CWU Wraps up 2nd Ge Lan Recital Event

Named after Ge Lan, an 85 year-old former announcer in China, China Women's University (CWU) held its second Chinese classics recital event from September 22-23.

The event was co-sponsored by CWU's female Chinese classics reciting center and Luanping County's Party committee and government in North China's Hebei Province.

Some 252 people participated in the event at different venues in the morning of September 23. Around the theme of "Chinese Classics, from Generation to Generation", the participants embodied the ancient allegories, classical Chinese poetry and other famous writings vividly.

The audience were stimulated by the arts in China and got spiritual enhancement. Yao Yihao, Qian Yuhang and Chen Yupeng respectively won the top "Gelan Prize" of groups for primary, secondary school and college students.

In the afternoon, the general performance award ceremony was held in the Lecture Hall of the Luanping County Party School. CWU president Liu Liqun delivered a speech. She pointed out that the event is an important platform for promoting Chinese advanced tradition advocated by the Communist Party of China and Chinese government.

The competition is a practice of promoting the core socialist values and inheriting outstanding Chinese traditional culture, Liu said and expressed her gratitude to the other two co-organizers — the Chinese Culture Promotion Society and China National Radio.

Ge Lan also attended the event and emphasized that students should carry forward traditional Chinese culture, act accordingly to president Xi Jinping's keynote speeches on Chinese culture.

We should also vigorously carry forward the outstanding traditional Chinese culture and embed the profound ancient poetry and prose in students' minds.
"The successful event embodied the spirit of carrying forward traditional culture and practicing the national reciting activity. It was also a tribute to the 19th CPC National Congress," said Ge.

Li Xiuhong, director of publicity department of the Standing Committee of Luanping County's Party committee, and Zhang Chunmei, director of CNR's Channel of Industry and Economy, also delivered speeches.

The contestants performed a wonderful show during the awards ceremony. Quan Yuli, deputy director of Hong Kong undergraduates' mandarin reading agency, passionately recited a poem named My Birthday (when mother underwent excruciating pain giving birth) by Yu Guangzhong, a Taiwan writer and poet. Quan's reciting deeply touched the audience.

Wang Yuhong, associate professor of the School of Broadcasting and Hosting at the Communication University of China, declaimed the Ballad of Xizhou. The collective reciting by the experts brought the atmosphere of the event to a climax.

Yao Xishuang, former director of the Department of Language Application Management of the Ministry of Education, also doctoral supervisor of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Communication University of China, made a speech about the art of reciting on September 22.

Yao's erudition and humor, with citing classics, made the audiences fully understand the charm of Chinese language arts and reciting.

At the end of the ceremony, Ge recalled her professional career. Those present were all deeply moved by Professor Ge's spirit of self-esteem, self-confidence, self-support and self-improvement.

Since June 2017, people from 19 municipalities, provinces and autonomous regions including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Fujian, Tibet, Gansu and Inner Mongolia have participated in the series of activities

Deng Xiujun, president of Luanping Literary Federation, considered the event as a promoter of Mandarin culture in Luanping County.

Zang Haiqun, dean of CWU's School of Culture and Communication, believed that the campaign not only popularizes and inherits traditional Chinese reciting culture, but also establishes a brand of Chinese classics reciting education. At the same time, it also helps to promote the development of public welfare and social services.

The event has received great support from the CNR, Baixiang Food and Shanxi Qinyuanchun Mineral Water Co., Ltd.

(Source: China Women's University/Translated and Edited by Gender Study Network)