Couplet Art might sound unfamiliar to some people. Therefore, we will reveal and take a look at what’s interesting about this art.
A couplet is a pair of lines in poetry that usually has set tones in it. It is usually incorporates with Chinese calligraphy that is written out using brush and ink. Those compositions combine the beauty of written words with an aesthetic visual of an artwork.
This is an example of the couplet art. It was created by an Indonesian-Chinese Calligrapher, Hidajat Purnama (born circa 1941). Alongside being a businessman, Hidajat Purnama or Fang Fu Jie (方福捷) is a poet & calligrapher. The couplet (讀書 寫字種花草, 聽雨觀雲品酒茶。) have been quite popular in the calligraphy community since 2022. “It represents the writer’s daily life in his retirement age. It is a humble expression yet deep with philosophical reflections that resonate with many other poets or calligraphers. Hence, it’s frequent use as a calligraphy material,” said Rin Fang, Purnama’s daughter.
At first, some people in the community couldn’t find the original writer of the poetry. Then, there was speculating information about the wonderful couplet art by Mr. Hidajat Purnama. Some of them (in the community) were mistakenly thought that it was written by ancient poets from either the Song or Tang Dynasty.
The writer found out that his couplet widely used when he saw his couplet was rewritten by his friend on Facebook who is also a calligraphy enthusiast. Then, he also found it appeared on other platforms such as YouTube and shared videos.
He began to search for his own poetry on Google and the results showed that his couplets were being shared and became topics. It is beyond what he expected. “We were so happy and entertained to know that his couplet got accepted and used as material by Mandarin Calligraphers in another country. And, it’s such an honor for him as a writer from Indonesia.” said Rin Fang.
Hidajat Purnama had been interested in classical Chinese literature since he was young. His daughter, Rin Fang revealed that her father also likes to write poems & prose. Mr. Purnama likes to share his artwork starting on a local daily. As a writer, He also participated in international-scale calligraphy events, became the Chairman of the Association of Calligraphy and Chinese Painting in Semarang, and has received multiple awards locally and internationally.
For him, as a writer of couplets, the aesthetic of writing a couplet is not only putting down deep-meaning words, but it has to be written paired. “Every word on a couplet should have the same components on the right and the left line. If the first word on the left line is a verb, then the first word on the right line should be a verb as well. Then the number of words and adjectives of the sentences should be the same, but the tone should be different from one another,” explained his daughter, Rin Fang. There are some regulations on writing a couplet that require art and extensive vocabulary knowledge. However, this is the reason of Mr. Purnama got interested in making couplets.
Currently, Mr. Purnama has been enjoying his retirement with a simple life. He still shares his couplet works but only on his personal Facebook account.