藝評

Xu Bing’s Hong Kong Square Words 徐冰在香港：英文方塊字書法
約翰百德 (John BATTEN)
at 11:54am on 16th July 2025

(John Batten's article originally published in Artomity magazine on 8 May 2025 in Chinese & English, about Chinese artist Xu Bing's 'Square Word Calligraphy' exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art and calligraphy installation inside Hong Kong's MTR rail subway system). Scroll down for English.

Above image: 想東想西──英文方塊字書法教室 Eying East, Wondering West — Square Word Calligraphy Classroom (courtesy of Hong Kong Museum of Art / Leisure & Cutural Services Department, Hong Kong).

All images courtesy of Hong Kong Museum of Art / Leisure & Cutural Services Department, Hong Kong).

徐冰在香港：英文方塊字書法

約翰百德

著名中國藝術家徐冰於2024年起擔任香港「文化推廣大使」，任期五年。他的首個委約藝術項目《徐冰在香港：英文方塊字書法》於香港多個地點展出創作。香港藝術館特設展覽《想東想西──英文方塊字書法教室》，別開生面地將地下別館展覽空間改裝為書法教室，讓觀眾可以沉浸式體驗及學習由徐冰創作、融合中文書法與英文字母的「英文方塊字」。

為配合展覽，藝術館的玻璃外牆亦煥然一新，換上以英文方塊字書寫的館名及字句「Connect Art to People」（讓藝術連結生活）。這不僅是藝術館的使命，也呼應了徐冰相信藝術應該普及大眾的理念。未進入展廳，觀眾已經能夠先體會傳統書法與英文字母兩套截然不同的書寫系統，如何交匯融合並帶來貫通古今、跨越東西方的文化交流。

徐冰的作品更走出展廳，步入日常生活。大家可於港鐵金鐘站、會展站及灣仔站大堂一睹他以英文方塊字寫成的車站名字，而上環站往堅尼地城方向的月台幕門則展示了以方塊字寫成的「Long Time No See」（很久不見）。這句問候語現在已成為中英文使用者都熟知的通用語句，更有說法指它可能是源於十九世紀某一群粵語使用人士衍生而成英文的常用語。

這句獨特的問候語亦能見於展覽之中，連同其他香港日常生活用語、問候語、俗語、諺語等，一同收錄於徐冰與策展團隊共同編製的香港版教科書中。教科書外觀設計參照了本地學生常用的練習簿，希望香港觀眾在學習英文方塊字時能有一種親切感。徐冰解釋道：「這是我（以文化推廣大使的身份）在香港推出的首個藝術項目，我想加入本地文化元素，在這個中西薈萃的地方介紹『英文方塊字』。」在學習的同時，觀眾能從字裡行間認識香港多元的語言和文化，當中包括由英文音譯而來的廣東話詞彙，例如「巴士」、「多士」，以及一些已被廣泛應用的「港式英文」，如「milk tea」（奶茶）、「yum cha」（飲茶）等。

徐冰畢業於北京中央美術學院版畫系，對文字的熱愛能見於其代表作《天書》。他花了四年時間（1987年至1991年間），以手工刻版的方式雕刻了4,000多個文字，相當於閱讀中文日常讀物所需認識的漢字量。他獨創的這些文字，看似是真的漢字，但實際上每個也是無法閱讀的「偽漢字」。《天書》以活字印刷印成，共有120套，每套四冊，其中一套為香港藝術館館藏。它的展示形式非常具氣勢，展場的天花板懸掛了古代經卷式卷軸，牆壁印上放大了的書頁，包圍着中心放置在展台上的幾百冊書頁，每一頁的文字都清晰可見。

90年代初，徐冰應威斯康辛大學麥迪遜分校邀請赴美，在陌生環境中他面對了不少語言和文化差異的問題。他深信文字是「人類文化概念最基本的元素」，居美的經驗啟發了他發展一種結合中文書法與英文字母的新書寫方式。他把26個英文字母轉化成漢字的偏旁部首，將字母按漢字由左至右、由上至下、由外至內的方式創造出「英文方塊字」。

1994年，他首次將展覽空間改造成互動教室，推廣這種新式書法。其後此藝術裝置《英文方塊字書法教室》在世界各地展出，今次首度來到香港，讓觀眾沉浸式學習及書寫英文方塊字。「教室」貫徹了傳統配置，設有黑板、桌椅、毛筆和習字帖，不同文化背景的觀眾都能在揮毫間體驗書法握筆及勾勒的技巧，享受中國傳統書法的樂趣。觀眾更可以運用數碼互動裝置，創作屬於自己的英文方塊字，填充「讓藝術連結____」句子，並透過二維碼下載留念。

中英雙語教育是香港的傳統，學生自小以兩文學習，中英書寫能力俱佳。儘管如此，徐冰的《英文方塊字書法》仍能為本地觀眾帶來獨一無二的跨文化體驗，鼓勵他們透過語言的翻譯與轉換，反思語言與文化的關係，激發更多創意。對西方觀眾而言，英文方塊字不僅引導他們認識中國書法，更是一種嶄新的語言概念。然而對既能閱讀英文又看得懂中國書法的香港觀眾來說，融合兩種語言體系的英文方塊字亦是一種全新的語言概念，挑戰他們對中文字及傳統書法的印象。

