A well-known Chinese calligrapher offered his support Sunday for President Ma Ying-jeou's advocacy of 'understanding Chinese characters in general but using the simplified form for writing.' 'As literate people, we should not abandon the traditional or complicated Chinese characters, as they are the best means of passing Chinese culture down through the generations, ' said Lu Zhangshen, curator of the Beijing-based National Museum of China. Lu, who is well-known for his calligraphy, was in Taiwan to hold an exhibition of his works at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei City. Scholars in Taiwan and China have long argued over the merits of the two writing systems. Traditional characters are prevalent in Taiwan and Hong Kong, while simplified characters are used in China and Singapore. Describing simplified characters as mostly adopting 'a cursive form of writing, ' Lu added that more and more people in China are getting to know traditional characters. He also called on Taiwan and China to increase cultural exchanges, since they share the same cultural roots. 