Delegates call for 'urgent' cultural revival

Delegates of Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC) have called for the revival of traditional culture, citing a huge impact of foreign cultures on China's young generation.

As a range of officials described, modern Chinese teenagers are so keen on following Korean TV series, celebrating Christmas and idolizing foreign sports stars and celebrities, they sometimes forget how to write in their native language and mix-up the names of Chinese poets.

In response to this worrying trend, there is an urgent need to reinforce Chinese heritage across the country by improving the teaching of traditional culture, said CPPCC delegates.

"The promotion of traditional culture has become outdated and needs to be updated with new methods. Otherwise, it won't draw teenagers' interests at all," said Zhu Yongxin, vice president of China Education Association, during his speech at the CPPCC full session on Sunday.

Zhu said finding innovative ways to instill traditional culture into the new generation should be one of the priorities of the ongoing education reform.

Aspects of traditional culture, such as Chinese medicine, brush painting, sculpture and martial arts, should be taught at school or introduced as after-school activities on campus, Zhu suggested, adding that special talent in traditional culture should be counted in universities admissions.

Su Shishu, vice chairman of Chinese Calligraphers Association, stressed the urgent need to improve teenagers’ Chinese character hand-writing amid the fever of learning foreign languages.

"With the development of technology and electronic input methods, teenagers have fewer chances to write characters than before and they can hardly finish a composition in written Chinese. The beauty of Chinese character is in jeopardy of vanishing," said Su.

The Ministry of Education issued an official outline in February 2013, urging local education authorities to pay more attention on the issue. Even so, Su said the measure is not enough.

Su suggested introducing calligraphy training as permanent course for higher-education curriculum and establishing a national calligraphy college for professional instruction.