From Professional Begger to Professional Painter in 6 Years

By Xinyi Li, EDITOR

Tang Chang Ying’s hands are not as agile and strong as that of common people due to rheumatoid arthritis, but he relies on them more heavily to create a better life. Locals and Buddhists often visiting Huayan Temple can find the man and his paintings there almost every day. However, few of them knew that he was a vagrant before learning his craft.

Tang came from Hechuan District, a place not exceptionally far away from the main urban area of Chongqing. Since the onset of his disease at the age of four, he gradually lost the ability to walk. His father, a porter, and mother, a cleaner, could not afford a joint replacement, which would cost hundreds of thousands of yuan. Instead, they made a scooter for him.

In 2006, Tang followed his parents to the main urban area of Chongqing. In the daytime, when they went to work, he would beg in the streets. In 2010, he came to Huayan Temple, the influx of Buddhists and visitors made it a perfect place for vagrants.

With income from begging, basic living allowance and his parents’ help, Tang moved to downtown Chongqing. While begging, he met Liu Guiping, a painter from Liaoning Province, who encouraged him to learn painting at the Calligraphy and Painting Training Class, held by the Huayan Temple Buddhism Art Gallery.

Tang resolved to enrich his life in this way, regardless of all oppositions. He begged and studied by day and practiced painting at night. The determined young man would tie a 2 kg sandbag to the disabled arms to improve their agility and strength. He took two years to perfect a difficult seal character.

Being poor, Tang had to use the brush, paper, and ink carefully. During the six years of study, he used up over 4,000 pieces of 46*34 cm Xuan paper and roughly 150 kg of ink. Begging could earn money every day while selling paintings often brought nothing for weeks at a time. Tang was confronted with the most substantial challenge in his lifetime. Once, he was left with money for just a bowl of instant noodles, after paying rent.

Determined not to beg any more, Tang persevered in practicing his craft. Gradually, his paintings could be sold at 50-60 yuan, and then over 100 yuan, per piece. Thanks to that, Tang rented a small house near Huayan Temple, which is full of his works and Xuan paper, and fragrance from the ink. His neighbors and friends help him a lot in daily life, such as opening the door (for the lock is out of his reach) and replacing the quilt cover.

Tang mainly draws stilted buildings of Chongqing. In his works, long-and-short legs support the houses to stand on cliffs firmly. Despite vivid paintings, the disabled painter has only visited Hongyadong, a popular copycat stilted building, a few times. High-rise buildings spread over Chongqing, making old photographs online his only models.

The Abbot of Huayan Temple often helps Tang and even promotes Tang's paintings via Weibo. Acquainted cleaners will assist him in placing and collecting works. He sometimes receives fruits or a bowl of noodles from warm-hearted people. Urban management officers patrolling around are also kind to him.

When weather permits, Tang will sell at places with more people, such as pedestrian streets.

When just coming to Chongqing, he made friends with a neighbor, who became a taxi driver. Upon being called, the driver would come to help Tang. Even if the painter cannot pay the fee at the time due to poor sales, he makes no complaint.

Tang’s house is about one kilometer away from Huayan Temple. He likes speeding along a relatively flat road on the way home, which makes him feel no different than everyone else.

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Source: Official WeChat of China One Day