"Calligraphy corruption" behind the investigation of the vice chairman of the Chinese Calligraphy Association
Journalist/Zhou Qunfeng
Published in the 961th issue of China News Weekly on August 24, 2020
On the morning of August 12, the Intermediate People's Court of Dezhou City, Shandong Province, through the remote video system, opened a public trial of the Zhao Changqing bribery case. Officially disclosed photos showed that Zhao Changqing, with gray hair, looked sad during the trial. Zhao Changqing pleaded guilty and repented in court, but the case was not sentenced in court.
Zhao Changqing, 67 years old, is the former secretary of the party group and former vice chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association (hereinafter referred to as "China Calligraphy Association"). The prosecutors allege: From 2006 to 2019, Zhao Changqing used the convenience of his position successively to seek benefits for others in the areas of being approved as a member of the Chinese Book Association, being elected as a director of the Book Association, and coordinating project cooperation. He received 12 people's property directly or through others The total is equivalent to more than 24.86 million yuan, which should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of bribery.
Liu Youju, chairman of the Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Artists Association and president of the Guangdong Chinese Calligraphy Court, was a member of the Creative Committee of the Chinese Calligraphy Association and had many direct contacts with Zhao Changqing. He told China News Weekly that although Zhao Changqing was the vice chairman of the Chinese Books Association at that time, he was still the secretary of the party group, and according to the system, he was actually the head of the Chinese Books Association. Liu Youju commented that Zhao didn't understand calligraphy, and he couldn't compare with experts by academics. He was able to gain the upper hand by engaging in unhealthy trends. "During Zhao Changqing's administration of the Chinese Calligraphy Association, the unhealthy trends in the Chinese calligraphy circle were pushed to the peak."
Insiders believe that in recent years, the bureaucratic atmosphere of the book associations at all levels has become stronger and the humanistic atmosphere has become less and less. After many officials joined the Calligraphy Association, bribers rushed to make "elegant bribes" by spending huge sums of money to "seeking calligraphy". Many officials who lost their horses also have "Yahao" who like calligraphy. Some of them are members of the Chinese Calligraphy Association and are called "official calligraphers" by outsiders.
How many corrupt and chaotic phenomena are hidden in the seemingly elegant and pure calligraphy world? How to prevent this kind of corruption?
Ways to Make Money
"Gray hair, gold-rimmed glasses, speak decently, like an elegant and gentle elder." This is the initial impression of many people who have been in contact with Zhao Changqing.
Zhao Changqing was born in July 1953 in Yixian, Liaoning. He has served in Heilongjiang for a long time, and has served successively as deputy secretary of the Heilongjiang League Provincial Committee, deputy minister of the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Party Committee, and secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles. In December 2005, he served as Secretary of the Party Group, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the China Book Association. In April 2014, he served as the vice chairman of the Chinese Book Association. In June 2018, he retired from his position as an advisor to the China Book Association.
According to previous reports, Zhao Changqing loved poetry and books since he was a child, and published poems, proses, and literary criticisms in provincial and national newspapers in his twenties. His four lyrics, including "Wang Dalu" and "The Flower of the Five Rings", have also won awards in the "Chinese Love" and the 2008 Beijing Olympics song selection activities.
In May 2008, the China Calligraphy Association awarded Mount Tai the title of "Famous Mountain of Chinese Calligraphy" and held a ceremony for awarding and unveiling the monument. At present, the inscription on the "Famous Mountain Stele of Chinese Calligraphy" at Tiandi Square in Tai'an City is written by Zhao Changqing.
On October 18, 2019, Zhao Changqing was invited to the Daheishan Scenic Spot in Beipiao City, Liaoning Province to collect and create. On that day, 16 calligraphers and painters led by him came here to collect the scenery and created more than 50 meters of calligraphy scrolls and dozens of calligraphy art works. At that time, the news that he was about to be investigated was rampant. Ten days later, the rumors were confirmed.
On October 28, 2019, the Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Team of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee and the Shandong Provincial Supervision Commission announced that Zhao Changqing was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and accepted the disciplinary review and supervision of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in the Central Propaganda Department The Shandong Provincial Supervision Commission supervised the investigation.
