The 2019 China (Anyang) International Conference of Chinese Characters was held from October 21 to 23at Anyang, one of the eight ancient capitals of China. Over 300 participants attended the conference. Attendees included Chinese scholars, international students, representatives from enterprises and public institutions, and Sinologists from 29 countries including China, the United States, Germany, France, Russia, Cameroon, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Nepal, Laos and DR Congo. Prof. Joël Bellassen, International Academic Advisor of ACLR, and Dr. Nama Didier Dieudonne, the guest speaker invited by ACLR, the National Pedagogic Inspector of Chinese Language of the Ministry of Secondary Education of Cameroon, delivered keynote speeches at the Opening Ceremony of the Conference.
ACLR was once again invited to holda forum with the theme of “Global Chinese Characters Education and Resources Construction in the Information Age” after organizing the theme forum at the Conference in 2017. This theme forum, taking place on the morning of 22 October, was co-organized by theInstitute for Chinese Language Policies and Standards, the Research Institute of International Chinese Language Education, and the International Communication Center for Chinese Cultureof BLCU. Three keynote reports were delivered by: Professor Xiliang Cui, Vice Presidentof the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching, Dean of Research Institute of International Chinese Language Educationat BLCU and Director of the Advisory Committee of ACLR, delivered a report entitled “Characters and International Chinese Language Education”. ProfessorJoël Bellassenat INALCO, Vice President of the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching, ACLR’s International Academic Advisor delivered “Chinese as a Second Language and the Poetic Function of Chinese Characters”. Professor Weidong Luo at the School of Humanities and Social Science at BLCU, delivered “Overview on Computer Recognizing Bronze Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty”.
During the round-table discussion, eight scholars from around the world exchanged their ideas on “The Changes on Chinese Characters Education and Research in the Information and Intelligence Age”. Speakers in this discussion include Dr. Nama Didier Dieudonne (National Pedagogic Inspector of Chinese Language of the Ministry of Secondary Education of Cameroon), Richard Sears (Uncle Hanzi,Founder ofChinese Etymology), Professor Yexin Wan from BLCU, Professor Jinshan Wu from Beijing Normal University, Fan Gui (Vice President of Beijing International Chinese College), Tingjuan Sun from the Education Channel of Hubei Radio and Television, Dr. Jue Wang from the University of Geneva and Dr. Nan Cai from theInternational Communication Center for Chinese Cultureat BLCU.
In that afternoon, the speakers visited Anyang No.1 Senior High School to interact with the students and conduct activities on sinology. Professor Cui, Professor Bellassen, Dr. Dieudonne and Associate Professor Weigang Feng shared experience on Chinese characters, academia, and global cultures.
In the evening, the final of the 2019 “Chinese Characters and me” Speech Contest for International Students was held at the Anyang Sports Center for the Citizens. Three students from BLCU participated.French student PRUD’HOMME VALENTIN YVAN won the third prize, Russian student KHRAMOVA ANASTASIIA, and ANTOINETTE MUSHITU KAYEYE from DR Congo won the outstanding prize respectively.
