First, an artist. A champion of theoretical study, a proponent of folk art, a professional painter and calligrapher. Behind it is an old gentleman, Zhang Daoyi, who has always emphasized on viewing art with a humanistic eye, on the observation of real life, and on the innovation of art. In early days, he relied on his new-year paintings, caricatures, woodcarvings and paper-cut to earn his living, while dabbling in dyeing, weaving, earthenware, wood working and knotting. And twenty years ago, his Thoughts on Folk Arts, an article, stirred. He has committed his life to the collection and research of folk art activities, which he proposed to be elevated as a branch of learning.

Then, a professor. Not only did he take art as his life-long pursuit, he also devoted himself to the art education in China. For over a decade he taught in Southeast University in Nanjing, and assumed responsibility as the head of the College of Art, Suzhou University after retirement. Mr. Zhang life truly echoed the old Chinese saying “peaches and plums do not have to talk, yet the world beats them a path”, among his students, are PhD advisers and many notabilities. They appreciated Mr. Zhang’s strict teaching attitude, profound knowledge, rigorous style, and integrity their whole life.

And, a person. It is a belief Mr. Zhang has held from the beginning to end, that uprightness and fullness are the essence of life; dishonest practices should be avoided, and if you have decided to do something, do it well or not at all. The rise of a nation is based on the good will of every citizen, and vise versa. “Many are the gone days, precious are the coming. Oldness secretly invades when I am shedding tears on what I have lost. As a man of academic, I have to suppress my sensibility and to think with sense.” As he said in his book My Artistic Road. Till now, I could hardly tell optimism from pessimism, and have almost forgotten my age. One would return to earth anyway, but the baton of civilization should be passed on. I hope, then, the young generation can seize the time, and do more practice.”

Early Years

Zhang Daoyi, alias Yidao, was born in Qidong (now Zouping County, Binzhou City), Shandong in 1932, when China was occupied in the fighting against Japanese. Chaotic as the time was, he fortunately had the opportunity to study and to immerse himself in folk arts, which laid the foundation of his later career.

Not long before the founding of New China, Mr. Zhang ferried to Jinan and continued his art study, where he had several chances to act as extras for some shows, The White-Haired Girl, for example. Then he went to Qingdao and became a professional in art. He acquainted with and studied from Chen Zhifu, an artist of crafts and Chinese painting, and later, got instruction from another—Pang Xun. Mr. What he had learned from these two masters, as is often said by Mr. Zhang, lay a solid foundation for his future.