Macau’s 11-member English- and Portuguese-language media delegation, organised by the Central People’s Government Liaison Office and supported by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS), attended yesterday the second and final day of the 10th Nishan Forum on World Civilisations in Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, the paragon of Chinese sages.
Nishan (“Mount Ni”) is a hill located about 30 kilometres to the southeast of Qufu City in Shandong province, China. The 340-metre-high hill is culturally significant because it is traditionally regarded as the birthplace of Confucius. In 2016, a statue of Confucius was set up on the hill. Standing at 72 metres, it is the world’s tallest statue of Confucius, known as Kongzi (“Master Kong”) in Chinese, who lived from c.551 to c. 479 BCE.
“Ni” means “Buddhist nun”.
Bai Yugang, a member of the Standing Committee and Head of the Communication Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Shandong Provincial Committee, addressed yesterday’s Dialogue on Chinese and Italian Classical Civilisations, which was held at the Confucius Auditorium Ya Nan Hall in Nishan.
Bai urged young people from all over the world to come to Nishan to study Chinese philosophy.
The dialogue’s theme was “East Meets West: Cultural Exchanges and Mutual Learning between China and Italy.”
Bai also said he hoped that this dialogue offers an opportunity to further deepen the research institutions of both countries, build more platforms, organise more academic activities to better describe and promote traditional common values, and promote the implementation of a global civilisation strategy.
Bai also said he thought that the dialogue could also further deepen the multi-level and all-round cultural exchanges and cultural integration between the two nations, expand exchanges between each other and among enterprises, even different venues and also the friendships among young people. He welcomed more young Italians to come to Shandong to study and appreciate the scenery of Shandong.
Meanwhile Italy’s Ambassador to China Massimo Ambrosetti pointed out that highest levels of artistic expression by the masters of the Italian Renaissance were also at the origin of a creative process that developed Italian design. Precisely for this reason, the Italian diplomatic network in China is committed to publicising this extraordinary heritage of Italy’s civilisation through a rich schedule of exhibitions, seminars, and cultural events throughout China to foster a cultural exchange of which the 10th Nishan Forum on World Civilisations was an excellent example.
On the other hand, Jia Guide, the Chinese Ambassador to Italy, said in a speech by video link that China and Italy are excellent representatives of Eastern and Western civilisations. And both have deep cultural roots and a rich cultural heritage. Jia underlined that the two ancient nations continue to maintain amicable relations by learning from each other, trying to reach a win-win situation and strengthening cooperation in humanities, culture, the economy, and politics.
Afterwards, the delegation from Macau visited the Museum of Confucius, the Temple of Confucius and his family graveyard and mansion in Qufu.
The local media delegation will return to Macau today after an almost weeklong visit to Shandong, which also included the port city of Qingdao where it visited the famed Tsingtao Brewery, which brews one of the world’s most widely consumed beers, which takes great pride in its Chinese-German heritage.
The delegation comprises eight local journalists – Carlos Morais José (Hoje Macau), José Encarnação (O Clarim), José Carlos Matias (Macau Business) and Maria Cheang Ut Meng (The Macau Post Daily), as well as André Jegundo, Joana Freitas, Un Ho I, and Agostinho Poon Fernando from public broadcaster TDM. It also included Liaison Office officials Lúcia Deng Le and Han Chao, as well as GCS official Elena Au Son Wa.
Bai Yugang, a member of the standing committee and head of communication department of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, delivers a speech during yesterday’s China-Italy dialogue session of the 10th Nishan Forum on World Civilisations in Qufu. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
Italian Ambassador to China Massimo Ambrosetti addresses yesterday’s Dialogue on Chinese and Italian Classical Civilisations at the 10th Nishan Forum in Qufu. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
Chinese Ambassador to Italy Jia Guide addresses yesterday’s China-Italy classical civilisations dialogue session by video link. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
All 11 members of the Macau English- and Portuguese-language media delegation pose in front of the meeting hall of the 10th Nishan Forum on World Civilisations in Qufu yesterday. – Photo courtesy of Yvonne Zhang Yuan Yuan
