The greatest of his generation
Born in 1879 in Sanyuan County of Shaanxi Province, mainland China, Yu came of age during the late Qing Dynasty and was a founding member of the KMT. One of his most striking physical features was his beautiful chest-length beard. Early on he put out a newspaper in Shanghai that served as a mouthpiece for revolution. He then attained high positions within the government, serving as president of the Control Yuan for 34 years, the longest tenure in the institution’s history. Apart from his work in government and politics, he also earned renown as a calligrapher, specializing in “grass” (or cursive) script. His collection of calligraphies by various masters—Standard Grass Script—earned him kudos as the greatest grass-script maven of his generation. In 1964 Yu passed away in Taipei’s Veterans General Hospital at the age of 85.
In 1949 Yu decamped to Taiwan with the KMT government. He was an old man, already in his 70s, and the Plum Garden would serve as his retreat from the world in his last years. The garden’s director Xiao Weiren and tour guide He Senyuan say that Yu came to the Plum Garden to “retreat” from three things: the summer heat, celebrations of his birthdays, and lobbyists. Back then the Plum Garden was truly removed from the hustle and bustle of the city. Without any surrounding high rises, he enjoyed the views of verdant hillsides and Beitou Creek and he took dips in nearby hot springs. For the last 12 years of his life, the Plum Garden was Yu’s home away from his home on Qingtian Street. It was a Shangri- La for him in old age. The characters “Plum Garden” carved beside its front gate are in his own calligraphy.
All the while he held true to his life mission of promoting the art of calligraphy. When fans came to ask him to brush something, he almost never refused. It’s said that some 10,000 of his calligraphies ended up in private hands. The Plum Garden also exhibits many of his calligraphic engravings. His calligraphy “Din Tai Fung, Purveyor of Oils” is still in the possession of the renowned restaurant chain. Another one of his famous works hangs in a corner of the Plum Garden residence: “Bring conscience to Heaven and Earth, secure the people’s livelihood, carry the torch for the ancient sages, establish peace for future generations.”
Now in her sixties, Liu Binbin is one of the few living people who knew Yu firsthand. Her father Liu Yantao, a member of the Control Yuan himself, was a painter and calligrapher who served as Yu’s right-hand man. Liu was a key figure in helping Yu with the Standard Grass Script project. The two were very friendly, and Liu once lived for a period at Yu’s official residence in Nanjing. In 1950, Yu decamped with the Nationalist government to Taiwan, and Liu and his wife Chen Shixiang lived in Yu’s house on Qingtian Street for a year. Yu was also many times the guest of the Liu family in Zhonghe. The two households were extremely close.
For the 34 years after Yu passed away, up until he himself died in 1998, Liu Yantao regarded promoting Standard Grass Script as his solemn duty. At that point, Liu Binbin picked up the torch and founded the Liu Yantao Foundation. Among the succession of photographs and calligraphies that have been exhibited at the Plum Garden, many have come from Liu family collections.
Yu You-ren (left) and his right-hand man Liu Yantao both sported luxuriant beards. (courtesy of Liu Binbin)