Shu Shi's Poem: "Sand of Silk-washing Stream"
In the brook below the hill there drowns the orchid bud;
The sandy path between pine-trees shows not a trace of mud.
Shower by shower falls the rain while cuckoos sing.
Why says an old man can't return once more unto his spring?
Before Clear Fountain's temple the water still flows west.
Why can't the cock still crow at dawn though with a snow-white crest?

What is calligraphy? Congealed traces of ink on paper that attract the readerÕs glance and invite him to follow, stroke by stroke, the cryptic path of movement drawn by a brush many years ago. Imperceptibly, as the eye joins in the rhythmic, flowing dance of the brush tip, the observer and the writer of the piece become as one. The writing is as a stroke of faith, a random event maybe, bringing two people together. Calligraphy is always an event with the potential to connect different points in space and time. Appreciating a piece of calligraphy in fact resembles watching a movie much more than it resembles viewing a painting: both calligraphy and film have a beginning and an ending, both have fast and exhilarating sections as well as slow and relaxed ones, and in both you find pauses and circular motion. And this applies to traditional calligraphy in the same way as to "calligraphy written backward".

Just as a movie played backward, "Calligraphy Written Backward" is about the creation of a novel visual experience, of transcending the limitations of conventional styles and formats. It interprets Chinese calligraphy purely as movement: as the recording runs backward and the characters, stroke by stroke, disappear one after the other, the element of motion becomes the center of attention. The paper is pulsating with the brush's lively movements that are yet as subtle and elusive as a bird's footprints in the snow. Thus the objective of "Calligraphy Written Backward" is obvious: we witness a dynamic attempt to restore the original essence of Chinese calligraphy in its latest, most modern manifestations. (Qiu Zhijie-Artist's statement)