My 2025 continues the vibrant momentum of 2024,
moving forward with curiosity toward broader horizons. I have begun exploring
global sustainable development, digital media, cultural IP, and UNESCO World
Heritage sites in Singapore and Malaysia. Building on the increasingly mature
theoretical foundation of Text and Image Studies, I am also developing new
model frameworks.
This year, I published two books. The Shanghai
People’s Publishing House released a newly expanded and revised edition of Accompanying
You Through the Journey of Su Dongpo, which includes ten new essays. Among
them are reflections on finally fulfilling a long-cherished wish last year—to
travel to Jia County in Henan to visit the Tombs of the Three Sus and pay
homage to Master Dongpo and Ziyou—as well as my feelings upon viewing what may
be the only surviving authentic masterpiece, Five Horses, by Su Dongpo’s
close friend, the painter Li Gonglin. I was also fortunate to revisit Danzhou
in Hainan this April, to explore the site of Tongchao Pavilion where Dongpo
once ascended after arriving on Hainan Island, as well as the newly built
Tongpo’s Former Residence, the Areca Palm Hermitage Memorial Hall. In December,
I made my sixth visit to Meishan, Sichuan—Dongpo’s hometown—and was deeply
honored to see the content of my books and quotations from my talks cited twice
on exhibition panels at the Three Su Shrine. After publishing several
books—including Su Shi’s Painting Inscriptions: A Literary Study, Wandering
at Red Cliff and the Elegant Gathering at Xiyuan, Book Art of Dongpo,
multiple editions of Accompanying You Through the Journey of Su Dongpo
(Taipei, Beijing, and Shanghai editions), Loving Yourself a Million Times,
Self-Love and Freedom, The First Encounter with Su Dongpo, as
well as the co-authored Research History of Su Shi—my name has now
become closely associated with Master Dongpo.
The second book published this year is a tribute to
the centennial splendor of the Palace Museum. Ten years ago, at the 90th
anniversary of the Palace Museum, I was invited to participate in academic
conferences at the Palace Museums on both sides of the Strait and published
papers in scholarly journals. Anticipating grand commemorations for the
centenary this year, I prepared new academic papers and waited quietly for an
invitation. In the end, the invited submission was required to be shortened and
redirected to a monthly journal, and I did not participate in a conference.
One of the themes of the National Palace Museum in
Taipei’s centennial exhibition was “The Elegant Gathering at Xiyuan.” I am the
first scholar to author a Chinese monograph on this subject. Two rare works on
loan from the Tokyo National Museum—Li Gonglin’s Five Horses and Li
Sheng’s Southern Song dynasty Reclining Journey through Xiao and Xiang
Rivers—are also works I have studied and written about, which may help
visitors better understand the essence of the exhibition. I therefore
reorganized earlier writings, compiling eleven academic papers and eight essays
into the e-book A Millennium of Song Elegance, A Century of the Palace
Museum: Text and Image Studies in Poetry and Painting by I Lo-fen, and held
an online live-streamed book launch on the evening of October 10, the Palace
Museum’s 100th birthday.
In response to readers’ requests, I led two guided
tours at the National Palace Museum in Taipei: “A Dreamlike Combination: The
Elegant Gathering at Xiyuan and Li Gonglin” on November 21, and “Landscape and
Zen Mind: Red Cliff and Xiao–Xiang” on November 27. Registration filled up
within three days. Participants—members of the Text and Image Studies Society
and tour groups—from across Taiwan, as well as Singapore, Hong Kong, and the
United States, all arrived punctually and listened attentively as I spoke in a
rich cultural and artistic atmosphere. They were truly a high-caliber community
of kindred spirits. I shared a short clip of the guided tour on my YouTube
channel, and in less than a week it surpassed 10,000 views, to my delight.
On the afternoon of November 27, at the invitation
of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, I delivered a lecture titled A
Millennium of Song Elegance: Sharing Wind and Moon—A Calligraphic and
Text-and-Image Journey with Su Shi and Huang Tingjian. Thirty minutes
before the lecture began, the hall was already full; additional seating was
added, and even the aisles were occupied. It felt as if Master Dongpo and
Master Shangu were looking down upon us, nodding with gentle smiles.
This year, I presented ten conference papers and
gave a total of thirty lectures and guided tours. I flew to Hong Kong twice and
to Hangzhou twice. I cherish and am grateful for every moment of intellectual
encounter and sudden enlightenment.
The Academia Sinica publication Seeing,
Narrating, Aesthetics: Essays on Tang–Song Painting Inscriptions, revised
and expanded, was originally scheduled to be published on the mainland this
year under the new title The Aesthetic Power of Words: Text and Image
Studies on Painting Inscriptions in the Tang and Song Dynasties, but has
been postponed to next year. The print edition contract for A Millennium of
Song Elegance, A Century of the Palace Museum has already been signed. Su
Shi’s Painting Inscriptions: A Literary Study, long out of print and
frequently inquired about, will also be revised and republished.
I had long hoped to visit the Dazu Rock Carvings in
Chongqing and the Dunhuang Grottoes, and this year the timing was finally
perfect. I am deeply grateful to the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Northwest
Normal University, and the friends who cared for me along the journey. These
fragments of memory are among the most precious treasures of my life.
Many vivid predictions have warned of the “Red
Horse and Red Goat” of the coming two years, and voices urging the clearing
away of unnecessary anxiety are often heard. Since launching the “Text and
Image Studies on AIGC” course last year and training the first cohort of
students in professional applications of AI-generated content, three students
majoring in AI joined the course this year. This has helped me better
understand both the capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence,
and enabled me to maintain a calm mindset of “keeping pace with the times”
while “safeguarding humanity” amid rapid technological development. As I wrote
in my first Lianhe Zaobao column article of the year, 2025: The First
Year of AI for Elementary School Students, the force of AI is unstoppable.
There will be many aspects in the AIGC field next year that are worth both
anticipation and careful reflection.
I would like to share with you a scene I cherish
from Ishigaki Island in Japan. As I walked along, through a gap in a small
grove of trees, a curve of turquoise sea and white sand suddenly appeared.
Would you untie the ropes and set off in a small boat, cutting through the
waves? Or sit on the beach, gazing at the sea and feeling the breeze? Or
perhaps, worried that the ground beneath the grove is damp and slippery, you
choose to stand outside that heart-shaped opening and look on from afar?
As we welcome 2026, may we all find a place to
settle and stand firm amid change, and remain calm and optimistic in
uncertainty.
I am I Lo-fen, and I send my blessings to you all.
The last talk of Professor Kathleen Tomlonovic(唐凱琳, 23 Jan. 1939-2 March 2019) on 30 September 2018 at San Su Ci, the hometown of Su Dongpo.
唐凱琳教授在四川眉山三蘇祠東坡像前的最後談話。衣若芬拍攝
