SEU 2024 “International Chinese Language Day” Successfully Held

On April 19, Southeast University 2024 “International Chinese Language Day” Academic Conference hosted by the College of International Students of Southeast University and co-organized by the SEU President’s Office, the United Front Work Department of the Party Committee and the School of Humanities, SEU was held in the conference hall of the Liuyuan Hotel of SEU, on the occasion of the 15^th “United Nations Chinese Language Day” and the 5^th “International Chinese Language Day”. The theme of this conference is “Learning in Nanjing and Going Global: International Chinese Education and Mutual Learning between Chinese and Foreign Cultures”. 

On behalf of SEU, Pu Zhengning, Vice President of the College of International Students of Southeast University, first welcomed the arrival of experts and scholars. According to Pu Zhengning, there are over 2,000 international students at SEU. The history of international Chinese education can be traced back to the 1950s. It is essential to improve the quality of overseas students’ higher education in China for the connotative development of higher education, which is also playing a vital role in the internationalization of the university. Chinese Language: Connecting Cultures through the Bridge of Mutual Learning, as the theme of this year’s “International Chinese Language Day”, reflects that Chinese language education is an important platform to foster cultural integration and people-to-people exchanges between China and other nations. Southeast University 2024 “International Chinese Language Day” Academic Conference is held closely around the theme of “Academic Year”, aiming to explore the innovative development and future trends of the Chinese language in the era of globalization. Meanwhile, in response to the exhibition of Chinese characters, namely “Chinese Characters: A Journey of Creation, Connection and Harmony held by Nanjing, City of Literature, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, this conference has made positive contributions to further advancing the international Chinese education and the cultivation of a new generation of international talent who are open-minded, authentically understand China, and integrate with the world.

Wang Jinhong, President of the Chinese Plus, spoke highly of SEU’s accomplishments in Chinese language teaching and the cultivation of international students in China. She said that “International Chinese Language Day” is a significant day for Chinese language learners, Chinese culture lovers, and educators all over the world to experience and approach the Chinese language, Chinese culture, and China. In recent years, with the successful implementation of various projects such as “International Chinese Language Day”, “Online Chinese Language Classroom”, and International Chinese Language Education Teacher Training, the Chinese Plus has achieved fruitful results in promoting the joint development and sharing of international Chinese language education and the high-quality and sustainable development of international Chinese language education.

Since He Yong, Former Head of the United Nations Chinese Language Working Group, was currently working at the United Nations headquarters in New York to assist in the theme of “Chinese Characters: A Journey of Creation, Connection and Harmony” of the United Nations Chinese Language Day, he attended the meeting online to extend his gratitude to SEU for having established a magnificent platform for Chinese language education teachers and students to display their achievements and communicate with each other, which can facilitate academic exchange, mutual learning, and collaborative innovation. Besides, he hoped that in the future, Chinese lovers from all over the world can learn about China’s history and splendid culture by studying in China, and then grow into ambassadors of friendship to bolster mutual learning and strengthen dialogue between Chinese and foreign cultures.

Then, experts discussed their theoretical and practical thoughts on international Chinese education and the spread of Chinese culture in the new era.

Ding Jie, Secretary of the Secretariat and Vice Chairman of the Writers Association of Jiangsu Province, a contemporary writer and artist, first delivered a keynote speech: Communication and Acceptance: Jiangsu Literature from an International Perspective. He suggested promoting Jiangsu’s literature and Chinese literature to the world through our joint efforts so that the world can better comprehend Jiangsu and China as a whole. Prof. Cui Xiliang, Former President of Beijing Language and Culture University, delivered a keynote speech: Chinese Language and Chinese Calligraphy. From the perspective of the evolution of Chinese characters and the history of calligraphy, he elaborated on the historical and cultural development of the Chinese nation and the international spread of Chinese calligraphy.

Prof. Wang Hui, Dean of the College of International Education and Social Development of Zhejiang Normal University, delivered a keynote speech focusing on “The Six Major Shifts of Chinese to Become a World Language”. He believed that during the transformation of Chinese from an international language to a world language, and China from a large country of language to a powerful country of language, a series of fundamental changes needed to be accomplished. Prof. Chen Xinren, Deputy Director of the Department of Applied Foreign Language Studies of Nanjing University, delivered a keynote speech: Improving the Academic Path of Chinese as an International Language. In his opinion, we should explore the academic path for Chinese to become an international lingua franca by improving its international academic status and increasing its scientific and technological content. Subsequently, Zhao Yang, Chief Editor of Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House, and Li Qiang, Chief Editor of Youth magazine, respectively gave speeches: The International Communication of Chinese Literature Publishing and The Light of Youth that Connects China and the World’s Youth Writing. The former attached importance to the international transmission path of Chinese literature, while the latter focused on the growth course of Chinese and world youth writing.

At the conference site, Chaima Merzougui, Hanane Merzougui, Ahmed Ameen Ali Ahmed Saeed, and Kamal Husien Mohammed Al Zabidi, four international students of SEU from Algeria and Yemen, led by Wang Fuyi, a graduate student of the Department of Physical Education, brought Baduanjin (a kind of martial arts) performance to the participants. At the same time, Li Yichen, the 13^th generation descendant of the Guangling School of Chinese Guqin, played the famous Guqin song named Yu Qiao Wen Da (Dialogue between the Fisherman and the Woodcutter) as the background music. This Chinese-style program won bursts of applause and received a warm response. It also made everyone at the scene to feel the charm of traditional Chinese culture once again on the “International Chinese Language Day”.

During the conference, seminars on “International Chinese Language Teaching and the Development of Confucius Institutes” and “Education in China’s National Conditions and Chinese Culture Dissemination” were also held. The international students attending the conference responded that they had gained a lot from participating in the academic conference. In addition to experiencing the long-standing inheritance and innovation of Chinese culture, they could fully understand the significance of international students participating in social practice and contributing to Chinese-style modernization through academic discussions. They hoped to carry forward Chinese culture by narrating compelling China’s stories in the future, playing an active role in cross-cultural exchanges, and building a bridge of mutual learning among cultures.