Peking University, Nov. 3, 2010: The international symposium of "Global Significance of Contemporary Chinese Writing" was held at Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center of Peking University (PKU) from October 29 to 30. Among those who attended the opening ceremony and gave speeches were Ms. Tie Ning, President of the Chinese Writers Association and Prof. Yang He, Vice Secretary of CPC PKU Committee. Nearly one hundred scholars and writers from different countries attended this conference and gave presentations on various topics.
The international symposium of "Global Significance of Contemporary Chinese Writing" was held at Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center of PKU
Mr. Li Jingze, the Secretary of the Chinese Writers Association Secretariat, presided the opening ceremony and gave a warm welcome to all the attenders in his speech at first. He pointed out that the theme of this conference was the global significance of contemporary Chinese writing. He said that as we moving into the 21st century, the economic achievement we achieved had attracted the attention of other countries in the world. People are concerned about issues of how China can provide more spiritual resources for the world in the area of culture, and especially how the China's contemporary culture forms the most vibrant part of the world culture. There are also other issues such as how we appraise the artistic value of contemporary Chinese literature works and how to find the position of Chinese literature in the world. He felt that it was the responsibility of all Chinese writers to face and deal with these issues.
Prof. Yang He recalled the over-100-year history of Chinese writing from the time when Lin Shu, a teacher of Imperial University of Peking, started to translate western novels. He pointed out that PKU played an important role in the interaction between the Chinese writing and the world culture, so that there was a double significance in holding this symposium at PKU: first, it allowed us to think about the position of Chinese writing in the history of world literature; it also allowed us to think more about the PKU's responsibility. He thought that Chinese writing had already attained a high level of achievement through 100 years of hard working, but its global development and spread were still insufficient compared with its obtained achievements. Facing this situation, he hoped to open our mind and obtain more valuable suggestions through this symposium.
Prof. Yang He,Vice Secretary of CPC PKU Committee, at his speech
In her speech, Ms. Tie Ning expressed that with the increase of China's global influence, Chinese literature was also increasingly shown to the world, which would definitely influence Chinese writers to a certain degree, as they now had to consider the global impact of contemporary Chinese language on readers from various cultural backgrounds. Meanwhile, such situation was actually a problem faced by academics, critics, and readers all over the world as well. "The purpose of literature is to connect people's hearts," said Tie Ning, "We need to communicate with people from other countries, and learn more from their excellent and creative achievements in literature. Through this communication, we can enhance our understanding of literary works at the same time." Ms. Tie Ning expressed her appreciation for the attenders at last, and also pointed out that literary creation was closely related to academic thinking, theories, and comments, which could be traced back to the pioneering stage of modern literature. In future, the theorists will play an important role in promoting the development of Chinese literature. She also hoped to see more of similar conferences being held in future, which would flourish and globalize the Chinese literature.
Chinese Writers Association president Tie Ning at her speech
After the opening ceremony, academics and writers had discussions on eight issues such as the relationship between Chinese and World literature, the current situation of Chinese literature, how to actively promote Chinese literature to the world, etc..
Translated by: Lim Yee Chuin
Edited by: Su Juan
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
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