Department of Cultural Affairs

By Yali Chen
STAFF REPORTER

A calligraphy writing event kicked off at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on New Year’s Day. President Ma Ying-jeou and a group of Taiwan’s political, financial, cultural and social leaders gathered in the front plaza of the hall with more than 6,000 people to use their calligraphy brushes and put down their wishes on pieces of red paper, a move to represent a good start into a new year.

Ma wrote down two Chinese characters for han (漢) and tai (泰) -- meaning “Chinese or Chinese culture” and “tranquil” respectively -- to wish the country the best in 2011.

Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-pin put down two Chinese characters for tzu (字) and hau (好), which mean “Chinese character” and “goodness.”

The calligraphy event was part of the annual Chinese Character Festival, which runs to January 30.

“During my tenure as Taipei City Mayor, I launched the festival to promote the preservation of traditional Chinese characters,” Ma said, adding that he hopes a series of events could raise the public’s awareness of traditional Chinese characters as a valuable asset.

With the rise of China where uses the simplified Chinese, the president feared that the traditional system was gradually giving way to the simplified one. But Beijing recently recognized the importance of preserving traditional Chinese characters after the Chinese government understood the system can allow people to comprehend ancient texts directly.

Students from overseas Taiwanese schools, Hau said, have taken part in the calligraphy event for the first time since the beginning of the festival in 1993.

For more information on the 7th Chinese Character Festival,call (02) 2598-7445.