Calligraphy Learning: An Action That Should Surpass Utilitarian Purposes

Chinese calligraphy is the cultural treasure of all Chinese people. Therefore, we should pay attention to the education of it so that the art of calligraphy will pass on from generation to generation. Normal schools shoulder heavy responsibilities in training elementary teachers. So, when their students graduate with high artistic accomplishment in calligraphy, calligraphy learning in elementary schools can be greatly improved and popularized. As a result, our national cultural art will be inherited and expanded. Calligraphy education in normal schools has scored great achievements in the new period, but some questions still remain. This thesis will focus on some students' utilitarian purposes in learning calligraphy. The author will first present some concrete examples concerning some students' utilitarian purposes in learning calligraphy. Then the author moves on to analyse the cause of the problem theoretically and based on facts. Furthermore, the author studies utilitarianism in calligraphy learning and application from the angle of history and current situation. Finally, the author puts forward four teaching strategies on how to surpass utilitarianism in calligraphy learning. The teachers in normal schools should train the students on the following aspects: first, loving national traditional art, which will improve one's cultural attainment; second, approaching the noble mind of the great people, which will improve one's moral quality; third, studying all kinds of art which will improve one's aesthetic judgement; lastly, developing one's intelligence potential, which will promote one's artistic creation.