’We are not like the calligraphers of ancient times’ A study of young calligraphy practitioners in contemporary China

Chinese calligraphy, the activity that embodies a non-specified “Chinese traditional culture” pur sang, has become in vogue in the last few years among youths in China, which can be explained as part of the revival of Chinese cultural nationalism. In this chapter, based on 11 months of fieldwork in Beijing in which we joined classes and interviewed young students and their teachers, we focus on the question of how this “traditional art” is imagined and appropriated by Chinese younger generations in Beijing. It asks how the resurgence of calligraphy practices may transform patterns of creation, participation, and consumption of culture among the youths in China.