Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition
At the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival, local people perform on intangible cultural heritage projects. Courtesy of Guo Jun
Dancers from the Tang Art Dance House in the United States performed a dance in the Spring Festival of the Tiger Year in the Southern California Overseas Chinese Community". Courtesy of Xie Luyi
Chinese food, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese education, traditional Chinese festivals, national characteristic song and dance performances... These are all important carriers for the spread of Chinese culture overseas. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many challenges to the spread of Chinese culture and people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries. However, overseas Chinese have actively responded to challenges and explored many innovative paths to spread Chinese culture. Recently, this reporter interviewed experts and scholars who study overseas Chinese affairs and overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese who are involved in many fields, listening to their stories of spreading Chinese culture overseas.
The activities are exciting
A few days ago, the 4th Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival, which lasted for 8 days and combined online and offline, came to a successful conclusion. The festival is organized by the North American Association for the Promotion of Cultural Industries and the Canadian Multicultural Heritage Association. Opening Ceremony, Wanshui Qianshan "Dumpling" Guanqing Dragon Boat Festival, Maple Love Dumpling Art Evening, Dragon Boat Festival Intangible Cultural Heritage Project Online Exhibition... A series of wonderful Dragon Boat Festival special activities have opened a window for overseas Chinese and international friends to understand traditional Chinese culture.
"After the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Dragon Boat Festival was held in a combination of online and offline, and its influence became more and more influential, gradually moving from Montreal to the whole of Canada. Whether it is the overseas Chinese in Canada or the people of other ethnic groups in the local area, everyone's enthusiasm for participating in the activities is getting higher and higher, which brings us great encouragement. Guo Jun, chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Canadian International Dragon Boat Culture and Art Festival, introduced that in addition to the Dragon Boat Festival, the "Maple Flower Snow Music" Spring Festival Gala and the Mid-Autumn Festival National Day Poetry Festival have also become well-known brand activities in the local area. As of January 29 this year, the "Maple Flower Snow Music" Spring Festival Gala has been held for 6 sessions, and the theme spring festival gala of each session has become a beautiful scenery in Montreal and even Canada.
For Xie Luyi, the founder of the Tang Art Dance Workshop in the United States, the folk dance provides a stage for her to interpret her deep love for Chinese culture. "The red sun rises in the east, and its avenue is full of glow. How fortunate I am to be born in your arms, and to inherit a vein of blood flowing..." In the childish and melodious children's voice, the MV "Wanjiang" kicked off. In the distance, the snow-capped mountains stand majestically, and 10 little girls in ballet dresses, holding red paper lanterns, dance on the grass; As the camera continues to switch between mountains and seas, adult dancers hold short silk fans, their posture is graceful and feminine, their expressions are warm and beautiful, and the fans dance deftly in their hands, like blooming flowers; Following the melodious melody of the song, the dance enters the climax, above the towering cliffs and reefs by the sea, the dancers hold long fans, dance against the wind, and the long fans fly like rainbows, spilling out a magnificent picture of rivers and mountains... The 5-minute video is well-made, magnificent and elegant, and fascinating.
"In order to express the long history of the Chinese nation for 5,000 years, I chose the Jiaozhou Yangge with great national characteristics as the basic dance vocabulary when choreographing, and integrated the body rhyme elements of classical Chinese dance. With a sincere heart for the motherland and a spirit of artistic excellence, the actors and filmmakers overcame many difficulties and completed their works with high quality, which made me very moved. Xie Lulian said: "The first time I heard the song "Wanjiang", I was touched by the beautiful Chinese classical mood of the lyrics, hoping to relieve the homesickness of overseas Chinese compatriots through dance interpretation and let the local people understand China. ”
Recently, Ms. Xin Chinese Ms. Xin Liyan, the principal of the classroom, led the teachers of the whole school to actively prepare for the online camp activity of "Family Affection china telling stories for you". In order to provide resources for students to better learn Chinese culture, her Chinese language school has participated in online camp activities for three consecutive years.