徐冰的英文方塊字書法凸顯中英雙語與中西文化之間的互動，作品結合了兩種書寫語言，也反映香港本身獨特的中西交匯歷史背景與文化底蘊。

想東想西──英文方塊字書法教室

日期：	26.3 — 30.7.2025
地點：	香港九龍尖沙咀梳士巴利道10號
	香港藝術館別館（下）

邊走邊看──港鐵藝術

日期：	26.3 — 25.9.2025
地點：	上環站 — 月台（往堅尼地城方向）
	金鐘站、會展站和灣仔站 — 車站大堂（付費區）

After he was appointed as Hong Kong’s Ambassador for Cultural Promotion in 2024 for a term of five years, renowned Chinese artist Xu Bing’s first commissioned art initiative, Xu Bing in Hong Kong: Square Word Calligraphy, can be seen at locations around Hong Kong. His exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA), Eying East, Wondering West – Square Word Calligraphy Classroom, has converted the museum’s ground-floor annex into a classroom where the audience can learn about and practise Square Word Calligraphy, a unique form of writing he developed that transforms English into a visual style strongly resembling Chinese characters.

Newly emblazoned on the museum’s exterior glass canopy using Xu’s Square Words are the museum name and the text: “Connect Art to People”. Expressing both the museum’s mission and Xu’s belief “in making art accessible to everyone”, this new display demonstrates the contrast between traditional Chinese calligraphic forms and the English alphabet to become an old-new, east-west, cross-cultural blend.

Taking Xu’s art outside the museum to the public, his calligraphy is now exhibited to passengers at Admiralty, Exhibition Centre and Wan Chai MTR stations, with newly decorated pillars at concourses feature each station’s name in Xu’s Square Word Calligraphy. The idiom “long time no see” is prominently displayed using Square Words on the Kennedy Town-bound platform screens of Sheung Wan MTR station. This phrase is uniquely used in both Chinese and English. It is said that the English idiom may have derived from a 19th-century expression used by Cantonese speakers.

This idiom joins other commonly used Hong Kong proverbs, phrases and cultural terms – many borrowed from English – in a Hong Kong edition of the textbook. Designed to resemble the exercise books used by local students, this new textbook especially developed for the Hong Kong exhibition aims to offer a sense of familiarity to the audience. Xu explains that, “For [this] inaugural art project, I introduced Square Word Calligraphy to Hong Kong, a place where East meets West, infusing it with elements of local culture.” While appreciating and learning Square Words, the audience can explore Hong Kong’s linguistic diversity and rich culture by uncovering the local expressions and cultural terms. These include shared idioms and English words adopted into Cantonese, such as “baa si” (for bus) and “do si” (for toast); and common “Konglish” terms now universally adopted and used in English, such as “milk tea” and “yum cha”.

Xu studied printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and his interest in written text can be seen in his monumental Book from the Sky, a four-year project (circa 1987-91) to carve over 4,000 characters, the number required to read a common Chinese publication, in movable wood letterpress type. Each unique character was invented and is completely meaningless, despite looking similar to Chinese text in form. Printed in ink on paper as four books in an edition of 120, of which the HKMoA has one, Book from the Sky has been exhibited to the public as an impressive installation of a book displayed with the text fully visible, with side-wall and hanging printed ceiling scrolls.

In the early 1990s, Xu was invited to the US by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Experiencing an unfamiliar culture and challenged by living in a new country and its language, and believing that writing “was the essence of culture”, he developed his new form of calligraphy, combining the Chinese written form with the English alphabet. Eventually, he organised the 26 letters of the English alphabet to resemble the radicals of Chinese characters, arranged in a “Square Word” format according to the Chinese writing method: from left to right, top to bottom and outside to inside.

Xu first transformed an exhibition space into an interactive classroom to promote his newly developed calligraphy in 1994. Exhibited worldwide and now at the HKMoA, his installation Square Word Calligraphy Classroom is an immersive experience allowing the audience to learn, practise and write Square Word Calligraphy. The classroom is set up with a traditional blackboard, desks and chairs, writing tools and copybooks. Participants from different cultural backgrounds can experience the pleasure of holding a brush and rendering brushstrokes in water while appreciating the beauty of traditional Chinese calligraphy.

After understanding the writing principles of Square Word Calligraphy, the audience can themselves conceptualise and design new Square Words using a digital interactive installation, filling in the sentence “Connect Art to…”. The audience can then download their own designs by using a QR code.

There has long been a tradition of bilingual education in Hong Kong. The city’s students are taught in English and/or Chinese and have well-developed writing skills in both languages. Despite this knowledge, Square Word Calligraphy can still provide a cross-cultural and progressive experience to encourage reflection on language, culture and creativity when switching between languages. When introducing the unfamiliar Chinese calligraphic traditions to a western audience, Square Word Calligraphy also presents more: a new conceptual language. Hong Kong audiences may be a step ahead by already having some ink and brushstroke skills, but the rendering of English as a Square Word, as if it were Chinese, is also an entirely new conceptual language that challenges their experience of traditional Chinese words and calligraphy.

Xu’s Square Word Calligraphy highlights the interplay between the Chinese and English languages and eastern and western cultures. His combining of the writing of the two written languages also reflects Hong Kong’s own vibrant cross-cultural and historical depth, and its unique intersection of east and west.

Exhibition details:

Eying East, Wondering West — Square Word Calligraphy Classroom