Original title: disabled man writes calligraphy with his feet to support his family
There are many difficulties in life. You can see them, but you can't. 'Zhao Jie compares himself to a bird without wings. He is 62 years old. He is a disabled man with congenital dysplasia of both arms and hands. From his childhood, he replaced his hands with his mouth and feet. Slowly, he developed flexible feet like hands, and insisted on studying calligraphy skills with his feet. In 1996, he set a world record of 68 times per minute with his unique skill of using his feet to pierce the needle and thread, and by using his feet to write calligraphy, he sold 366000 yuan for one piece of calligraphy. Zhao Jie wrote a wonderful life with his feet.
Writing calligraphy with feet has become a means of making a living
Zhao Jie practiced calligraphy since he was a child, and the auction of calligraphy works was his means of livelihood.
'when I was in primary school, I used a knife to sharpen my pencil and often cut my foot. In 1957, Zhao Jie was born in a remote mountain village in Yiyang County, Luoyang City, Henan Province. As a child, he suffered from congenital upper limb chondropathy, deformity of both arms and hands and loss of function. Because the school did not accept disabled students at that time, he practiced writing on the ground with his feet holding branches outside the school. Finally, the deeply moved principal took the student without arms as an exception.
In his life, he has practiced eating with his feet, dressing, brushing his teeth and folding quilts. He has never stopped practicing writing. In 1976, 19-year-old Zhao Jie graduated from Fengli high school. At that time, there was no unit to accept the disabled person, so he had to work as a quyi propaganda team and a forest ranger.
At that time, I didn't expect that writing would become a means of making a living. I just wanted to read more books and be an educated person. In order to earn a living, he came to Luoyang railway station and wrote on the ground with his feet and chalk sent by his students. When the onlookers saw that he wrote well, they gave him some money. Later, someone gave Zhao Jie some straw paper, so he found ink to write on the spot. His action moved the onlookers, and some bought the words on the spot. Zhao Jie recalled that he once spent 56 days in Xi'an and earned more than 800 yuan by selling words. 'when I came home, I told my mother that she couldn't believe it. '
After three years of social training, Zhao Jie had many unique skills that ordinary people could not imagine. Therefore, he joined Luoyang acrobatic troupe as an actor in 1979.
A world record
Zhao Jie performed the unique skill of puncturing needles with his feet. In 1996, he once punctured 68 needles in one minute, setting a world record.
After joining the acrobatic troupe, under the guidance of professional teachers, Zhao Jie's foot skills became more proficient, from meeting the needs of daily life to stunt performance. Over the years, he has followed the acrobatic troupe to more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions and cities in China to perform on tour. He noticed that before each performance, the acrobatic troupe would make some posters or blackboard newspapers, which he was good at, so he volunteered to take charge of the publicity work of the acrobatic troupe.
In 1996, Zhao Jie's acrobatic troupe came to Shanghai world to perform, and the Guinness World Records competition was held at the same time. With the mentality of having a try, he took part in the competition of unique skills, and finally set a new world record in one minute by using his feet to pierce the needle 68 times. The title of "China's first foot" was called from then on.
At the end of last century, when he went to the south to perform with the troupe, he found that some artists could earn a lot of money by writing at night and auctioning calligraphy. Zhao Jie also customized some blank scrolls to join the troupe with a try mind.
At that time, in Changsha, he auctioned nearly 800 yuan on the first night, and then sold more than 2000 yuan the next night. With the increase of auction revenue, Zhao Jie found that the auction price of works has a great relationship with the auctioneer. He, who is good at artistic performance, specially wrote the host's lines for his auction. "If the auctioneer's level is not enough, I will let him follow the book. 'in this way, every time the calligraphy auction, Zhao Jie has a good income, and the money he earns also makes his family live a good life.
Light up others with a strong mind
In 2011, Zhao Jie, 54, retired from the acrobatic troupe. With the decline of his physical strength, he reduced the number of auctions and continued to devote his energy to various inspirational speeches. He hopes to inspire more young people with his own experience.
'don't expect fate, you have to break things on your own. "This is a sentence that Zhao Jie repeatedly mentioned in his speech, and it is also the best annotation of his life experience. Zhao Jie once told the students of Luoyang Normal University that nothing is difficult in the world, just for those who want to do it. Although he has two less healthy arms than others, he has more spirit. It is this spirit of self-reliance that makes him today.
Over the past few decades, Zhao Jie has made tens of thousands of inspirational speeches and performances all over the country, educating people with calligraphy and painting, donating calligraphy and painting works to show his love, and he has also been called "love ambassador".
Zhao Jie, who is now receiving a pension, is very contented. In his spare time, besides writing calligraphy, he does housework and plays with his granddaughter. 'having a healthy body is a kind of happiness. Make good use of it and don't waste it. This belief has been integrated into Zhao Jie's life.