From September 28 to 30, the Confucius Institute at the University of Orléans in France held a series of activities for the 2023 “Confucius Three Days” program. The program aims to showcase the profound Chinese culture to the local people in Orléans through a number of activities such as academic lectures and handicraft workshops.

The Confucius Institute invited famous sinologist Mr. Joël Bellassen to give a lecture on Dongba culture. Created by the Naxi ethnic group in Yunnan Province based on physical appearance, the Dongba script, with as many as two thousand characters, is the only pictorial script still in use today. With a history of thousands of years, Dongba culture is an important part of the Naxi ethnic culture. Mr. Bellassen started with the origin of Dongba culture and introduced the classification, characteristics and application of Dongba script. The lecture on traditional Chinese medicine healthcare was delivered by master Cai Jingrui, who practices medicine in Paris. Master Cai led the participants to practice traditional Chinese medicine conditioning, guided them to practice Ba Duan Jin and explained the different roles of acupoints in conditioning the body. The participants experienced traditional Chinese medicine acupoint pressing on site. The institute also organized a quicksand paper craft workshop. The beautiful quicksand paper started in the Tang Dynasty and is one important Chinese paper processing technique. By hand drawing quicksand paper and practicing traditional Chinese handmade paper craft, the students truly experienced the charm of Chinese culture.

The “Confucius Three Days” program includes a series of brand cultural activities organized by the Confucius Institute at the University of Orléans. The main activities include cultural exhibitions, academic lectures, food workshops, calligraphy demonstrations and cultural performances. It has been held for four consecutive years.

(First Reviewer: Yu Tao, Second Reviewer: Deng Haodi, Third Reviewer: Li Yin)

Resource: Confucius Institute at the University of Orléans 

Original article link: https://news.csu.edu.cn/info/1006/157047.htm