Gala night by faculty & staff: a talent show and a tribute to future
“I cannot leave you, my motherland, not even a day.” This was what those young faculty members were singing as they waved the red flag at the center of the stage. Their show on the gala night of December 19 looked even more splendid and impressive under the colorful and glamorous lighting. All performances were painstakingly-choreographed by the faculty and staff as tokens of their best wishes to the coming of the new year and to the prosperity of the great motherland.
SCBC hosts the first symposium on Chinese Character Culture Studies in Asia
On December 21, the first Symposium on Chinese Character Culture Studies in Asia was held at South China Business College. Executive President Wang Hua and Supervisor in Chief Gu Yeli attended the symposium that was presided by Dr. Chi Shengnǚ, dean of the School of Asian Languages and Culture. Pro. Li Aiwen and Prof. Quan Yong Gang, who are respectively in charge of Japanese Language programme and Korean Language programme, delivered keynote speeches.
Nearly 100 experts and scholars from 29 colleges and universities in China, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam had come to SCBC to join the symposium that was themed on “the spreading and circulation of Chinese Character Culture in the Asian Region”. The purpose of the event was to revisit the significance of Chinese Character Culture, to facilitate academic exchange on the topic, and to explore the future development and impact of Chinese Character Culture globally. There was simultaneous interpreting service in Chinese, Japanese and Korean, undertaken by the teachers from the Department of Japanese Language and the Department of Korean Language.
In the opening ceremony, Executive President Want Hua expressed his welcome to the guests on behalf of South China Business College and briefed them on the facts and characteristics of SCBC. With the implementation of the the “Belt and Road” initiative and the development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, there is greater need to spread the Chinese language to other regions in Asia. Chinese and other Asian languages as vehicles of telling the stories of regional economic and social progress have become more closely connected. Under this context, the symposium should play a role in promoting linguistic and cultural exchanges among Asian countries to better serve the development of regional economy and society.
Li Zhongmo, professor and Ph.D supervisor from Seoul University, South Korea gave his interpretation of how Korean literati in the Joseon Dynasty appreciated and were affected by Chinese literature, particularly Su Dongpo’s poetry. According to Prof. Li, the appeal of Su Dongpo’s “Song of the Red Cliff” to the literati in the Korean Peninsula was overwhelming. To support his theory he quoted Korean artists’ poems and paintings inspired by the masterpiece of Su, who was a great poet in China’s Song dynasty.
Prof. Masuda, president of Aichi University of Education and professor from Aichi Toho University, introduced the use of Chinese Character in the Japanese language in his speech “A Study of the Mixed Writing of Chinese Characters and Kana in History”.
Prof. Kim Ji Suk, Ph.D supervisor and head of the Department of Korean Language of Shanghai University of International Studies explained the translator training in the Joseon Dynasty in his paper “Translator Education in Joseon Dynasty and its Significance”.
Prof. Xiu Gang, Ph.D supervisor and former president of Tianjin Foreign Studies University talked on th topic “The Exchange and Development of Chinese Character in China and Japan” and discussed the three aspect of modern Chinese characters in China and Japan, that is, characters disseminated from China to Japan, characters disseminated from Japan to China, characters disseminated from China to Japan and then back to China.
In the parallel sessions, scholars and researchers had exciting discussions on the four topics of “Chinese Character Culture”, “Classical Literature”, “Ancient Literature on Chinese Character”, and “Chinese Language Education”.
The symposium provided an importunity for experts and scholars from the “Chinese character cultural circle” countries to exchange ideas and share experience on the studies of Chinese Character, Chinese Literature and Chinese culture. Its success has been of great significance in terms of exploring the trend of development of Chinese character and revealing the cultural connotation embalmed in Chinese characters.