14 hunanspecial FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011 CHINA DAILY Contest to find champions in Chinese A sense of responsibil- International finalists are ity unique to the area’s culture was born. Local scholars then ready in Hunan, also learn formed the Lixue School of Confucianism that gives prom- inence to social progress rather of province’s prominence than academic research. Numerous Hunanese have By FENG ZHIWEI pioneering role in promoting since devoted themselves to social progress in China. social reform, especially in the After winning preliminary In Yueyang, a city in north past century. rounds of the language compe- Hunan, students climbed up Notable native sons include tition Chinese Bridge in their Yueyang Tower to have a view Tan Sitong, among the first to home countries, 118 foreign of Dongting Lake — once the advocate establishment of a university students from 60 largest and now the third-big- constitutional nation during nations arrived on July 13 for gest lake in the country. the late Qing Dynasty (1644- the finals in Central China’s 1911), as well as democratic Hunan province. Enlightening tours forefathers Huang Xing, Cai The event is sponsored by They not only enjoyed the E and Song Jiaoren, who were Hanban, a national organi- grand landscape, but also later followed by the founders zation for the promotion of learned about the formation of New China. Chinese language and culture of a culture that has influenced In Changsha, students vis- among foreigners. the Hunan people for a mil- ited Yuelu Academy — the The finals in Hunan’s capital lennium. nation’s only Confucian acade- Changsha mark completion of A thousand years ago, Fan my in continuous operation for the 10th year of the competi- Zhongyan — one of the great- the past thousand years — and tion. est statesmen and Confucian the cradle of the Lixue School But before contestants start scholars during the Song and study of Hunan culture. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY their final contest this week- Dynasty (960-1279) — visited Foreign students also visited Competitors in front of a sculpture of youthful Mao Zedong on Orange Island in the Xiangjang River that runs through Changsha. end, they had enough time his friend Teng Zijing in Yuey- the sites where Mao Zedong for relaxing tours of Hunan, ang. and his comrades started their largest tourism destination in a province that produced a At the time, Teng had been revolutionary careers. Hunan. number of prominent figures banished from the imperial They had a tour of Mao’s But their primary task was that helped shape the modern court and sent to govern the hometown Shaoshan — vis- to find the ethnic cultures that history of China. Yueyang region. iting the plain brick house also contributed greatly to the Students arrived at Hanban The two friends visited Yuey- and village surrounded by collective personality of the headquarters in Beijing on July ang Tower, and Fan — inspired mountains — which nurtured Hunan people. 10 and then went on to Hunan, by the boundless Dongting — a great figure who bore great Zhangjiajie is home to Tujia divided into three groups, and wrote an essay that has been responsibility even during and Miao people who have visited Zhangjiajie, Yueyang, included in textbooks for many childhood. long lived in a harsh environ- and Changsha along with generations. ment that engendered a tough neighboring cities. In the work, Fan suggests Ethnic cultures and brave people with an enter- Hunan, a region of brilliant his friend should have a heart While two student groups prising spirit and great endur- cultures and beautiful scenery, and soul as broad as the large studied mainstream Hunan ance. is also the home province of lake. He goes on to discuss the culture in the north and center Through centuries of inte- many founders of New China responsibilities of politicians of the province, another group gration, they injected fresh including Mao Zedong and Liu and intellectuals, saying that headed to Zhangjiajie in the energy into Hunan culture, Shaoqi. “they should be the first to wor- northwest. making the people more stead- The tours helped provide ry for the future of the state and The region’s dense forests, fast in their ideals and more students with an answer to why people and the last to claim a high mountains and myste- preserving in times of hard- the Hunanese played such a share of happiness”. rious caves help make it the ship. Finalists in the Chinese Bridge competition toured Shaoshan, hometown of Chairman Mao. Those characteristics helped the Hunanese make a renowned contribution to fighting the Japanese invasion of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to studying local cultures, the students also interacted with the common people to learn about their present way of living, their feel- ings and their dreams. After more than 20 days of study tours, the foreign stu- dents are now ready for their final competition this week- end. The finals include tests of Chinese language skills and knowledge about China’s peo- ple, life and culture. Winners of the competi- tion will be announced at the closing ceremony on August 8. Awards include scholarships to study at China’s renowned The millenium-old Yuelu Academy is a center for the study of Hunan culture and the Lixue School The opening ceremony for the competition was held on July 16 in Changsha. universities and colleges. of Confucianism. Hanban: Spreading language and culture By ZHAO SHIJUN More than 100,000 students learning Chinese and offered AND ZHOU QING from over 70 countries have deeper understanding of Chi- since participated in the pre- na, it has also brought great Organized by the National liminary competitions in their changes to the careers and lives Office for Teaching Chinese as home countries and more than of participants. a Foreign Language — or Han- 800 have competed in the finals An Italian girl named Malga ban — over the past decade, the in China. participated the first compe- Chinese Bridge competition The events have also been tition in 2002 and is now a has become a major channel broadcast live to an audience of reporter at the Xinhua News for foreign students to learn more than 100 million people Agency’s Rome bureau. Chinese language and culture. overseas. She recalls her experience in The first Chinese Bridge The Chinese Bridge has not the event, noting that “through competition was held in 2002. only increased enthusiasm for communication with the Chi- nese people (in 2002), I found I love the country deeply”. “I’d like to link my career and life with China,” she said. Her passion was shared by Natasia, a Belarussian girl who competed in the sixth session. She is now a professional Chi- The Hunan branch of the Hanban organized this year’s Chinese Bridge event. nese-Russian translator. “Communication is impor- “Since the second session, ment of East Asian languages Bridge finals in China. There are now more than tant in people’s lives and many parents have been com- and literature — who is also During the past three 300 Confucius Institutes in exchanges,” Natasia said. “I like ing with their children to Chi- known by the Chinese name decades, he taught Chinese lan- 96 countries. The number is to help build bridge between na. They also began to fall in Wu Weike — is a prominent guage to about 2,700 students. expected to increase to 1,000 the Chinese and Belarussian love with the culture,” she said, figure in promoting the Chi- In addition to the Chinese in 2020. people.” adding that “participants have nese Bridge and Chinese lan- Bridge, the Hanban’s most Information from the Han- According to Xu Lin, head also influenced their friends guage teaching in the United important program is building ban said about 50 million for- of the Hanban, the influence of and classmates by talking about States. Confucius Institutes — organi- eigners began to learn Chinese the Chinese Bridge program their experience in China”. Walker is proud that his zations that teach Chinese lan- language in 2010, a figure esti- Famed folk singer Gong Linna and her German husband Robert has gone beyond direct par- Galal Walker, a professor at students have participated in guage and culture — in foreign mated to grow to 150 million Zollitsch perform at the opening ceremony. ticipants. Ohio State University’s depart- every session of the Chinese countries. in 2020. .