Veteran Tianjin calligraphers Wang Xuezhong, Li Henian and Sun Boxiang perhaps never expected that their instructions to a mathematics student of the prestigious Nankai University, which is well-known for its excellent mathematics program, would cause him to change his career to become an outstanding professional artist. Wei, born in 1964 in Datong of Shanxi Province, is now an independent artist and critic living in Taiyuan, capital of his home province. From 1995 to early 1998, he lived in Beijing -- first as an artist at the Yuan Ming Yuan Artists Village, then as a part-time art teacher at the Qinghua University, and later as co-founder and curator of the Song Feng Xuan Art Gallery, China's first gallery specializing in modern calligraphy. Wei is vice president of the China Society of Modern Calligraphic Arts, president of the Danque Seal-carving Society in Taiyuan, and co-host of the New Trunk Line Art Saloon in Taiyuan. Having held five solo shows of modern calligraphy and painting, he also organized and participated in some major modern calligraphy exhibitions in China and abroad. He has published an album of calligraphy and seal-carving works as well as numerous articles on art.