"Chinese education plays a fundamental and vital role in the dissemination of Chinese culture." Xin Liyan said that Chinese education is a root project for the inheritance of Chinese culture, and the objects are the children of overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese. In the dissemination of Chinese culture overseas, the children of overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese have obvious advantages in terms of psychological feelings, cultural inheritance, career motivation, radiation effects, etc. These children will also become the backbone of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries in the future. In addition, Chinese educators will not only affect the educated Chinese students, but also reshape the parent-child relationship and family atmosphere between Chinese children and their parents through language teaching. It can be said that teaching a Chinese child well can benefit three generations.
Inheritance comes from love
The Norwegian expatriate, Who is over 70 years old, has been engaged in the catering industry for 50 years and is a master chef of "Hangzhou Gang Cuisine". In 1990, he went abroad to develop as a chef at an international catering company in Norway and later opened his own Chinese restaurant. Not long after arriving, he received an important task - to go to the Norwegian Prime Minister's Office to cook a table of Chinese dishes for the then Prime Minister and his relatives and friends. The traditional and authentic "taste of China" made the prime minister praise. In the overseas industry for more than 30 years, Marxism and Leninism have not only captured the "foreign stomach" with "Chinese taste", but also told countless foreign friends the Chinese story on the table.
"95% of the diners in our Chinese restaurants are locals. In order to let foreign diners better understand Chinese food, we not only added a lot of Chinese elements to the decoration of the restaurant, but also often played promotional videos about Chinese cuisine on the RESTAURANT's TV. "From 2010 to 2019, under the organization and arrangement of the overseas Chinese affairs department, I formed a 'celebrity chef performance troupe' with many famous chefs in China, and successively went to Germany, France, New Zealand, the United States, Austria, Portugal, Greece and other nearly 20 countries to produce Chinese cuisine and spread Chinese food culture." In addition, on the eve of the 2016 G20 Hangzhou Summit, I planned and produced a booklet introducing 'Hangzhou Cuisine', containing more than 150 stories, telling the historical stories behind the delicacies such as 'Dongpo Meat', 'Song Sister-in-law Fish Soup', and 'Osmanthus Chestnut' to foreign friends. To make it clear to foreign readers, I've paired each page with a dedicated English translation, fresh poems, and beautiful illustrations. ”
Chinese medicine and chinese medicine are the treasures of Chinese culture. Over the years, as TCM physicians have gone overseas, TCM culture has made positive contributions to the benefit of the local people.
"Clinical efficacy is the main reason why TCM is popular overseas." Wu Binjiang, dean of the Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Canada and vice president of the World Federation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Societies, said that after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Enthusiasm of the Canadian people to understand and learn TCM has increased. "In order to popularize TCM knowledge to TCM 'fans' at home due to the epidemic, we have opened a bilingual 'TCM Cloud Lecture Hall' in Chinese and English for free online; starting from January 2022, we have produced a multilingual series of short videos of 'TCM Canada' to systematically introduce the development of TCM in Canada; recently, we have purchased heavy teaching equipment such as '3D meridian acupuncture points and human anatomy', 'pulse diagnostic instrument' and 'tongue diagnostic instrument' for students to learn intuitively."
"Overseas Chinese enterprises, Chinese restaurants, Chinese medicine clinics and Chinese schools are the carriers of the most intuitive experience of Chinese culture when living in China." Overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese themselves are a business card for spreading Chinese culture. What they do overseas is often regarded by the local people as a representative of The Chinese image and Chinese culture. Li Minghuan, distinguished professor of the Institute of Overseas Chinese and Chinese Studies at Jinan University, said that overseas Chinese have become a group respected by the people living in the country and are the basis for spreading Chinese culture.
Inheritance comes from love, and love boosts communication.
