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The Popular Decline of Calligraphy

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IN THIS LESSON
ID: 1931 Upper Intermediate
Calligraphy as an art form is one thing, but what about just having decent handwriting? Sadly, even that sign of "culture" is going by the wayside in modern China. Why practice penmanship when you can be happily chatting on QQ or texting on your cell phone? This is progress, right?
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Detailed Vocabulary
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SIMPLIFIED PINYIN ENGLISH  
bēi stone tablet
潦草 liáocǎo messy
草书 cǎoshū grass calligraphy
龙飞凤舞 lóngfēifèngwǔ ‘freely and expressively‘
你们快来看这块碑!
nǐmen kuài lái kàn zhè kuài bēi !
Come take a look at this stone tablet, you guys!
谁写的?这么潦草!我一个都不认识。
shéi xiě de ?zhème liáocǎo !wǒ yī gè dōu bù rènshi 。
Who wrote this? It's so messy! I don't recognize a single character.
拜托啊大哥!这是草书,是艺术!看人家写得龙飞凤舞的,多漂亮!
bàituō a dàgē !zhè shì cǎoshū ,shì yìshù !kàn rénjiā xiě de lóngfēifèngwǔ de ,duō piàoliang !
Come on, man! This is calligraphy. It's artwork! The artist wrote it so freely and expressively. It's really beautiful!
哎,咱一年到头也写不了几个字。我上一次写字还是收快递的时候签了个名。我还经常提笔忘字。
āi ,zán yī niándàotóu yě xiěbùliǎo jǐ ge zì 。wǒ shàngyīcì xiězì háishì shōu kuàidì de shíhou qiān le ge míng 。wǒ hái jīngcháng tíbǐwàngzì 。
Agh, we don't handwrite more than a few characters a year. The last time I wrote something by hand was when I had to sign for an express delivery. I often forget characters when I write by hand, too.
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