Pan Shou
Discover the life and legacy of Pan Shou, Singapore's celebrated Chinese calligrapher and poet, through a curated list of books, articles, and videos.
Last updated 22 July 2026
Pan Shou (潘受)
Pan Shou (潘受) (D. Litt) (b. 26 January 1911, Quanzhou, Fujian, China – d. 23 February 1999, Singapore) was a noted Chinese calligrapher and poet. In addition to his artistic pursuits, Pan, who was the founding secretary-general of Nanyang University, also worked in other roles, from being a newspaper editor to a bank manager.
After his retirement, Pan devoted himself to calligraphy and poetry. This hobby, which ultimately became his passion, made him world-famous. He had practised calligraphy since he was eight, beginning with kaishu (楷书), the regular script used by the great Tang calligraphers. It was only in the last 25 years of his life that he began to focus on the xingshu (行书) script, which was a running or semicursive script.
Pan had received various accolades for his artistic pursuits both in Singapore (such as Cultural Medallion Award (1987) and Meritorious Service Medal (1994) and overseas (such as a Gold medal at the Salon Artists Francais (1985), Officier des Art et des Lettres (1991), and ASEAN Cultural Medal (1997).
This guide provides supplementary resources for those who are keen to know more about the dance pioneer. You can also visit catalogue.nlb.gov.sg to search for more resources. This resource guide was prepared in November 2022 by Goh Yu Mei, Librarian at the National Library, Singapore.
Introduction on Pan Shou adapted from Tan, Bonny, “Pan Shou,” Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board, last modified 2017, .
Books
潘受 [Pan, Shou]。《海外庐诗》（重刊本）[Poetry from the Pavilion Beyond the Ocean (reprint)]。新加坡：新加坡文化学术协会，1985。(Call no.: RSING Chinese C811 PS)
《潘受诗书回顾》[Pan Shou’s poetry and calligraphy: A retrospective]。新加坡：新加坡艺术理事会，1995。(Call no.: RSING Chinese 745.619951 RET)
《潘受行书南国诗册》[The collection of Chinese calligraphy by Pan Shou]。新加坡：新加坡中华书学研究会、新加坡国家博物院，1980。(Call no.: RSING Chinese 745.619951 PS)
陈声桂编 [Tan, Siah Kwee]。《潘受书法新集》[The new collection of Pan Shou's calligraphy]。新加坡：新加坡书法家协会，2015。(Call no.: RSING Chinese 745.619951 NEW)
王润华、唐爱文主编 [Wong, Yoon Wah, Thumboo, Edwin (Eds.)]。《潘受诗书艺术论文集》[Research papers on Pan Shou’s poetry and calligraphy]。新加坡：Unipress，1998。(Call no.: RSING Chinese C811.004 PSS)
徐持庆 [Xu, Chi Qing]。《新加坡国宝诗人潘受》[Pan Shou, Singapore prominent poet]。北京：中国社会科学出版社，2007。(Call no.: RSING Chinese C811.004 XCQ)
Newspaper articles
蔡哲民 [Chua, Tiag Ming]。听潘受谈书法 [Listening to Pan Shou’s lecture on calligraphy]。《南洋商报》[Nanyang Siang Pau]，September 1, 1982.
许梦丰 [Koh, Mun Hong]。浅谈潘受先生的书法和诗文 [On Mr Pan Shou’s calligraphy and poetry]。《联合早报》 [Lianhe Zaobao], February 23, 1984.
Leong, Weng Kam. “Pan Shou’s other face.” The Straits Times, August 14, 1994.
Leong, Weng Kam. “The legacy of Pan Shou.” The Straits Times, February 25, 1999. (This article may only be viewed from the multimedia stations at NLB Libraries.)
Lim, Richard. “Dance of the brushes.” The Straits Times, March 1, 1991.
刘抗 [Liu, Kang]。潘受的艺术 [The art of Pan Shou]。《联合早报》[Lianhe Zaobao], February 21, 1984.
“Pan Shou’s first show.” The Straits Times, January 25, 1984.
Pan, Soo Yeng. “Remembering Pan Shou: Poet, philosopher, scholar, gentleman.” The Straits Times, August 10, 1997.
Tan, Ban Huat. “Calligraphy.” The Straits Times, February 11, 1987.
温伟中 [Woon, Wei Jong]。缅怀潘受 国宝级书法家辞世20年 [In memory of Pan Shou: 20th anniversary of the passing of a calligrapher regarded as a national treasure]. 《联合晚报》 [Lianhe Wanbao], July 8, 2019。Retrieved from Factiva via NLB eResources ().
周颖南 [Zhou, Ying Nan]。书展与诗展 [Exhibitions of calligraphy and poetry]。《联合早报》 [Lianhe Zaobao], February 20, 1984.
Videos
Singapore Broadcasting Corporation. “星期二特写·墨痕心影：潘受” [Tuesday Report: Artist Profile - Pan Shou]。February 3, 1991. Video, 30:49. .
“南洋大师 - 潘受” [Nanyang master – Pan Shou]. YouTube video, 23:19. Posted by “十分南洋 VeryNanyang,” May 29, 2021.