Dr. Chang Ben-hang, the Associate Director of the Carrie Chang Fine Arts Center flew to France and South Africa last month to promote Chinese characters and the art of calligraphy in 11 presentations that were arranged between September 24 and October 10. This arrangement was organized by the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission that is under the Executive Yuan.

In every presentation, Dr. Chang introduced the “E-Pen” computer software to participants. He usually did this at the end of his presentation following a brief introduction to the history and art of Chinese calligraphy, and a live demonstration of writing by traditional ink and brushes. He would always leave ample time for participants to ask questions and play with the software when the presentation was over. Through this kind of interactive way, many participants showed great interest in coming to Taiwan to study Chinese or the art of writing. Thanks to the ease of E-Pen, Dr. Chang is also thinking about promoting Chinese calligraphy through distance learning. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )