Namgyel Wangdrak, a famous Tibetan calligrapher and a member of the 11th Tibetan People's Political Consultative Congress Regional Committee, receives an interview at the intermission of a panel discussion. [Photo/Tenzin Woebom]

Tibetan calligraphy is believed to have been created in the seventh century, during King Songtsan Gambo's reign. In recent years, the Tibet Autonomous Region has taken various measures to promote the learning, use and development of Tibetan calligraphy, including providing calligraphy training courses in Tibet and other Tibetan residential areas, carrying forward writing practice on jangshing, a traditional Tibetan writing board.

"By setting up Tibetan calligraphy extracurricular classes for primary and secondary students in Tibet, I hope more people, especially young Tibetans, will get interested in Tibetan calligraphy through such activity, and I also expect such valuable culture will get better preservation," said Namgyel Wangdrak, a member of the 11th Tibetan People's Political Consultative Congress Regional Committee, "It is not enough that only calligraphers work on this unique culture, it is important for young generation to learn more about it, and become successors."

Generally, writing practice is an essential part of most Tibetan children's early education. The time practicing Tibetan calligraphy on jangshing is the finest memory for Tibetan children born before the late 80s.

"Once for a period, jangshing had been replaced by well-printed exercise books and gradually faded away from people's vision, however, the traditional Tibetan writing board was not forgotten and effaced from people's memory. It is witnessing an unexpected revival. Actually, the writing tool plays a major role in Tibetan education, I think we should carry forward the essence of the traditional culture it represents," said Namgyel Wangdrak.

"Practicing Tibetan calligraphy with traditional tool is a good training for people's learning attitude and inner patience. I hope more and more Tibetan people could pay attention to studying and practicing Tibetan calligraphy and carry forward the traditional Tibetan culture," said Namgyel Wangdrak, when talking about the advantages of practicing Tibetan calligraphy on jangshing.

Thanks to the government's great contribution toward cultural preservation and development, nowadays, more and more young Tibetans start to pay attention to Tibetan calligraphy, according to Namgyel Wangdrak. He believes it is important for students to familiarize themselves with the traditional method, as it was used by generations of famous Tibetan calligraphers.