An individualist tradition "No matter how dedicated we are, we can't compare to the ancients," says Tu Chung-kao, who has practiced calligraphy for more than 30 successive years and describes himself as a "withered bamboo shoot." Writing characters for the people of ancient times was their whole life. Today calligraphy is a leisure activity practiced at the margin of our lives.
「我們今天怎麼用功都不及古人」，勤練書法三十餘年不輟、自稱「憔悴筍」的杜忠誥表示，古人寫字就是生活，今人寫字則是生活之餘的閒暇活動，成就如何能及？