Liang Naiyu

Liang Naiyu (February 13, 1927 – July 11, 2001), also known by his courtesy name Huanwo and the sobriquet Yigulouzhu, was born in Liangcuo Village, Yongnan Li, Minhou County, Fujian Province. He migrated to Taiwan in 1946 and became known as a scholar, painter, seal engraver, and educator.
==Life==
Liang Naiyu grew up in a wealthy family, which afforded him the opportunity to peruse the collections of famous calligraphers and painters, as well as ancient texts, held within his family's possession. At the age of seven, he began studying classical Chinese and arithmetic under the tutelage of Mr. Lin Deyu and Mr. Huang Yuexie.
Raised in Fuzhou, a city known for its abundant production of Shoushan stone and flourishing art scene, Liang's interest in arts such as calligraphy and seal engraving was sparked. He was particularly influenced by the modern calligrapher and seal engraver Mr. Chen Zifen.
At the age of eleven, as the Second Sino-Japanese War commenced, Liang found himself both migrating with his school and creating anti-Japanese posters, cartoons, and patriotic slogans. He graduated from Fujian Provincial Secondary School in 1945 and entered his first year of university in 1946. However, in June of the same year, he moved to Taiwan and discontinued his studies. He began working in the Statistical Office of the Office of the Governor-General, later holding various positions in several government agencies until his retirement from the Accounting Office of the Taipei City Government's New Construction Engineering Department in 1989. Despite his professional obligations, Liang continued to pursue his studies and creations in calligraphy, painting, and seal engraving.
==Artistic Creation==
Liang Naiyu is regarded as one of the contemporary masters of seal engraving in Taiwan, with his works in seal engraving, both in quality and quantity, being appreciated by people both locally and internationally. After arriving in Taiwan, he joined the "Taiwan Seal Carving Academic Society" founded by Dai Shoukan and later organized the "Haijiao Seal Collection" with fellow enthusiasts. In 1975, he co-founded the "Seal Carving Academic Society of the Republic of China" with like-minded individuals, contributing to the exchange of ideas in the field. He also pioneered the incorporation of oracle bone script into seal engraving, making him the most prolific creator of oracle bone script seals among post-war seal engravers who migrated to Taiwan.
Apart from his expertise in seal engraving, Liang Naiyu also demonstrated his talents in other fields such as painting, calligraphy, art design, and comics, although his reputation as a seal engraver overshadowed his achievements in these areas. In painting, he aspired to become an artist from a young age and was influenced by Chen Zifen. After coming to Taiwan, he interacted with Dai Shoukan and Li Lingjia, among others, actively participating in the "Dongye Art Collection" (later known as the "Bamin Art Association"). In art design, during the 1950s to 1980s, he undertook part-time work in designing movie posters, advertisements, logos, stamps, and other artworks during his free time. As there were no computer tools available at the time, all designs were hand-drawn, resulting in few surviving works. In calligraphy, he learned from Gao Baishi. In comics, since his tenure at the American Security Office in 1952, he and his comic artist colleague Niu Ge (Li Jingguang) advocated for using comics to expose social ills and issues, reaching the peak of his comic creation period around the 1960s. Works such as "Records of Everyday Life," "New Records of Everyday Life," "Believe It or Not," "Looking Through the Mirror," "News Cartoons," and "Confucius Series" were published in the "Weekend Comics" and "Weekly Comics" of the Taiwan Shin Sheng Daily News, as well as in the "Weekly Illustrated" of the Independence Evening Post. Due to his solid skills in realistic drawing and his profound knowledge of traditional Chinese culture, his comics exhibited a unique personal style. At that time, original comic manuscripts were often handed over to the publishing house after completion, and neither the comic artists nor the publishers kept the original manuscripts. Liang Naiyu's students organized his works and remaining manuscripts after his passing, discovering nearly 300 comic clippings. These were compiled and exhibited in a special issue printed by the National Museum of History from November 26th to December 26th, 2004.
Liang Nai-yu began his educational endeavors in the art of seal engraving in 1973. He initially took in several students from National Taiwan Academy of Arts and National Chengchi University as his apprentices, while also being engaged by various private art classes and associations. In 1987, he was appointed to the Department of Fine Arts at the National Art School (later known as the National Taiwan University of Arts), where he served until 1998, when he resigned due to health reasons.
Category:1927 births
Category:2001 deaths
Category:Painters
Category:Engravers
Category:Educators