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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
An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is an legal entity, entity—such as ...
". April 20 was chosen as the date "to pay tribute to
Cangjie
Cangjie () is a legendary ancient Chinese figure said to have been an official historian of the Yellow Emperor and the inventor of Chinese characters.
Legend has it that he had four eyes, and that when he invented the characters, the deities an ...
, a mythical figure who is presumed to have invented
Chinese characters
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...
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
The traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar divide a year into 24 solar terms. ''Gǔyǔ'', ''Kokuu'', ''Gogu'', or ''Cốc vũ'' is the 6th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 30° and ends when it reaches the ...
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. In UN Headquarters in New York, a three-event series organized by
UNSRC Chinese Book Club focused on three types of
pictographs
A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and g ...
(
Liangzhu inscribed symbols,
Dongba script and
oracle bone script
Oracle bone script () is an ancient form of Chinese characters that were engraved on oracle bonesanimal bones or Turtle shell#Plastron, turtle plastrons used in pyromancy, pyromantic divination. Oracle bone script was used in the late 2nd millen ...
) associated with three cultures and three UNESCO
World Heritage Sites
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
(
Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City,
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 ...
and
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 Chine ...
). The three events were: a guided tour of the
Liangzhu Museum, a language class on Dongba script, and a lecture on the origin and evolution of Chinese characters (the oracle bone script, and ''Liushu'', or pictographically-based character building in Chinese).
The three events were also placed within three broader contexts: the four great ancient civilizations,
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 E ...
, and pristine writing systems. The three events were conducted via
Zoom
Zoom may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Zoom (software), videoconferencing application
* Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display
* Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
from April 19 to 21, 2021. China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador
Zhang Jun, delivered a speech at the first event.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Standard Chinese
*
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 formal ...
*
International observance
Lists of holidays by various categorizations.
Religious holidays
Abrahamic holidays (Middle Eastern)
Jewish holidays
* Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread – 7 days of consumption of matzo with wine and avoidance of leavened food ...
*
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 ...
References
External links
Official site(English)
Official site(Chinese)
April observances
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
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