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UN Chinese Language Day
__NOTOC__ UN Chinese Language Day () is observed annually on April 20. The event was established by the UN Department of Public Information in 2010, seeking "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organization". April 20 was chosen as the date "to pay tribute to Cangjie, a mythical figure who is presumed to have invented Chinese characters about 5,000 years ago". The first Chinese Language Day was celebrated in 2010 on the 12th of November, but since 2011 the date has been the 20th of April, roughly corresponding to Guyu in the Chinese calendar. Chinese people celebrate Guyu (which usually begins around April 20) in honour of Cangjie, because of a legend that when Cangjie invented Chinese characters, the deities and ghosts cried and it rained millet; the word "Guyu" literally means "rain of millet". Annual Events 2021 The Events Theme for 2021 is Highlighting Pictographs. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Mother Language Day
International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of UN resolution 56/262 in 2002. Mother Language Day is part of a broader initiative "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world" as adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 May 2007 in UN resolution 61/266, which also established 2008 as the International Year of Languages. The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, 21 February is the anniversary of the day when the people of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) fought for recognition for the Bangla language. It is also celebrated in West Bengal, India. History 21 February was declared to be the International Mother L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dongba Script
The Dongba, Tomba or Tompa or Mo-so symbols are a system of pictographic glyphs used by the '' ²dto¹mba'' (Bon priests) of the Naxi people in southern China. In the Naxi language it is called ''²ss ³dgyu'' 'wood records' or ''²lv ³dgyu'' 'stone records'.He, 292 "They were developed in approximately the seventh century." The glyphs may be used as rebuses for abstract words which do not have glyphs. Dongba is largely a mnemonic system, and cannot by itself represent the Naxi language; different authors may use the same glyphs with different meanings, and it may be supplemented with the ''geba'' syllabary for clarification. Origin and development The Dongba script appears to be an independent ancient writing system, though presumably it was created in the environment of older scripts. According to Dongba religious fables, the Dongba script was created by the founder of the Bön religious tradition of Tibet, Tönpa Shenrab (Tibetan: ''ston pa gshen rab)'' or Shenrab Miwo ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Official Languages Of The United Nations
The Official Languages of the United Nations are the six languages that are used in UN meetings and in which all official UN documents are written. In the six languages, four are the official language or national language of permanent members in the Security Council, while the remaining two are used due to the large number of their speakers. In alphabetical order of the Latin alphabet, they are: * Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic) , official, or national language several countries in Middle East and North Afirica, and used in the Arab world. * Chinese (Mandarin Chinese in simplified Chinese characters) , official language of the People's Republic of China * English , official language of the United Kingdom and (de facto) of the United States. It is also the most popular language, the most popular lingua franca and official in several other countries and territories. * French , official language of France. It is also official in Canada and several countries in Africa. * Russi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Observance
Lists of holidays by various categorizations. Religious holidays Abrahamic holidays (Middle Eastern) Jewish holidays *Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened bread, Unleavened Bread – 7 days of consumption of matzo with wine and avoidance of leavened foods) *Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication; Also called the Festival of Lights – Commemoration of the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple) *Pesach (Passover – Deliverance of Jews from slavery in Egypt) **Lag BaOmer (A holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar) *Purim (Feast of Lots – Deliverance of Jews in Persia from extermination by Haman) *Reishit Katzir (Feast of Bikkurim (First-fruits), Firstfruits – Collecting and waving of grain bundles (barley or wheat); Occurs during the 7 days of unleavened bread after the Sabbath) *Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year – First day of Tishrei every year) *Shabbat (The 7th Day Sabbath – The day of rest and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern Standard language, standardized form of Mandarin Chinese that was first developed during the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republican Era (1912‒1949). It is designated as the official language of Languages of China, mainland China and a major language in the United Nations languages, United Nations, Languages of Singapore, Singapore, and Languages of Taiwan, Taiwan. It is largely based on the Beijing dialect. Standard Chinese is a pluricentric language with local standards in mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore that mainly differ in their lexicon. Hong Kong written Chinese, used for formal written communication in Hong Kong and Macau, is a form of Standard Chinese that is read aloud with the Cantonese reading of characters. Like other Sinit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Language
Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the world's population) speak a variety of Chinese as their first language. Chinese languages form the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages family. The spoken varieties of Chinese are usually considered by native speakers to be variants of a single language. However, their lack of mutual intelligibility means they are sometimes considered separate languages in a family. Investigation of the historical relationships among the varieties of Chinese is ongoing. Currently, most classifications posit 7 to 13 main regional groups based on phonetic developments from Middle Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin (with about 800 million speakers, or 66%), followed by Min (75 million, e.g. Southern Min), Wu (74 million, e.g. Shangh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhang Jun (ambassador)
Zhang Jun (, born 15 August 1960) is a Chinese diplomat who has served as the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations since July 30, 2019. From 2007 to 2012, he was the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. In March 2020, he became President of the United Nations Security Council. Biography Zhang was born in Changchun, Jilin province in 1960. He earned a Bachelor of Laws from Jilin University in China and a Master of Laws in International Law from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. In August 2022, Zhang warned that Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ... should not v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zoom (software)
Zoom, stylized as zoom or Zoom Meetings is a proprietary videotelephony software program developed by Zoom Video Communications. The free plan allows up to 100 concurrent participants, with a 40-minute time restriction. Users have the option to upgrade by subscribing to a paid plan. The highest plan supports up to 1,000 concurrent participants for meetings lasting up to 30 hours. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a major increase in the use of Zoom for remote work, distance education, and online social relations. The increase led to Zoom being one of the most downloaded mobile apps worldwide in 2020 with over 500 million downloads and over 300 million daily meeting participants. History Zoom was originally founded in 2011. Its headquarters are located in San Jose, California. Zoom also has offices in the USA, China, India as well as Oceania, Europe and other parts of Eastern Asia. A beta version of Zoom—that could host conferences with only up to 15 video participants ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one language other than their mother tongue; but many read and write in one language. Multilingualism is advantageous for people wanting to participate in trade, globalization and cultural openness. Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages has become increasingly possible. People who speak several languages are also called polyglots. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language (L1). The first language (sometimes also referred to as the mother tongue) is usually acquired without formal education, by mechanisms about which scholars disagree. Children acquirin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liangzhu Museum
The Liangzhu Museum () is an archaeological museum dedicated to the Neolithic Liangzhu culture. It houses a collection of artefacts from the archaeological culture. It is located in Liangzhu, in the northwestern outskirts of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, China. Origin of the name The culture was first discovered in a small township called Liangzhu, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in 1931, and so similar discoveries found near the site are altogether called Liangzhu culture. The Liangzhu culture is also known as the Jade culture and dates from 3000 BC. The Museum is built on the site where many Liangzhu treasures were unearthed. History of the museum The museum was designed by David Chipperfield Architects and completed in 2007. The site was previously a contaminated industrial site, and has been landscaped into a park by Levin Monsigny Landschaftsarchitekten, with hills and manmade streams. The project took five years to design and construct, and was developed in conjun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yinxu
Yinxu (modern ; ) is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script, which resulted in the identification of the earliest known Chinese writing. The archeological remnants (or ruins) known as Yinxu represent the ancient city of Yin, the last capital of China's Shang dynasty which existed through eight generations for 255 years, and through the reign of 12 kings. Yinxu was discovered, or rediscovered, in 1899. It is now one of China's oldest and largest archeological sites, and was selected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. Yinxu is located in northernmost Henan province near the modern city of Anyang, and near the Hebei and Shanxi province borders. Public access to the site is permitted. Traditional history According to the 2nd century ''Shuowen Jiezi'' dictionary (說文解字), the Chinese character "" (''yīn'') originally referred to "vibrant music-maki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Town Of Lijiang
Dayan (), commonly called the Old Town of Lijiang () is the historical center of Lijiang City, in Yunnan, China. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. History The town has a history going back more than 1,000 years and was once a confluence for trade along the "Old Tea Horse Caravan Trail". The Dayan Old town is famous for its orderly system of waterways and bridges, a system fast becoming but a memory as the underground water table drops, probably due to over-building in the suburban areas. Lijiang's culture combines traditional Nakhi culture and incongruous elements learned from Ming dynasty Han Chinese traders who settled in the region centuries ago. Nakhi people have kept alive a timber and mud brick housing style which they learned from Nanjing traders. Local carpenters still build elaborately constructed timber house frames from memory without blueprints or other diagrams. These houses are often enhanced by detailed flower and bird carvings on the windows. The carvings are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
