The Confucius Institute of Memphis is inviting University of Memphis faculty and students to its biggest Chinese cultural experience of this semester Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Chinese Language Day will occur on Wilder Tower’s 11th floor — the home of U of M’s Confucius Institute, a non-profit organization focused on educating others on Chinese culture and promoting multiculturalism. Lin Zhang, the project coordinator for the U of M Confucius Institute, said the event was in tune with the organization’s purpose.
“Our purpose and our goal is to promote Chinese language and culture, so we think it’s a good fit,” Zhang said. “We proposed to have this kind of opportunity (of) hosting an open house to all the faculty and staff here, so they can know more about us, and maybe they can learn many things to share our diversity here.”
International Chinese Language Day is officially celebrated by the United Nations on April 20 to promote diversity, multilingualism and recognize the Chinese language as one of the organization’s six working languages. The holiday also honors the legendary Chinese figure Cangjie, who is often credited for inventing the language and its characters.
Chinese Language Day at the U of M will double as an open house for the Confucius Institute to introduce visitors to authentic Chinese culture. The celebration will begin with an authentic dragon dance and costume tour around campus.
The celebration will also feature many performances throughout the day such as traditional Chinese dances, a martial arts showcase and the screening of the Chinese kung fu film, “Brotherhood Blades.” People who attend will get the chance to create their own Chinese arts and crafts and learn how to write their names using Chinese calligraphy.
Along with displaying Asian culture, the Confucius Institute advocates for positive United State and Chinese relations. Zhang said Chinese Language Day will help communicate that message in an interesting way to faculty and students.
“I think they will have fun here, and they probably will find themselves interested in one aspect of our culture,” Zhang said. “Our ultimate purpose is trying to promote a mutual understanding of these two big nations, so as long as they are interested and enjoy our event, that’s our goal.”
Jingjing Li, another project coordinator for the organization, said Chinese Language Day will have many activities for students to “stop by and have some fun.” She said the cultural tabling at the event will give students a taste of what Chinese culture is really like.
“Try something new, have a different experience,” Li said. “Even if maybe you don’t have an opportunity to go (to) China, you can really have a very good feeling about what we’re doing in China.”
Dan Ye, the associate director of the Confucius Institute, said the open house will spark an interest in visitors to learn more about Chinese language by introducing them to “specific Chinese cultures.” She said she hopes the event will inspire them to adopt it as a second language or a foreign language in classes.
“We focus more on some cultural things like (the) dragon dance or some culture about the Chinese calligraphy, Chinese painting,” Ye said. “Of course, we want more faculty and staff and also the students to know more and understand Chinese language and culture.”
Chinese Language Day at the U of M will kick off April 19 with a traditional dragon dance parading around campus. Featuring an authentic dragon costume from China, the dragon dance tour is meant to draw Memphis students and faculty into the event in Wilder Tower.