Liu Youju was a judge of the Fifth National Calligraphy Exhibition of China Calligraphy Association. He said that Zhao Changqing's more serious problem appeared at the Ninth National Calligraphy Exhibition. The National Calligraphy Exhibition is held every four years. It is also known as the "National Exhibition" in the industry. It is known as the "National Games" of the Chinese calligraphy circle and is the highest-level exhibition of works in the national calligraphy circle.
In December 2007, the 9th National Calligraphy Exhibition opened in Guangzhou. The book fair was co-organized by the Chinese Book Association and the Propaganda Department of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, and co-organized by the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Provincial Book Association. This is also the first "National Exhibition" held after Zhao Changqing took office.
Zhang Guiguang, then vice chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Book Association, once revealed to the media that in order to win the right to host, Chen Shaoji, then chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Book Association, went to Beijing to negotiate in person, and signed the exhibition contract with a deposit of more than 3 million yuan.
Liu Youju stated that the first National Exhibition in 1980 only cost 50,000 yuan, while the ninth National Exhibition cost as much as 25 million yuan. "Why is the difference so big? Where did all the money go? Why is there no supervision and review?"
Liu Youju told China News Weekly that many strange phenomena had appeared in this "National Exhibition". For example, after the exhibition is over, the collection of works published is only 10,000 copies, and the maximum amount is 600,000 yuan, but it is accounted for more than 2 million yuan; at the market price, the rent of the exhibition venue is about 900,000 yuan. , But it cost more than 3 million yuan; in addition, the total participation fee of 1.74 million yuan is also missing...
In 2015, art critic and documentary writer Zhang Gong from Gansu posted an article on the Internet, reporting Zhao Changqing under his real name. The article enumerates his 10 methods of "gathering money": packaging himself as a first-class calligrapher, selling words openly to earn money; organizing various calligraphy exhibitions and activities to make money from it; taking advantage of the opportunity of calligraphy workers to join the association and accept it. "Buy roads" to collect money; fabricate cultural industry projects to defraud local government financial investment to collect money; make clever listings for investigation activities, "blackmail" enterprises and local institutions at all levels to collect money; borrow the resources of the China Book Association to form cliques and engage in Small groups play the role of bribery brokers to accumulate wealth; the official position of the book sales association gives private owners and vested interests the opportunity to accumulate wealth.
The article also stated that Zhao Changqing has a "three-person team" in the China Book Association. They played the role of "white gloves" in Zhao Changqing's path to amassing wealth. They only approve calligraphy towns and calligraphy cities in various places and earn millions of yuan each year.
Many interviewees said that during Zhao Changqing's administration of the China Calligraphy Association, he was very keen to organize selection activities such as "Famous Mountain of Chinese Calligraphy", "Famous City of Chinese Calligraphy", and "Hometown of Chinese Calligraphy". In order to obtain these "signboards", local rulers are also willing to move closer to them. Past reports have shown that during the inspection or licensing period led by Zhao Changqing, the main city leaders and even provincial and ministerial leaders were generally accompanied by local leaders.
Zhang Gong said that Zhao Changqing's calligraphy is considered average in the industry, but after he became the leader of the Chinese Calligraphy Association, the price of one handwriting has increased dozens of times.
There were media reports that in the early years, Zhao Changqing's handwritten scrolls sold for only a few thousand yuan apiece. During the leadership of the Book Association, the price of his works soared, reaching up to 50,000 to 60,000 yuan apiece. According to a domestic auction website, Zhao Changqing sold a high price of 115,000 yuan in 2014.
Zhang Gong said that at that time he was the person in charge of the art section of a well-known portal website and received many reports about Zhao Changqing. Since then, he conducted verification investigations on a lot of reported information, including questioning a number of senior leaders of the Chinese Books Association.
He said that after the public report, Zhao Changqing found him through some famous people many times, persuaded him to delete the manuscript, and promised to publish a book for him. "In 2015, Zhao Changqing met me several times through an intermediary, saying that he wanted to meet and talk with me in person. I lived in Lanzhou, and there were officials from Gansu Province who came to me to intercede, hoping that I could delete the post, but I refused. They carried it up. I was pressured by a certain leader who had held important positions in my hometown Ningxia."
On August 11, 2015, the Lanzhou police also found Zhang Gong on the grounds that many people in Beijing reported the crime. Zhang Gong recalled that the police said that the content of the report letter was hearsay and asked him to delete the manuscript to eliminate the negative impact, "from 2 pm until 7 pm." In the end, because there was no definitive evidence, the inquiry was gone.
