Forum highlights art of Chinese characters

An artwork presented by Professor Qiu Zhenzhong during his speech at the forum held at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Dec 6. [Photo/people.com.cn]

Su Shishu, standing member of the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and vice chairman of Chinese Calligraphers Association, delivered a speech titled, "Writing Chinese characters: Practicing Chinese civilization". Su revealed that in September next year, 150 million children in China will receive textbooks published by 11 press houses with government subsidies and receive calligraphy education. Each textbook will enjoy a 5 yuan ($0.8) state subsidy.

At the forum, it was the first time that the two major font development companies across the Taiwan Straits were brought together in Beijing, where the modernization and internationalization of traditional and simplified Chinese characters were discussed.

Yang Shuhui, president of Arphic Technology Co. Ltd, pointed out that various aspects such as the international trends in fonts should be taken into consideration in terms of font design.

Zhu Zhiwei, director of font design at Beijing Founder Electronics, discussed font design from the perspective of the font's strength. He said the power of fonts lies in the fact that by design, the fonts of Chinese characters can convey information more clearly and effectively for dissemination and exchange.

Professor Zhao Jian, at the Department of Visual Communication Design, Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University, said that the process of character design and application contains many connotations other than simply outlining the shapes of characters.