Hanzi Crisis

　　Dictation contest proves handwritten Chinese characters are under threat in digital age

　　In the digital age， people are becoming adept at inputting Chinese characters， or hanzi， into computers or cellphones， using little more than thumb and forefinger. While many have abandoned the habit of using a pen， some can‘t even remember the last time they had to physically write something down.

　　A sensational program

　　This summer， a TV program has fueled enthusiasm for handwritten Chinese characters across the country. The Chinese Characters Dictation Contest， a Chinese version of the U.S. Spelling Bee， is being screened on China Central Television (CCTV) during prime time every weekend from August 2 to October 18. According to CCTV reports， the show ranks top among cultural and entertainment programs.

　　“This is not a talent show. There are no sensational performances or odd-ball stories. Instead， we just present a pure and simple contest for hanzi writing on TV. And we try to encourage our audience at home to write down each character along with contestants，” said Jin Yue， executive producer of CCTV’s education channel.

　　A total of 160 high school students grouped in 32 teams from across the country compete for the position of national champion over 12 rounds by writing down various common and uncommon Chinese characters.

　　According to Jin， research staff at CCTV spent two years preparing for the contest. Outstanding Chinese linguists are invited to judge the game， with prestigious TV news broadcasters acting as dictation examiners.

　　“Apart from font， pronunciation must be correct，” he said. “By revealing the intricacies of writing， we hope the program can induce the audience to simultaneously take part in the game.”

　　“The contest is not easy，” said Guan Zhengwen， program director. The vocabulary list covers a lot of ground， he says， from classical literature such as A Dream of Red Mansions written by Cao Xueqin (about 1715-64) in the 18th century， to contemporary masterpieces， including works by Lu Xun (1881-1936)， as well as idioms and technological terms.

　　“Without extensive reading and vocabulary skills， a player would struggle to pass on to the next round，” Guan stressed.

　　“Many misused and often mispronounced Chinese characters are also included in the contest to provide viewers the chance to correct their errors，” he said.

　　Apart from vocabulary， competition rules are strict. Players must write down characters correctly and each stroke must conform to a certain standard.

　　Characters forgotten

　　As Jin expected， the program has rekindled enthusiasm for the native language. However， most adults struggle to pen common characters， let alone rare forms of hanzi. For example， only one third of audience can correctly write ganga (meaning embarrassment)， two common characters in Chinese. Furthermore， many people cannot write the characters they are able to read， which could be put down to burgeoning digitalization. A survey carried out by China Youth Daily shows that 98.8 percent of respondents have encountered the embarrassment of “character amnesia，” while only 38.9 percent write every day. As for why some forget how to write， 92 percent of respondents said they have grown used to digital input devices. Around 72.3 percent think the habit of reading is decreasing in daily life， with 43.9 percent criticizing Chinese cultural education.

　　Qi Fei， a correspondent working for a magazine in Anhui Province， could not believe that he failed to write nearly half the characters during one episode of the program.

　　“Though my job involves writing， I use a computer instead of a pen，” Qi said. “In recent years， many companies have promoted office digitalization and reduced the use of paper for the sake of the environment. Except for signing package receipts and bills， I am hardly required to write. My handwriting looks like a scrawl.”

　　“It is a terrible fact that competence in written Chinese across society is on the decline，” said He Yu， head of a research team for Chinese teaching at a high school in Beijing. “Compared to adults， teenagers do well in writing hanzi， because they spend more time in learning and practicing at school. Thus， young players mostly outperform older audience members，” He said.

　　However， “the impact of digital technology on students cannot be ignored，” He pointed out. “Many students are obsessed with digital devices such as electronic dictionaries and computers to assist their studies. Over dependence on such tools， as well as the Internet， will make students too lazy to think and write.”

　　Digital input

　　China has been anxiously trying to include hanzi script in computers since the early 1980s. Unlike English and other alphabetic languages， Chinese is one of the most complex and one of the oldest hieroglyphics in the world. Hanzi consists of comparably more “strokes” than the 26 letters in English， which means adding them to digital devices is a difficult procedure.

　　In 1983， Wang Yongmin invented the Five-Stroke Chinese Code， or the Wang Code， which greatly increased the speed of typing. Accordingly， people were able to type up to a record breaking 100 characters per minute. Wang dismantled hanzi into a number of frequent parts， and sorted them into 25 keys. But typists had to recite a special formula which put these strokes together.

　　Several years later， pinyin， or spelling， input was invented， rendering Wang‘s formula relatively absolute. As long as hanzi could be spelt out using Latin letters， people were able to input Chinese into computers.

　　Today， the Wang Code and pinyin are the two major methods for Chinese to write hanzi on computers. For English， typing is writing because pronunciation and spelling are consistent. But Chinese is different. When a computer user types Chinese， a menu box opens on-screen， from which the user needs to choose characters from a group of options. Repeatedly using such an input method， the user inevitably grows less familiar with handwritten Chinese.

　　Furthermore， affected by utilitarianism， the prospects for Chinese language writing remain bleak.

　　“Most students are not able to learn and practice calligraphy at primary school，” said Xie Yong， who teaches Chinese at Beijing Lu Xun High School. “Parents and teachers are zealous in sending their children to learn mathematics and English rather than about traditional culture， mainly due to enrollment requirements at key middle schools.”

　　There is an old Chinese saying： A person is always judged by his or her handwriting. In ancient times， a person with excellent calligraphy could always win respect and admiration from others.

　　In the West， calligraphy is regarded as a form of art， though the writing style differs from that of Chinese. Steve Jobs， former CEO of Apple Inc.， talked about learning calligraphy in his commencement address delivered at Stanford University in 2005. He took a calligraphy class in Reed College， while being fascinated by serif and san-serif typefaces. Many years later， Jobs put his learning into the Mac， which features beautiful typography， multiple typefaces and proportionally spaced fonts.

　　Efforts needed

　　Currently， it is an urgent task for China to tackle new challenges in the digital age and revive its language， seeing as many countries have made remarkable efforts to preserve and promote their own native tongues.

　　Spelling Bee， an English language spelling competition， has been held in the United States for middle school students every year since 1925. Its purpose is to help students improve their spelling， increase their vocabularies， learn the definition of each word， and develop correct English usage. Furthermore， one generation after another has been inspired by the TV program.

　　The Japanese have shown enormous interest in written hanzi as their own language is mainly derived from Chinese. Since 1975， an exam on hanzi has been held in Japan every year in a bid to improve vocabulary and knowledge. To encourage interest， the Japanese Government has even issued a preferential education and employment policy for those who have passed the test.

　　In Guan’s opinion， the first episode of the contest is a good attempt to cultivate national pride in the Chinese language. “Though the program is quite young compared with those overseas， it garners a considerable amount of media attention. More importantly， it arouses public enthusiasm to revive our native language，” he said.

　　The government has also realized that handwritten Chinese characters are under threat， with the Ministry of Education recently calling for better calligraphy education at local primary and middle schools.

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