According to a story shared by the South China Morning Post, a man in China paid off a $2.8 million debt thanks to the calligraphy skills his parents taught him. (Source)
If you ever need a reason to keep going with your handwriting practice, just look at Chen Zhao. He’s a 31-year-old calligrapher from Wuhan, China, who used his love for calligraphy to pay off his parents’ 20 million yuan debt (yep, that’s around Rs 23 crore) in just seven years.
He started young, about five years old. While other kids were running around, Chen was already falling in love with the rhythm of brush strokes and the quiet discipline of calligraphy. But his parents weren’t exactly thrilled. They told him over and over that calligraphy couldn’t be a real job. Still, he stuck to it. Even when it came time for university, he chose to major in calligraphy at the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts instead of business, like his parents wanted.
Photo: Weibo
After graduating in 2016, he didn’t join the family’s clothing business. He opened his own little studio instead. His first student? A left-handed primary school kid who didn’t make it easy. But Chen was patient. That student learned to write beautifully, and word started spreading.
Then in 2017, his family’s business collapsed, his father got sick, and just like that, the family was drowning in debt. That’s when Chen went all in. He doubled the size of his studio, raised his fees, and started working non-stop, from 8 in the morning to 9 at night, every day, with just a short break in between. Even when he tried to hire other teachers, parents insisted on learning from him directly.
He didn’t stop there. He started selling calligraphy supplies online and even opened a tea room to help cover costs. Over time, he had more than 300 students coming to learn from him. His friends worried about how tired he looked, but Chen kept going.
Photo: Weibo
By September last year, the impossible happened, he cleared all the debt. But for Chen, the best part wasn’t just the money. It was hearing his parents say they were proud of him. That they finally believed in his art.
And if that doesn’t make you want to pick up a pen and get practicing… we don’t know what will.