Coal boss is keen to be vice chairman
After Zhao Changqing was investigated, the rumor that Li Shijie, the former chairman of the Anhui Provincial Book Association, lost contact spread like wildfire. The Paper quoted the relevant person in charge of the Anhui Provincial Book Court as saying that Li Shijie has not been in Hefei since October 16, 2019 and cannot be contacted at present.
Some people in the industry sum up Li Shijie's resume with "young people in the army, middle-aged people in politics, and old age". Li Shijie was born in Suzhou, Anhui Province in 1952. He enlisted in the army at the age of 17. He participated in the self-defense and counterattack war against Vietnam and made military contributions. After his transfer, he served successively as the personnel chief, deputy manager, manager, and material director of Suzhou Fuel Company. In 1992, he served as deputy director of the Suzhou County District Commercial Bureau.
In 2003, Li Shijie was transferred to the Coal Industry Hefei Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd. (a state-owned enterprise in Anhui Province) and served as the director, vice president and party secretary of the institute. In 2009, at the fifth meeting of the fifth council of the Chinese Book Association, Li Shijie was elected as a council member of the association. Li Shijie retired in 2012 and later established the Anhui Provincial Book Court. In 2013, he was elected chairman of the Anhui Provincial Book Association and resigned in January 2019.
The accumulation of Li Shijie's wealth is closely related to the coal field. According to Tianyan Check, Li Shijie is the legal representative of 14 companies including Anhui Materials and Energy Co., Ltd., and his business scope covers coal, steel, building materials, painting and calligraphy and mounting.
There are many intersections between Li Shijie and Zhao Changqing. In May 2009, the fifth meeting of the fifth session of the Chinese Book Association was held in Hefei. Zhao Changqing was the then secretary of the party group and vice chairman of the resident committee. Li Shijie was added to the fifth session of the board of directors of the Chinese Book Association. Director of the 7th Chinese Book Association, attended many events with Zhao Changqing.
On November 5, 2017, Cao Baolin, a well-known calligrapher and professor of Jinan University, publicly reported Li Shijie's involvement in bribery elections. Cao Baolin said that Li Shijie was not on the list of candidates for the vice chairman in the 2010 election of the sixth Chinese Calligraphy Association. Half of the people added his name to the ballot and voted, "If each bribe is 100,000 yuan, 250 A representative means that he has spent 25 million yuan."
Subsequently, Li Shijie sued Cao Baolin to the court for alleged defamation. In January 2019, the Yongqiao District Court of Suzhou, Anhui Province published the "Criminal Mediation Document of Cao Baolin's Defamation of the First Instance". The two parties have reached a mediation agreement and Li Shijie withdrew the lawsuit.
In March 2019, Cao Baolin issued a statement stating: "I have never believed that the alleged election bribery is false, but as a civilian, it is difficult for me to calmly present evidence as to whether the amount of bribery is 25 million yuan."
Liu Youju told China News Weekly that Li Shijie used to be a coal boss in his early years, and later became a department-level cadre. He then canvassed votes all the way to become a member of the Chinese Book Association. "His calligraphy is not called calligraphy, but the veteran cadre style. Before he became a director of the Chinese Calligraphy Association, he competed for the position of vice chairman. Although he did not succeed in the election, he got very high votes."
Liu Youju said that at the time there were widespread rumors in the industry that during that general election, Li Shijie was running for the post of vice chairman of the Chinese Book Association and bribed Zhao Changqing a huge amount.
The Chinese Calligraphy Building in Hefei is also believed to have the shadows of Li Shijie and Zhao Changqing. An article titled "The Creator of Chinese Calligraphy Building-Li Shijie" introduced that the building was constructed by the Anhui Provincial Calligraphy Court with Li Shijie as its president, and was built nationwide with the approval of the Chinese Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the approval of the Chinese Calligraphy Association. The first comprehensive and high-level calligraphy research base. The Chinese Calligraphy Building has 23 floors above ground and 2 floors underground, with a total height of 113.8 meters.
On December 28, 2013, the China Calligraphy Building held a groundbreaking ceremony. Zhao Changqing and other leaders of the Chinese Calligraphy Association attended the ceremony.
