Lin Sanzhi Art Museum

　　Lin Sanzhi (1898–1989), whose given name was Yilin, courtesy name Sanzhi, and sobriquets included Sanchi, Zu’er, and Jiangshang Laoren, among others. He was from Wujiang Town, He County, Anhui Province, but was born in Jiangpu, Jiangsu. In the early years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Lin Sanzhi was elected as a representative to the First People’s Congress of Anhui Province. He served as Deputy Director of the Farmland Committee of Jiangpu County (then part of Anhui, now renamed Pukou District) and as Vice County Magistrate of Jiangpu County. In the early 1960s, he joined the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Painting as a full-time painter. He was later appointed as a first-class artist of the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Painting and Honorary Chairman of the Jiangsu Calligraphers Association. In 1972, he rose to fame during the Sino-Japanese calligraphy exchange selection, with figures such as Zhao Puchu and Qi Gong praising his poetry, calligraphy, and painting as the “three perfections of the contemporary age.” He passed away due to illness on December 6, 1989, at the age of 90.

　　Lin Sanzhi is a classic example of someone who achieved greatness late in life. Precisely because his fame came relatively late, decades of diligent study by lamplight nurtured the spirit, charm, intent, and appeal of his calligraphy, allowing it to reach an extraordinarily sublime realm. It is also because his calligraphy possesses such a transcendent quality and profound, enduring charm that those in the calligraphy world find themselves gaining more insight, appreciation, and depth of feeling the longer they study it. His contribution to the modern Chinese calligraphy art scene can truly be described as “immeasurable.” To commemorate this outstanding contemporary master of calligraphy, poetry, and painting, a memorial hall and art museum were established in his honor.

　　Lin Sanzhi’s father, Lin Chengzhang, was a naturally kind-hearted scholar with no interest in fame, and his personality and erudition had a direct genetic and influential impact on Lin Sanzhi. From the age of three, Lin Sanzhi enjoyed drawing and painting; by five, he could sketch objects from life; and by six, he entered a private school to study. From then until the age of thirteen, over the course of seven years, he completed studies of the Hundred Family Surnames, Thousand Character Classic, Confucian and Mencian classics, as well as the Zuo Commentary, Guwen Guanzhi, Book of Songs, Mao Poetry, and Tang poetry. He also practiced essay writing, couplet composition, and poetry. For calligraphy, he started with tracing characters, then moved on to copying famous steles by Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan. By the age of twelve, he was already capable of writing Spring Festival couplets for neighbors. In his spare time, he sketched from life or traced figures from illustrated editions of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin, demonstrating boldness and rich imagination. Because of his mischievous nature, he was involved in many amusing childhood anecdotes.

　　To commemorate this outstanding contemporary master of calligraphy, poetry, and painting, and with the approval of the General Office of the State Council, it was decided to establish the Lin Sanzhi Art Museum. The museum was completed on October 15, 1991, in the Caishi Scenic Area of Ma’anshan, fulfilling the master’s wish to have his final resting place “neighbor to Li Bai.”

　　The Lin Sanzhi Art Museum is an exhibition venue for the works of Mr. Lin Sanzhi, a master of Chinese cursive script and honored as the “Sage of Cursive Script” of the contemporary era. Mr. Lin Sanzhi was originally from Wujiang Town, He County, Anhui Province, and had a lifelong love for mountains and forests. In his early years, he benefited from the guidance of the painting and calligraphy master Huang Binhong. Whenever he encountered beautiful natural landscapes, he would climb, compose poetry, and sketch them, producing over 800 landscape sketches and more than 200 poems. He excelled especially in calligraphy. He began creating wild cursive script at the age of sixty, yet his skill and strength were profound, achieving a natural and miraculous quality that earned him fame both domestically and abroad, and the reputation of a master of his generation. During his lifetime, he sang in praise of Caishi more than ten times, expressing admiration for the sages of old, and he often expressed the wish to “rest in eternity neighbor to Li Bai.” Therefore, after his passing, the city of Ma’anshan established this museum within Caishi Park to fulfill his desire.

　　The Lin Sanzhi Art Museum is located in Wanzhuwu within the Caishi Ji Scenic Area of Ma’anshan City, adjacent to the Li Bai Memorial Hall. The museum is designed in a garden style, covering an area of 3,800 square meters. In the lush green courtyard, the main hall, auxiliary hall, and academic hall—three antique-style buildings with thatched roofs, white walls, and red windows—are arranged in a well-spaced and harmonious layout. The main hall is named “Jiangshang Caotang” (Riverbank Thatched Cottage), housing over 100 representative works from various periods of Mr. Lin’s life, most of which are fine examples of cursive script. The sketches and manuscript poems he created during his lifetime are preserved in the auxiliary hall. Notably, in the courtyard stand several prehistoric tree fossils—petrified wood—standing silently, basking in the spring sunlight alongside azaleas and sharing the winter snow with green bamboo. Considering that in his later years, Mr. Lin referred to himself as “Sanmu” (Scattered Wood) in his autobiography, yet scattered wood is immortal, one can glimpse the ingenuity of the designers of this art museum.