Ｓａｇｅ　Ｃａｌｌｉｇｒａｐｈｅｒ　Ｆｅｓｔｉｖａｌ：Ｌｉｎｙｉ’ｓ　Ｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌ　Ｃａｌｌｉｎ.docVIP

Ｓａｇｅ　Ｃａｌｌｉｇｒａｐｈｅｒ　Ｆｅｓｔｉｖａｌ：Ｌｉｎｙｉ’ｓ　Ｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌ　Ｃａｌｌｉｎ 　　THE Sixth Sage Calligrapher Cultural Festival will be held this September in Shandong’s Linyi. “The festival is Linyi’s cultural calling card presented to the world,”says Zhang Shaojun, mayor of Linyi City and deputy secretary of the CPC Linyi municipal committee. 　　Linyi began holding the festival in 2003, and has since successfully staged the event five times. As well as enhancing the city’s fame, the festival has promoted economic and trade activity. 　　Creating a Calligraphy City 　　 　　In ancient times Linyi was known as Langya Prefecture. Its history can be traced back 2,400 years and historically it has produced many famous figures, such as Wang Xizhi (303-361), known as the “sage calligrapher”; Zhuge Liang (181-234), a great strategist and statesman of the Three Kingdoms Period; and Liu Hong (c. 129-210), a prominent mathematician of the late Eastern Han Dynasty who developed the abacus. 　　 “Wang Xizhi is a typical representative of Linyi’s history and culture, and a name closely identified with the town,” says Zhang Shaojun. “The Sage Calligrapher Cultural Festival has been an important step in making Linyi a famous cultural city in contemporary times.” 　　Wang Xizhi is a household name in China. During the Jin Dynasty he served in the court as the Right General. His calligraphy is in a strong and bold style, and over the centuries he became revered by different dynasties as the “sage calligrapher.” His calligraphic work Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection is known as the “number one calligraphy under heaven.” In downtown Linyi the pond where he washed his ink slabs and the stone terrace where he aired his books in the sun are both well preserved. 　　In 2003, Linyi adopted the cultural brand name, “hometown of the sage calligrapher.” In 2006, the town’s Sage Calligrapher Cultural Festival was chosen from 4,400 festivals across China as one of the ten with the greatest potential, and one of the to