The Tinglin Cup hard-pen calligraphy contest, organized by the hard-pen association of Jiangsu province, concluded in Qiandeng, Kunshan, on July 19.

After five rounds of voting, 780 entries were whittled down to one first prize winner, which was Shao Yongzhong from Huaian in north Jiangsu.

Hard-pen calligraphy is a modern transformation of traditional Chinese calligraphy. Instead of using brushes, hard-tipped writing instruments such as pens and pencils are used in hard-pen calligraphy.

Tinglin was the courtesy title of Ming Dynasty scholar Gu Yanwu (1613-1682) who was born and grew up in Qiandeng town. The contest was designed to commemorate Gu's patriotism as a learned scholar and to carry forward the traditional Chinese culture.