In addition, the building was also questioned by the industry as a star hotel. According to the official website of the building, there are 340 guest rooms and 574 beds on the 7th to 23rd floors. The wellness center is located on the 5th floor of the building, with a gym, swimming pool, yoga room, etc., with a total area of 1,600 square meters, and the SPA (that is, hydrotherapy) is located on the 6th floor of the building.
Book Society Chaos
On January 1, 2011, Liu You Bureau submitted a letter to the Presidium of the Chinese Books Association to withdraw from the Chinese Books Association. He bluntly said that the China Book Association has forgotten its original intention.
Liu Youju stated that he joined the Chinese Book Association in the early 1980s. At that time, the atmosphere was very righteous. He had close contacts with Shu Tong and Qi Gong, who were former chairman of the Chinese Calligraphy Association. "I often went to Qi Gong's home as a guest, and the topics I talked about were all about art. People of that generation had sentiments and were willing to work hard on their calligraphy skills."
He believes that since about the early 1990s, the Chinese Book Association began to change its taste. At that time, calligraphy associations at all levels began to pursue economic interests. After some people joined the calligraphy association, because they did not have the foundation of traditional calligraphy, the so-called "popular calligraphy style" emerged.
Liu Youju said that this so-called new form of calligraphy, called innovation, is actually dominated by clumsy, ugly, crude and crazy, and is a collective manifestation of utilitarianism. "Art innovation" must have a sufficient theoretical basis. It does not mean that crooking your head and brain is innovation. At that time, some people who did not understand calligraphy had no basic skills in traditional culture, so it was easy to write popular calligraphy and fish in troubled waters. unhealthy trend".
Liu Youju said that the fundamental reason why someone squeezed their heads and wanted to be elected as the leader of the book association at all levels is still profitable. It turned out that a square foot is only two thousand yuan, but after becoming the leader of the book association, it can rise to tens of thousands of yuan.
He said, even more so, organize the so-called "National Exhibition Crash Course" to teach calligraphy fans who are keen to win prizes at the "National Exhibition", and earn high tuition fees. In fact, the teaching staff spends money to find relationships and build a network of relationships. "It's not so much about teaching, it's about teaching students how to speculate."
Liu Youju said that over the years, the China Book Association has also set up many professional committees. According to the official website of the Chinese Books Association: The Chinese Books Association currently has 40 group members and more than 15,000 individual members. It has 13 committees including the Academic Committee, the Seal Script Committee, the Official Script Committee, and the Regular Script Committee. Liu Youjun believes that some professional committees have been cultivated as "tribute" committees, and adding a committee is to increase the opportunity to divide interests.
In the local book associations, there are more and more "book officials" such as honorary chairman and vice chairman. Liu Youju said that at the beginning of the establishment of the Chinese Book Association, the number of vice-chairmen of the provincial book associations was generally two or three, with a maximum of three or five. Now many vice-chairmen of the provincial book associations have a large number of them.
Many insiders said that a certain Southern Provincial Book Association once publicly peddled the position of vice chairman. "A 50,000 yuan each can only be bought with a connection. Later, it caused a lot of criticism and was stopped."
On January 23, 2013, the official website of the Shaanxi Provincial Calligraphers Association announced the members of the new presidium. There are as many as 62 elected leaders. Except for one chairman, the number of other positions is ridiculously large. There are 11 honorary chairman, 16 executive vice chairman, 18 vice chairman, 6 consultants, and 10 deputy secretary-generals. On the day of the general election, 242 representatives of the calligraphy circle of Shaanxi Province attended. According to this calculation, one in less than four people likes to pick the “official hat” of the association. In addition, there are many officials in this election.
In November 2014, after the Central Inspection Team visited Shaanxi, it mentioned the excessive participation of Shaanxi leading cadres in painting and calligraphy activities in their feedback. That month, the Shaanxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Party Committee, the Organization Department of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Supervision Department, and the Provincial Civil Affairs Department convened a joint meeting to put forward rectification opinions and require all cadres above the deputy department level to withdraw from the association. On November 25 of the same year, the Shaanxi Civil Organization Administration issued a document on the removal of relevant leading cadres in the association. Since then, a total of 8 cadres at or above the deputy department level have resigned from their leading positions in the Shaanxi Provincial Book Association.
