NANJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- East China's Jiangsu Province will launch a calligraphy proficiency test, in an effort to promote the traditional Chinese art among youngsters, according to the provincial education and examination institute.

    Penmanship, especially among elementary school and high school students, is backsliding today with the increasing influence of computers on daily life, said experts.

    They are afraid the Chinese traditional art of calligraphy might be threatened with obsolescence.

    A calligraphy certificate test, jointly schemed by Jiangsu Provincial Education Examinations Authority and Nanjing Arts Institute, will be launched to pupils, college students and calligraphy-fans from every walk of life in a bid to raise people's awareness of the traditional art form.

    Works by both hard-tipped pens and brushes can be submitted to the test organizing committee. The examination panel, composed of noted calligraphers, will grade them into elementary, preliminary and proficient levels.

    According to the sponsors' plan, the test will be held at the second weekend of every March and September.

    "The certificate will be a reliable appraisal of one's calligraphic skills as well as aesthetic sense," said an expert with the institute.

    Chinese calligraphy, accompanying the evolution of the Chinese characters and culture in the past millenniums, plays an essential part in tradition Chinese art.

    Its value is also on a rise with the lapse of time. Last June, a grass-style calligraphic work by a master hand in the Yuan Dynasty (about 700 years ago), fetched a record 46.2 million yuan (5.6 million U.S. dollars) at an auction. Enditem