Fang Xian is an independent scholar who has also devoted himself to the practice of Chinese painting and calligraphy. During his early years, he received guidance from Chan Wan Yiu, a distinguished ink artist and pupil of Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien) and Wang Jiqian (C.C. Wang). Following his relocation to the United States, Xian further deepened his practice and theoretical study of classical Chinese literati painting under the tutelage of Arnold Chang, a celebrated ink artist and scholar. The writing of Heart Sutra is also a form of buddhist practice, exemplified here in Xian’s calligraphy in the style of clerical script, a style of Chinese writing which matured and became dominant in the Han dynasty (206 B.C.–220 A.D.).