We Are Having Another Loss of Chinese Culture, Calligraphy
Dear all,
As you might not know, I used to be an avid Chinese Calligraphy learner. Though not particularly having been brought up in a typical "literacy family", I was
exposed to an atmosphere of Chinese Calligraphy at an early age. At that time,
stories about how people in old days practiced Chinese handwriting were popular
among us impressionable children, many of whom dreamd of becoming a "contemporary Wan Xizhi" someday. Wan Xizhi is the most well-known Chinese Calligrapher in
history -- just in case you are not from Chinese culture background. I had been an earnest learner since then. I didn't give up even when I later started to
practise guitar playing -- until I began learning computer and English. It's been quite a few years now, but Chinese Calligraphy has been in my blood, often making me marvel at the charms of this ancient art.
This morning a teacher, also a lover of Chinese Calligraphy and has been sort
of accomplished somehow after years of constant practice, came to my office and
showed me an article he just read on the newspaper named "Chinese Calligraphy".
He looked rather upset. Someone wrote an article questioning the goal of the existence of this traditional Chinese art, claiming that contests have become the
only reason for calligraphy. It sounded ridiculous to us at first, but we were
speechless after reading the article and having the arguments. How many young
people are learning Chinese Calligraphy today? How many attendees there are on
calligraphy exhibitions other than the calligraphers themselves? How well perceived is this traditional Chinese art among the common people? If contests are the only reason for eager promotors, how many sponsors are there behind the scene
?
Not very many. Well, the fact is, few and far between. The ironic truth is,
very often, prize winners of nationwide Chinese Calligraphy contests have to pay
for the book collecting the awarded entries. Compared to those who sing a few
songs on the stage and rake in amounts of money off the screen, these calligrapher devotees can only wish to have a place to hide in. Yet how much time and dedication they have spent behind the show respectively?
The day will be a sad day when most young Chinese merely know of Japanese cartoons, Korean dramas, Hollywood, and Xbox360, only oblivious of their own cultural treasures. With traditional Chinese medicine seeing the bleak slump, and with
cultural invasions from the wild continuing unabated, we can only say prayers that we don't have to face another Chinese culture loss, Chinese Calligraphy.
Panpanpan.
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