Calligraphy is not handwriting. The former is an art form that depends upon conscious manipulations of thick and thin lines, spacing, and letter forms. Getting those thicks and thins requires very specific tools! If you're inspired to take up calligraphy, grandpa's old fountain pen is probably not going to get you there.
(I am a huge fan of #fountainPens, but the fact remains they are almost all tools for general writing, not calligraphy!)
Western calligraphy and Chinese calligraphy are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TRADITIONS! If you're talking about mostly western people taking up western calligraphy, why are you interviewing Chinese historians who tell you that 'Calligraphy dates back to before the 1st century AD'? That's not the skill that's experiencing a revival here.
That's like talking about a revival in, say, violin playing, and illustrating it with an anecdote about the history of bongo drums!
And if it wants a historical perspective, it's missing so many names! What about Edward Johnston, who reintroduced broad pen lettering around the turn of the 20th century? What about Platt Rogers Spencer, who singlehandedly invented a purely American style of pointed pen lettering? What about Michael Sull, who almost as singlehandedly revived Spencerian calligraphy as an art form in the late 20th century and served as Ronald Reagan's official calligraphy? Sull still gives workshops!
But noooooo, it's this guy with youtube videos who's doing the revivals!
Yes, calligraphy's revival is largely supported by modern social media. And that's a good thing! I'm sure these calligraphy influencers are great, and I'm glad they're spreading the art.
But this journalist seems to be imagining that the appropriate historical storyline goes something like
Chinese brush calligraphy 100CE -> printing press -> instagram!
@ergative Ha ha, I'm glad I'm not the only one who was flabbergasted by the lightweight quality of that article! It felt like a truly 2020s approach to the topic (and journalism). Just the strangest!