Ma Shouhua

CHINA, Anhui, Bozhou

Ma Shouhua was a calligrapher, painter, art educator, and judicial expert. He was skilled in landscape painting, especially in drawing bamboos, and his finger painting style was unrivaled. Ma’s works in regular and running script calligraphy display a smooth and refined expression.
He began his law career as a prosecutor in the Henan Provincial High Prosecutors Office in Kaifeng. Thirty years later, in 1947, he moved to Taiwan where he served as commissioner of the Taiwan Provincial Government. He served several positions in the national government, including serving as the chairman for both the China Art Association and the Association of Chinese Calligraphy in Taiwan. His artistic works were influential in not only Taiwan and China, but extended as far as Japan, where he eventually acted as an advisor for the Japanese Calligraphy Education Union, as well as honorary president of the Japanese Calligraphy Federation.
Ma authored several books on both legal studies and Chinese art. He was also known to be enthusiastic about promoting Buddhism, and his calligraphic work includes Poem by Jingjie, which is engraved on the Stele Wall at Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.