Chen Qi (陳淇; 8 March 1912 – 2000), who styled himself as "Cangquan" (滄泉）and "Yuquanshanren"（玉泉山人), was a Chinese modern-day collector of art and antiquities. Chen Qi was born in

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

on 8 March 1912, in a merchant family. He was well educated in the traditional culture. Under the tutelage of his grandfather, Chen Qi studied texts such as "Three Character Classic", "Thousand Poems", "Book of Filial Piety", and

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

classics. He also studied Tang Kai (one of the Chinese traditional calligraphy scripts originated from the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

) as daily

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

class. In 1932, Chen Qi went to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and was enrolled in the famous

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

, a military school founded in 1868. Imperial Japanese Army Academy was committed to Militaristic Spiritual Education and had successfully trained a large number of senior generals, who participated in the war of aggression against China later on. Many famous modern Chinese generals also graduated from Imperial Japanese Army Academy, such as

Cai E Cai E (; 18 December 1882 – 8 November 1916) was a Chinese revolutionary leader and general. He was born Cai Genyin () in Shaoyang, Hunan, and his courtesy name was Songpo (). Cai eventually became an influential warlord in Yunnan (Yunnan ...

, Ying Heqin, Li Rujiong,

Tang Enbo Tang Enbo (, birth name was ,(1898–1954) was a Kuomintang, Nationalist general in the Republic of China. Life Early life and war with Japan Born in 1898 in Wuyi, Zhejiang, Tang Enbo was a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, an ...

, etc. When Chen Qi was in Japan, he met his wife, Qiuben Jiumeizi, who moved to China and changed her name to Lin Yachun. While in Japan, Chen Qi also got to know Chinese painter,

Fu Baoshi Fu Baoshi (), or Fu Pao-Shih, (1904-1965) was a Chinese painter from Xinyu, Jiangxi Province. He went to Japan to study the History of Oriental Art in the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1933. He translated many books from Japanese and carried out his ...

. He was holding his the first exhibition in the country at the time. Since both men were staying in the foreign country, they became friends right away. In June 1935, Fu Baoshi went back to China due to his mother's serious illness. Two months later, Chen Qi returned to China as well and was invited by Fu Baoshi to visit

Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...

, where Fu held his first personal exhibition in China. Chen Qi died in 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qi, Chen 1912 births 2000 deaths Chinese art collectors