The First Henan Provincial Chinese Characters Dictation Competition and the run off for the Second Session of the National Chinese Characters Dictation Competition’s Henan Division was officially launched on March 18.

It was divided into two levels, for primary school students and middle schools students respectively. Each school participated in the competition and the teams went through four selection matches, including those at school level, district and county level, city level and finally provincial final.

According to the statistics, 14 million students and teachers in Henan province are involved in the competition. Since last December, 3,000 matches at school-level, and nearly 100 at district and county level have been carried out with more than 3 million contestants taking part. The city-level selection matches are currently in progress.

With the growing popularity of the internet and computers, the students’ ability to write Chinese characters has dropped in recent years, according to Zhu Qingmeng, head of the Henan Provincial Department of Education. In order to pass on traditional Chinese culture and help the young generation appreciate the charm of Chinese characters, the provincial education department, together with the Henan Branch of China Mobile, put together the Chinese characters dictation event.

The provincial level finals is set to open in the provincial capital on April 1, and will last until April 10.