Cao Hongliang

Cao Hongliang, styled Liangzi and known by the art name Moyuan, was born in September 1977 in Wulishan, Qiyang, Yongzhou, Hunan. Coming from a humble background, he developed a deep passion for calligraphy since childhood. Due to the limitations of his early circumstances, he had no access to formal teachers or proper conditions for practicing calligraphy; instead, he taught himself through relentless self-study. He imitated books and model scripts, and lacking rice paper, he used locally available materials—writing with ink on banana leaves. When the banana leaves withered in winter, he practiced “with sand as paper and sticks as brushes” along the riverbank. Precisely because he never formally apprenticed under any particular school, he absorbed the strengths of many styles and eventually developed a unique personal calligraphic style. In 2010, after years of dedicated research, he successfully created Cream Calligraphy, a first-of-its-kind innovation in China, blending the sweetness of cream with the vigorous brushwork of traditional calligraphy, allowing viewers to experience artistic enrichment while savoring culinary delight—an astonishing fusion. Thanks to the kindness of Hunan TV reporters, I had the honor of presenting my Cream Calligraphy work, “Bǐ Zǒu Lóng Shé,” on television, which attracted widespread attention. In recent years, I have also combined calligraphy with contemporary fashion trends, creating works such as “Yongzhou People—Fu,” which have become immensely popular among young people.