Growing up in Cebu, I have always harbored a fascination with Chinese characters. It was all thanks to our alma mater, Sacred Heart School, which has several years ago annexed Ateneo de Cebu, the forerunner Kuang Chi and eventually Xavier School. Both institutions are run by the Jesuits driven out of China before the communist takeover.

In those quiet classrooms, on special Saturday morning classes, we were introduced to the elegant complexity of Chinese script. I was totally in orbit! Every character told a story, each stroke deliberate and full of intent. There was just a magical touch with the idea that each character represented a complete thought, a singular definition captured in just one symbol. Combine two or more of these hanzi, and a new meaning blooms.

I remember the symbol for mountain, which looked like an elevated land with a peak! Others likewise resembled what they represented — the horse, trees, rain and even the moon — crafted with minimalist grace. It felt like decoding secrets passed down for millennia.

As young students, we must admit that the joy of discovery was often clouded by the need to memorize — stroke after stroke, line after line, from top to bottom, right to left. Still, there were golden moments when we gingerly exchanged the mechanical Mongol pencil for the mopit brush, letting ink flow as we sashayed with form and movement.

Fast forward to a recent holiday in Japan. An otherwise unremarkable walk from the airport lounge to the assigned gate at the Narita International Airport, in plenty of time, turned into a moment of awe. Beyond the predictable airport bustle, I found myself face to face with an extraordinary sight — a Japanese calligraphy exhibit titled “Totonoeru Shodo.”

Calligraphy? At an airport? And not just tucked in a secluded corner. Boldly displayed with two-meter-tall works, it seemed to magnetize, breathe and sway. How, I wondered in sheer disbelief, can they stage an entire exhibition using only characters? No portraits. No landscapes. No still life. These were simply confident, flowing brushstrokes commanding attention.