詹秀蓉為台灣知名慈善書法家，以創新「書法三絕」技藝著稱，融合鏤空細字與多樣材質，突破傳統。她信佛，書寫佛經禪修自療，深化書法慈悲內涵。長年投入公益，於紐約、台灣等地舉辦慈善書法展，義賣助學、扶弱濟貧，並推動孝道文化。其以書法結合信仰與愛心，展現藝術與公益並行的崇高境界，為當代慈善書法典範。

Ms. Jan was born in 1956 in a rustic, traditional Hakka farming village in Guanxi Town, Hsinchu County to a poor family. At an early age, she found her passion in calligraphy. She practiced diligently every day; even after she became married and gave birth to her children, she still strived to refine her calligraphy skills. She sees studying calligraphy on a daily basis as an essential part of her life. Later on, she would use calligraphy as a component of drawing-design and onto a variety of media to create astonishing works of art.

At the beginner of her career, Ms. Jan encountered daunting challenges and financial difficulties in her struggle to become a calligrapher, as her works received mixed reactions from the public. Unfortunately, Ms. Jan’s husband, Mr. Jiang Qing-shun, was hospitalized in 1989 for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a devastating tragedy that left her hopeless and distraught. In hope of alleviating her husband’s pains, she heeded the advice of her friends and relatives by committing to the transcription of Buddhist scriptures. By devoting herself to Buddhism, she recited and transcribed Buddhist scriptures for many hours each day without rest. Despite his physical ailment, her husband support and encouragement to Ms. Jan never wavered. He told her, “The true meaning of life is not about its length but rather its depth. The purpose of life is not to become wealthy but to live life to the fullest.” With his words serving as motivation, she gained the strength to again pursue calligraphy.

In an effort to break away from the conventions of traditional calligraphy, Ms. Jan unleashed her imagination and creativity by infusing the concept of portrait sketch design inspired by the National Day parade to create unprecedented fretwork and fine print calligraphy works. At the same time, Ms. Jan applied calligraphy to unconventional and diverse media such as egg shell, seashell, toothpicks, pottery, bamboo, and stone, among others, to create numerous masterpieces. A former recipient of “World’s Outstanding Person of the Year Award”, the honor was bestowed on Ms. Jan for her world-renowned excellence in the art of Chinese calligraphy. Ms. Jan’s epic calligraphy works are so famous that three of them in particular were named the “Three Superb Masterpieces of Calligraphy”.

Gradually, Ms. Jan’s aspiration, ideals and accomplishments are being recognized and praised by the public. For over a decade, she frequently held exhibition tours in USA, Taiwan and China, and her works have been exhibited over 100 times elsewhere overseas. Ms. Jan has received countless awards in Japan, Korea, Philippines, Hong Kong, Canada, and the US. She is hailed as the “Woman Calligraphy Extraordinaire”. Furthermore, she has bridged collaborations between the calligraphy circles and arts organizations from various countries and organized cultural exchange exhibitions on numerous occasions, and actively partakes in cross-strait cultural exchange events.

Her story and her calligraphy have been written into history as the cross-strait interactions between Taiwan and Mainland China have become more and more frequent and evident, and today’s historical condition is fabricated mutually by both Taiwan and Mainland China. In 2008, Taiwanese calligrapher Ms. Jan Hsiu-jung spent seven days around the clock to complete the fretwork calligraphy in pure gold lettering entitled “A Peaceful Negotiation Creates a Win for All”. Ms. Jan gifted the creation to Mr. Chiang Pin-kung, the chairman of Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) to be used as a welcoming gift to Mr. Chen Yun-Lin, the chairman of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) during his maiden visit to Taiwan. In 2013, Ms. Jan created another pure gold fretwork entitled “Cross-strait Achievements” for SEF as a parting gift to Mr. Chen Yun-Lin, as his term in ARATS was coming to an end, to express gratitude for all of Mr. Chen’s contributions in promoting peaceful cross-strait relations. The two artworks are historically significant, as Ms. Jan, through the art of calligraphy, witnessed first-hand the building of the cross-strait friendship.

Despite achieving prominence and status in the arts world, Ms. Jan, in her own words, still believes that “My accomplishments are attributed to everyone’s support, and I will contribute back to the society as long as I am able to do so.” While promoting the art of Chinese calligraphy, she hopes someday she can establish the “Jan Hsiu-Jung Arts Museum”, a museum dedicated to the Buddhist teaching of compassion and attaining enlightenment through Buddhist scripture calligraphy. A tireless advocate of Chinese culture, Ms. Jan hopes that her contributions will foster peace and harmony in the society and at the same time, help others to discover personal happiness and freedom.