A member of the provincial book association told China News Weekly that the leaders of the book associations in many places were also eager for party and government leaders to join the association and recommended them to become leaders of the association. The work level of these leading cadres is of secondary importance. With the entry of leading cadres, the influence of the association can be improved. When associations carry out activities, they can also use their power and connections to facilitate fundraising. In addition, some people joined the book association to get into the circle of friends of officials. The book association is considered a fast channel to reach the powerful.
Some insiders interviewed revealed that some calligraphers and calligraphers who hold the power of the association, although they have already become rich, they have made a name for themselves through the so-called public welfare. "Some people give a piece of work to certain entrepreneurs who donate to charitable causes. If the entrepreneur donates one million yuan, the calligrapher and painter will say that his work has sold for one million yuan, and then take a photo with the donor , And then self-packaged in major media."
"Deofficialization" is imperative
In recent years, many "official calligraphers" have been investigated. For example: Wei Chuanzhong, former deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, Chen Shaoji, former chairman of the Guangdong Provincial CPPCC, Jin Suidong, former vice chairman of the Henan Provincial CPPCC, and Wang Youjie, former secretary of the Zhengzhou Municipal Party Committee, have all fallen officials who like calligraphy. Many people He is also a member of the Chinese Book Association. The reasons for their fall also involve the field of calligraphy. After they fell, the prices of their works plummeted because they lost the meaning of "elegant bribery".
Li Dalun, the former Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee of Chenzhou, Hunan Province, published the "Collection of Dalun Calligraphy Works" when he was in office. The price was as high as 418 yuan. In just a few years, he made more than 30 million yuan from selling this book. After his fall, no one paid attention to the collection.
Wang Youjie, former member of the Henan Provincial Party Committee and former secretary of the Zhengzhou Municipal Party Committee, held a personal calligraphy exhibition at the Henan Provincial Museum and published "Wang Youjie Calligraphy Collection". According to industry estimates, his market price was 2,000 yuan per square foot. On January 19, 2007, Wang Youjie was sentenced to death by the Jingzhou Intermediate People's Court and suspended for two years for the crime of accepting bribes and a huge amount of property from unknown sources. In October 2012, a auction house sold a calligraphy work by Wang Youjie through the Internet. The starting price was 30 yuan. There was no bidding online for three days, so the auction was unsuccessful.
Liu Youju said that the various chaos in the calligraphy world shows that the prevention of corruption in this field is still relatively weak.
He believes that the Calligraphy Association is both an academic institution and an official institution, so this complexity brings some undefined aspects to anti-corruption. The Chinese Calligraphy Association is a main hall unit. According to relevant regulations, they cannot use their influence for personal gain, but they cannot sell their own calligraphy works. This makes the anti-corruption industry unique and concealed. Liu Youju said, “Now it is very necessary to transfer all levels of book associations from government to private.”
After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, as the anti-corruption deepened, the anti-corruption in the literary and artistic circles also attracted attention. On October 15, 2014, at a symposium on literature and art work, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President of the State, pointed out: "Artists should not be slaves to powerful and powerful. Critics do not lead the market and guide consumption, but become market drivers and money. Slave."
On January 16, 2015, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection published a speech by the then Secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection Wang Qishan. Wang Qishan said that some leading cadres didn't write well in regular script, they went straight to the grass, and even dared to mount them as gifts. Now some cadres have played it before, and they have lost their breath, forgetting the relationship between the ruling party and the people.
On December 2, 2014, People's Daily published an article by Zhou Yibo, then chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Book Association. The article criticized some leading cadres for squeezing into the art association as "leaders", collecting money justifiably, and acquiescing to "elegant bribes". Some people's works were inferior, but they sold very well. In fact, they used the guise of the association's leadership to fill their own pockets. Zhou Zhoubo is still writing, persuading leading party and government cadres to voluntarily withdraw from the presidium of the association.
Some commentators believe that behind the many chaos, the manual organization urgently needs reform. The Chinese book associations at all levels have a history of more than 30 years, and the disadvantages are very obvious. A new round of reform in China has sounded. To incorporate the development of calligraphy into a scientific system, reform is necessary and there is no choice.
China News Weekly, Issue 31, 2020
Statement: The publication of "China News Weekly" manuscript is authorized in writing