Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the founding of Confucius Institute, WHU’s three partner Confucius Institutes—Confucius Institute of the University of Aberdeen, Confucius Institute of Universität Duisburg-Essen, Confucius Institute of University of Pittsburgh—held a series of activities between Sept the 22nd and Sept the 27th.
All the activities boasted a great diversity of participants and topics, wide participation and a recognition of the rewarding results in expanding the influence of Confucius Institutes and deepening the understanding of Chinese culture and language.
Confucius Institute of the University of Aberdeen
The celebration activities at Confucius Institute of the University of Aberdeen lasted a week from Sept 22nd to 27th with a number of participants totaling 1,200. The myriad activities included Chinese Cuisine Week, ancient Chinese women’s shoes exhibition, Chinese box lunch Taste Test, traditional Chinese handicraft workshop, Chinese garment show, sample Chinese classes, traditional Chinese garment fitting and a lecture on the changes in the social status of Chinese women.
Chinese Cuisine Week: From Sept 22nd to 25th, Chinese dishes such as Sweet and Sour Pork Chop, Pepper Beef and Hot and Sour Cabbage were served at lunchtime (between 11 am to 12 pm) at the Student Hub at the University of Aberdeen. All dishes were cooked at the school canteen under a customized order from The Confucius Institute. There were also exhibitions of Chinese Calligraphy and Paper-cutting where volunteers answered questions posed by the students.
Ancient Chinese women’s shoes exhibition: From Sept 22nd to 27th, the Confucius institute put on show in its multi-media classroom a host of turn-of –the-20th-Century women’s shoes borrowed from the University of Aberdeen Museum. As a material supplement of Dr. Isabella Jackson’s lecture, the exhibition aimed at providing a more direct and detailed account of the suffering of women in ancient China and the great progress and liberation they have enjoyed.
Chinese Box Lunch Taste Test: On Sept 26th, the Confucius Institute provided Chinese-style lunch boxes for the middle and primary school students who were to take part in the Chinese garment show the following afternoon. Each box lunch consisted of three Chinese dishes and a hamburger. More than 150 people participated in this taste test.
Dr. Isabella Jackson’s lecture: Dr. Isabella Jackson from the College of History gave a lecture at the auditorium of King’s College under the invitation of the Confucius Institute, from 1 to 3 pm, on Sept the 26th. Themed “Foot Set Free: Changes in the Chinese Women’s Social Status 1890-1950”, the lecture explained the underlying cause for the thousand-year food-binding tradition and the great pain it inflicted on women, outlining the social changes and the improvements of women’s social status from the abolishment of foot-binding after the Revolution of 1911 to the enactment of China’s new Marriage Law in the 1950s. Numerous photos of women’s outfit were incorporated in the lecture to provide evidence of the substantial improvement of Chinese women’s lives.
Traditional Chinese handicraft Workshop: Students from Aberdeen’s middle and primary schools, members of the University of Aberdeen and the Chinese participants took part in paper-cutting, Chinese lantern-making and Taiji workshops from 1pm to 2pm, Sept 26th,. Three of the four groups of participants learned lantern-making, calligraphy and paper-cutting respectively from Chinese volunteers respectively while the other group practiced basic moves of Taiji on the Confucius Institute lawn. All participants exhibited great interest and enthusiasm towards these workshops.
Chinese garment show: The Chinese traditional garment show was held in the Elphinstone Hall with the presence of an WHU delegation led by the Secretary of the Party Committee of Wuhan University, Mr Han Jin. The show was jointly hosted by the Dean of Confucius Institute, Professor Barbara Fennell and the Chinese teacher Gao Ye, and it was on from 2 pm to 3 pm, on Sept the 26th. After a short film introducing the evolution of Chinese traditional garments, a modeling crew of local middle and primary school students walked the catwalk dressed in Tang costumes, Qi Pao dress, Qing robe, Palace dresses, green military outfits of the 1960s, etc. The models were much acclaimed for their colorful display.
Sample Chinese lessons: Six sample Chinese lessons were given to more than 150 participants from preschool and middle pupils to primary school students and college students, as well as to local residents of all ages. The lessons took place between 10 am and 4 pm, on Sept 27th. The students attended the lessons with great curiosity and interest. Closely monitored by the teachers, they attentively engaged in reading and repeating, learning to greet each other in Chinese. After the lessons, many of them expressed their hopes of continuing the study of Chinese language.
Chinese traditional garment fitting: A Chinese traditional garment display and fitting was held in the hall of the University of Aberdeen library, from 3 pm to 4 pm. Students and teachers of the University of Aberdeen and more than 50 local residents attended the event. The volunteers first gave a brief introduction of the features and functions of Chinese garments in different historical periods, and then some of the participants dressed in garments of various designs and color and tookpictures to capture the moment.
Confucius Institute of the Universität Duisburg-Essen
As a part of the worldwide commemoration for the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Confucius Institute, the Confucius Institute Day celebration activities at the Universität Duisburg-Essen opened at 11 am, on Sept 27th in the Chinese Park of the Duisburg Zoo.
The event lasted almost 6 hours and was split into four sections: information consultation, calligraphy show, weiqi workshop, and waterside pavilion shows. In the section of information consultation, various pamphlets of the Confucius Institute in Duisburg were handed out. Lotteries were organized with awards such as Chinese character flash cards, Chinese painting bookmark, calligraphy brushes, moon cakes and candles.
The calligraphy show presented a combination calligraphic art and sheer fun. Tourists could have their names written in Chinese. The children enjoyed ink-making and calligraphy crash courses.
The weiqi workshop was set in a Chinese-style pavilion at the park’s highest point. The participants had a go at Weiqi, chess and Majong.
The water pavilion was the core area of the event. Diverse activities such as zither performances, tea-brewing performances, paper-cutting and paper-folding, Chinese-knot-braiding, and sample Chinese lessons arrested the interests of the visitors.
The renowned Children’s book writer Harald Jüngst was invited to recount Chinese fairy tales using puppets; the Chinese Kongfu crew at the local martial arts school led by Master Kai Hoffmann gave performances on Chinese Kongfu.
Many tourists were enthralled by the activities and expressed their regret for missing out last year’s event. The event was put together by the Confucius Institute of the Universität Duisburg-Essen faculty, under the supervision of the Dean, Professor Xu Kuanhua and President Susan Le. The local Chinese student community provided great support for the event.
Confucius Institute of the University of Pittsburgh
The Confucius Institute of University of Pittsburg held a tea party and a series of hands-on Chinese cultural activities in its Student Hub, commemorating the 10th anniversary of Confucius Institute. The event took place on Sept the 27th, between 3 and 6 pm. Dean Michele Heryford, the Dean of WHU Confucius institute along with 15 volunteer Chinese teachers from WHU presented the participants with multiple hands-on Chinese cultural sessions such as: Chopstick Challenge, 3D Chinese Character paper-cutting, Chinese Tea Show, Calligraphy 101, Chinese-knot-making and Clapper talks, to name but a few. WHU’s 15 volunteer teachers and more than 200 guests left their support messages for the 10th anniversary of the Confucius Institute.
(Edited by Diana & Sijia Hu)
