The motto of Beijing Normal University inscriped by Qi Gong

He learned calligraphy in his childhood, and studied various historical stone inscriptions of calligraphy in detail. He was deft in merging the characteristics of different eras and authors, and versatile in all the writing styles, especially the regular script (kaishu), the running hand (xingshu), and the cursive script (caoshu) styles. His style embodies the essence of great classical calligraphers like Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, yet unique in its own way.

He was also a learned scholar in the areas of Chinese ancient song lyrics, phonology, semantics, and Dream of the Red Chamber study, and published extensively in these fields. He was also very versatile in poetry writing and appreciation, and used his own poems in his calligraphy extensively.

Qi Gong was better known as a painter than a calligrapher in his early years. By the 1930s, his particular style of Chinese ink painting had already begun to mature. He was especially good at painting landscapes, bamboo, and rocks. Primarily influenced by the traditional literati painting, his early works displayed an exceptional grasp of images, colors, and brushwork.

Later, Qi was also known as a cultural relics connoisseur who developed an art connoisseur's keen eyes by visiting the Palace Museum frequently. He authenticated, salvaged, and preserved abundant rare and valuable cultural relics for the country. He established himself internationally by attending various influential treasure-authenticating events and international academic conferences in countries such as Japan, Singapore, the United States, South Korea, Britain, and France, promoting international cultural exchanges.

  An upright person and qualified teacher

At Beijing Normal University, where he taught classical Chinese language and literature for more than 60 years, Qi Gong left behind two valuable treasures: One is spiritually known as the phrasal school regulations "Learn to be a teacher, and behave as a model" which embodies the profound edification of how to be an upright person and a qualified teacher; the other is the Li Yun Grant to award and aid students in their studies.

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