英闻天下——361 Mixed Responses for Calligraphy Education

 　　The popularity of Chinese calligraphy 1 has been dwindling 2. With technological 3 advances, many young people no longer write words by hand but use keyboards. Many now struggle to write sentences on paper let alone attempt the complexities 4 of calligraphy.

 
　　China's Ministry 5 of Education has now introduced compulsory 6 calligraphy classes in primary school. It has announced that students in grades three to six in all schools must attend one calligraphy class each week. It also mandated 7 that calligraphy should be an elective subject in middle school.
 
　　Zhou Heyang has more.
 
　　The announcement by the Ministry of Education has received mixed responses from schools. Some have put special emphasis on calligraphy education and come up with the resources to ensure such classes are offered. The Education Department of Haidian District in Beijing has allocated 8 professional calligraphy teachers to respective schools in its jurisdiction 9.
 
　　Qi Han, vice 10 principal at Beijing Jingshan School's Yuanyang branch, says calligraphy is not just about writing beautiful Chinese characters by hand, but a important life skill.
 
　　"The fundamental skill of handwriting exerts a huge impact on a person's life. Practicing calligraphy helps to shape a child's habit of persistence 11 and patience and aesthetic 12 taste. It is the root of Chinese culture which we should pass on."
 
　　But many schools have encountered difficulties in implementing 14 calligraphy classes in primary schools. A lack of qualified 15 or competent teachers is the main concern. Principal Wang at a primary school in Beijing says:
 
　　"The problem is we have Chinese language and literature teachers substituting for calligraphy teachers. They may not have practiced calligraphy themselves, so they are not qualified to teach it. They may use the class time to teach Chinese instead, since calligraphy is not tested, after all. Things would be a lot better if we had professional calligraphy teachers holding the classes."
 
　　To solve this problem, Zhang Xin, a professor of Chinese Calligraphy at Shanghai Normal University, suggests making calligraphy a required course in normal universities, so teachers at least have a basic understanding of the skill.
 
　　Lack of money is another problem. Not all schools have sufficient funds to hire specialized 16 teacher even if they could find one. Buying writing brushes and ink for all students also cost money.
 
　　Even in today's digital age, handwriting with brushes is not obsolete 17. Chinese calligraphy is more than just a method of communication; it embodies 18 Chinese traditional culture and fosters a kind of self-refinement via practice. However, education authorities need to introduce practical policies to implement 13 calligraphy classes in all primary schools; otherwise, the goals are nothing more than lofty words.
 
　　For CRI, I'm Zhou Heyang.