Painting Collection: Yu Mingquan, and the English poetry collection One Fish, Two Fishes, among others.
In 2015 and 2016, he was twice invited to speak at the Xu Zhimo Poetry and Art Festival at King’s College, University of Cambridge. On New Year’s Day 2016, his long poem Groaning in Dots and Strokes was adapted into a poetic drama and staged at the Guangzhou New Year Poetry Gala.

Ink on xuan paper
44 x 148.6 cm | 17.25 x 58.5 in

Framed: 57.8 x 162.6 cm | 22.75 x 64 in
Poem by Yu Mingquan (屈原 Qu Yuan), 2025

屈原 Qu Yuan
Poem by Yu Mingquan
总是匆匆地行走 我不是说你的双脚 我是说你的心
总是在苦苦地吟唱 我不是说你的喉咙 我是说你的眼泪
前面是茫茫的雾霾 雾霾封锁着寒冷的江水 有路你不走
有船你不坐
你的选择就是抛弃任何选择 芦苇和水草
为你穿一身素白
鱼和水鸟 为你裹一袭黑纱 默默地向五月致敬
向端端正正的五月致敬 人们划着龙舟 涌向五月最深处
凭吊一根宁折不弯的骨头 你站在五月端午的开端 一动不动,捻着
倔强的胡须 问天
旧作《屈原》
Qu Yuan
You are always walking in haste— I don’t mean your feet, I mean your heart. Always singing in pain— I don’t mean your throat, I mean your tears. Ahead, a vast smog— a haze sealing off the cold river. There is a path, yet you don’t take it. There is a boat, yet you don’t board. Your choice is to abandon all choices. Reeds and water grass dress you in plain white. Fish and waterbirds wrap you in a veil of black. Silently, you salute May, salute the solemn, upright May. People row dragon boats, rushing to the deepest part of May, to honor a spine that would rather break than bend. You stand at the threshold of May, motionless, twisting your stubborn beard, questioning the heavens.


Detail: Poem by Yu Mingquan (屈原 Qu Yuan), 2025


Vast and luminous, free of all dust, 2025
Ink on xuan paper


魯迅徬徨老舍 Lu Xun, Wandering, Lao She (right)
巴金寒夜冰心 Ba Jin, Cold Nights, Bing Xin (left), 2025
Ink on xuan paper
54.5 x 27 in | 138.4 x 50.8 cm
Framed: 61.5 x 38.5 in |156.2 x 97.8 cm


Xue Pinggui’s Arias from the Peking Opera Wu Jiapo, 2025
Ink on xuan paper
35.5 x 25.5 cm | 14 x 10 in
Framed: 54.6 x 40.6 cm | 21.5 x 16 in