Calligrapher Sha Menghai was one of the leading artists in contemporary Chinese calligraphy art and a renowned scholar. With numerous valuable data and historical scenes, this disc faithfully represents the great master's top-grade art skill and scholarly style of creation. The inscriptions collected here such as Mahavira Hall in Hangzhou and the Tower of Yellow Crane in Wuchang, plus many couplets on pillars and stone inscriptions scattering all over China, have long been valued by the calligraphy field as art masterpieces and national treasure. This program may serve as art textbook in calligraphy as well as valuable historical data and will find its way into the collection of the wide public of calligraphy lovers. Mr. Sha was for many years Director of the Xiling Seal-engraving Society, which is praised as "the leading art society in China." The documentary film "Xiling Seal-engraving Society" is appended in this disc.

Sha Menghai (1900 - 1992) was born in Shacun, Yin County. Born into a family of a famous doctor and scholar, Sha Menghai received good family education and studied seal cutting from an early age. At about the age of 20, Sha Menghai's calligraphy was already well known. In 1922, during his stay in Shanghai as a private tutor, Sha Menghai had the chance of meeting calligraphy masters like Kang Youwei and Wu Changshuo, whom he admired very much, and such meetings had far-reaching influence upon his calligraphy and seal cutting. By the age of 50, his calligraphy featured various styles of seal, official script, regular script, cursive script and grass style. In his late years, he specialized in cursive script and grass style in particular. His calligraphy seemed to have great momentum, vigorous, profound and sturdy, having its own style. It could be said that his pursuit of calligraphy art was both deep and broad, and reached a superb state. In 1949, he refused to go to Taiwan. Upon founding of the People's Republic of China, he worked as professor in the Department of Chinese, Zhejiang University. In 1963, he worked as calligraphy professor in the Department of Chinese Paintings of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts.
With 70 years of practice in calligraphy, Sha Menghai was respected as a master in modern calligraphy. In 1979, he was selected director of Xileng Seal Society and vice chairman of Chinese Association of Calligraphers. He was knowledgeable, rich in experience, and exact in pursuit of study. He searched deep in the art of calligraphy, paleography, the art of seal cutting, epigraphy, and archaeology. He died in Hangzhou in 1992. His works published on calligraphy alone include 'Art of Calligraphy in Last 300 Years', 'Briefs on the Art of Seals', 'Sha Menghai on Calligraphy', 'History of the Art of Seals', 'Illustrated History of Chinese Calligraphy', 'Collection of Sha Menghai's Calligraphic Works', 'Seal Cuttings of Lansha Library', 'Chronicle of Sha Menghai's Calligraphy'. He was the editor-in-chief of works 'A Grand Collection of China's New Literature (Calligraphy Volume)' and so on.