Confucius Institute in Sofia Celebrated Global Confucius Institute Day Online

At 2:00 pm on September 24th, the Bulgarian Director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, Aksinya Koleva, and the Chinese Director, Professor Liu Xiuming, together with the teachers and students at the Confucius Institute, as well as parents of the students, Chinese culture lovers and friends from all walks of life, enjoyed a happy and friendly celebration of the 9th Global Confucius Institute Day. The teachers who participated in the event had prepared a variety of lectures on Chinese culture, and the students actively participated in this new chapter for the publicity and promotion of Chinese language and culture.

The lectures in this event were diverse and rich in content, including eight aspects of traditional Chinese culture: China’s national treasure Peking Opera; auspicious animal totems; national costumes; wedding etiquette; Chinese landscapes; and physical and mental games. The lecture on Peking Opera involved development, main forms, roles of the actors, musical accompaniment, etc. The teacher presenting the lecture sang a short Peking Opera song on the spot and won applause. The lecture on the ethnic costumes of Chinese minorities, through photographs and videos, briefly described the geographical features and characteristics of ethnic minority settlements in China. The lecture on Chinese minorities’ dances introduced the types of dances using videos to vividly show the rhythm and characteristics of various ethnic dances. The lecture on Chinese marriage customs introduced the following three stages: pre-wedding, wedding and post-wedding, and discussed the Chinese wedding dress and its evolution. The lecture also talked about the etiquette and procedures of marriage customs. The lecture on the auspicious beast totems was novel and intriguing and it focused on the five mythological creatures in China – dragon, phoenix, the hybrid creature pixiu, the hooved chimerical animal qilin and tortoise. The lecture on Chinese landscapes vividly showed the magnificent mountains, rivers and urban views of China, leading participants to “travel” through the lands of China. The lectures on games highlighted the interaction between teachers and students. The narrator and the participants experienced the charm of two traditional and modern game activities - Jianzi and “Five in a Row”.

The event lasted for two and a half hours, with various themes appearing in turn, and many climaxes. The participants gained a lot and deepened further their love and yearning for China and Chinese culture. After this event, we continue to hope that the Confucius Institutes around the world will become better and better and achieve greater achievements!