Limited by resources and conditions, Guo Jun and all the event organizers are not only very hard, but also face a lot of incomprehension. "Someone asked me what I was trying to figure? I smiled and replied, 'Simply is a love.'" Guo Jun said, "My hometown of Hubei has always attached great importance to the Tradition of the Dragon Boat Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate the ancient Chinese sage Qu Yuan, Qu Yuan's integrity and patriotic feelings, which are still worth learning from us today. Although I have been abroad for many years, I still have a deep affection for the Dragon Boat Festival, and I hope that more people will understand this traditional festival. We hope to unite the local overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese forces, and through the special organization of the Dragon Boat Festival series of activities, so that Chinese teenagers born and raised in the local area and more people of different ethnicities can understand the charm of Chinese culture. ”
"Classical Chinese dance is both rigid and soft, both dynamic and static, and incorporates traditional cultural elements such as opera, tai chi and martial arts. Different from the straight-line beauty pursued by Western ballet, the unique 'S' shaped dance style of Classical Chinese dance is deeply loved by overseas audiences. Whenever I think of the warm applause and surprised admiration from the audience, I am extremely proud that China has such a national artistic treasure. Xie Luxie said.
Innovation is promising
The epidemic has caused great challenges to people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries, but it has also provided innovative opportunities for the spread of Chinese culture overseas.
"The epidemic has changed the way children live and learn, and has also given Chinese schools more opportunities and perspectives to examine and improve their original teaching methods." Xin Liyan said that in terms of teaching form, Hua school has expanded the proportion of online teaching and multimedia teaching applications; In terms of teaching content, the Chinese school has added more introductions to traditional Chinese culture and contemporary national conditions.
"After going abroad, overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese have deeper feelings for their ancestral (home) country. During the festive season, we are invited to participate in theatrical performances. I hope that through innovative choreography, I will attract more Chinese teenagers and local people to understand and learn Chinese classical dance, and then fall in love with China. This process has a long way to go, but I will persevere. Talking about the recent plan, Xie Luxiao said happily: "I will recreate my previous creation of "Nirvana", the first original experimental dance drama of the North American Chinese who once sensationalized Los Angeles. In this dance, elements of traditional, Dunhuang and modern dances of the Tang Dynasty in China run through it, and it is an interesting experiment to break the boundaries between the art of eastern and western dance. ”
Recently, Wu Binjiang's schedule has been full of arrangements. Summarize the anti-epidemic experience of Chinese medicine and participate in the writing of the book "Overseas Chinese Medicine Diagnosis and Treatment of Long-term Covid-19 Disease Experience"; Plan this fall's "Advanced TCM Course" and "Clinical Research Progress in TCM" special lectures, and invite domestic TCM experts and scholars to teach online to students of ontario College of TCM in Canada; Preparing for the 9th "2022 Canadian Academic Conference on Continuing Education in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture" to be held at the end of August... Wu Binjiang has been idle: "Carrying forward the culture of Chinese medicine is really not waiting for me." ”
"In the future, Chinese educators will not only invest more energy and effort, but also harvest stronger career value and have greater motivation for work." Xin Liyan said that the internal driving force of spreading Chinese culture is the root of the endless life of Chinese education. Chinese education will continue to play a pivotal role in cultivating the cultural identity, cultural self-confidence and cultural consciousness of overseas Chinese youth.
In addition to formal innovation, The dissemination of Chinese culture should also work connotation innovation. Li Minghuan said that first of all, China should do its own thing well and produce more excellent cultural products with Chinese characteristics, embodying the Chinese spirit and containing Chinese wisdom; Secondly, when disseminating Chinese culture to the outside world, China should be open and confident, but also humble and humble, and strive to create a credible, lovely and respectable image of China; Third, overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese should respect the laws, regulations, and cultural customs of the country in which they live, strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with the culture of the country in which they live, and truly achieve "the beauty of each other, the beauty of beauty, the beauty of the United States, and the unity of the world." Only in this way can we truly transcend the gap between civilizations through exchanges among civilizations, transcend the clash of civilizations through mutual learning among civilizations, and transcend the superiority of civilizations through the coexistence of civilizations. (Reporter Jia Pingfan)
People's Daily Overseas Edition ( 2022-06-23 Issue 06)