A TV program has become popular in China recently. It has made people all over China become interested in writing Chinese characters (汉字).
The increasing use of computers and smart phones has left most young people hardly able to write by hand. Many of them are even unable to remember the 10,000 characters used in daily life without electronic help.
CCTV started the Chinese Character Dictation Competition to improve the population's handwriting skills. Contestants (参与者) on the show were school pupils, but it was found that 70% of adults in the audience (观众) were unable to remember how to write the word "chanchu".
Because computers allow people to type characters simply by entering pinyin, they don't need to remember how to write them. "The keyboard age has had a big influence on the handwriting of Chinese characters." Guan Zhengwen, who designed and directed the show said. He added that he hoped to encourage people to keep it alive as an art form.
Hao Mingjian, an editor of a magazine, putting his heart into Chinese characters, said, "Learning Chinese characters goes on throughout your life. If you stop using them for a long time, it is very likely that you will forget them."
