TAG-Confucius Institute Holds Celebrations of International Chinese Language Day 

From April 1 to 16, TAG-Confucius Institute (TAG-CI) held a series of activities to celebrate International Chinese Language Day, the grand festival of the global Chinese language family, under the theme “Chinese Language: Connecting Cultures through the Bridge of Mutual Learning”. The activities included brush calligraphy, hard-tipped pencil calligraphy contest, Chinese painting, shadow play and Chinese movie. TAG-CI Chinese Director Dr. Yang Songfang,  Jordanian Director Mr. Mamoun Al-Sebaa, Deputy Director Ms. Randa Al-Yabroudi, the teachers and students, local Chinese enthusiasts, and Chinese people in Jordan participated in the event.
In the brush calligraphy experience, the teacher first introduced the evolution of Chinese characters and used official script to display the Chinese names of the students present, allowing the students to try to find their own names. The activity greatly aroused the interest of the students and the atmosphere was very active. Then the students enthusiastically began to try to write Chinese characters with brushes and finished dozens of works in total.

In addition, in order to show the beauty of Chinese characters, TAG-CI held a hard-tipped calligraphy contest which was divided into children group and adults’ group. The writing content was mainly Chinese classic poems. 

The students submitted dozens of works. After comprehensive evaluation by the teachers, the first, second, third and merit awards for both groups were finally selected. Calligraphy is not only an art, but also a language that conveys the resonance of beauty.

The participants also experienced Chinese painting. They learned about the tools, materials and basic skills of traditional Chinese painting, and painted lifelike plum blossoms with brushes and ink under the guidance of the teachers, The plum blossom is an important cultural symbol in Chinese culture，symbolizing the spirit of perseverance, nobility, auspiciousness and peace.

    Another activity was shadow play, which is an ancient traditional Chinese folk art with a long history, known as the “wild rose of folk art”, and was spread to West Asia and Europe through the Silk Road in ancient times. The teachers first performed the popular stories “The Tortoise and the Hare” and “The Fox and the Crow” to the students and guests. Then the children, attracted by the cute little animals behind the white screen, tried to perform personally. They flexibly manipulated and felt the charm of shadow play art.
The last activity was Chinese movie. The Chinese animated movie “Ne Zha” attracted the students greatly, which tells the story of the young hero Ne Zha who is not afraid of and dares to struggle against fate and has won many awards. The student were attracted by Ne Zha’s adventurous spirit and sense of justice and they aspired to become Ne Zha with extraordinary abilities and a strong sense of justice.

The Chinese language is one of the oldest languages in the world and the most widely used language in the world as well. By learning Chinese, learners can get to know a country with a long history and brilliant culture. With the help of the language bridge of Chinese, people can overcome cultural barriers, facilitate communication and mutual learning among different civilizations, and promote the progress and development of human civilization.