On October 12th, the Global Final of the 'My story of Chinese Hanzi' 2021 International Story Conference, organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and hosted by the People's Daily Online and the People's Government of Xining, was held in Xining, Qinghai. Michael Lordmark Mubaiwa (Yang Jing), a Zimbabwean student at Jiangsu University, won the grand prize with a total score of 96.50 in the final competition.
With the theme of "Ren", the competition conveys the concept of exchange and mutual appreciation of world civilizations, mutual knowledge and integration, and reflects the beautiful vision of building a community of human destiny. Since the global competition started on May 17, nearly 3,000 contestants from more than 50 countries and five continents have participated. After the preliminary rounds, the rehearsals, the online voting and scoring by judges, Yang Jing made it to the global top ten with excellent results.
In the final round, the top ten contestants gave a 7-minute live speech in Chinese with the theme of "Ren". The judges scored the stories according to their core values, their impact on the scene, their ability to express themselves in Chinese, and the effectiveness of mutual appreciation of civilizations, etc. The overall winner and the awards were finally selected. Six experts and scholars, including Gu Xiaoheng, Vice Chairman of Qinghai Literary and Art Union, Zhu Dan, Director of Cultural Exchange Department of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Luo Hua, Chief Editor of People's Daily Online, Wang Zhongyi, Chief Editor of People's China Magazine, Zhou Ting, Vice President and Professor of School of Government and Public Affairs of Communication University of China, and Zeng Zhihua, Professor of School of Broadcasting and Presiding Arts of Communication University of China and National Mandarin Proficiency Tester, were invited to be the judges to score for the finalists on the spot. The rules of scoring are that the judges will show the scores on the spot, remove the highest and lowest scores, and average the remaining scores. Guests of honor attending the contest were: Li Xikui, Vice President of Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Ying Xiuli, Deputy Director of Qinghai Foreign Affairs Office, Guo Lik, Deputy Director of Xining People's Congress Standing Committee, Zhang Aihong, Vice Mayor of Xining Government, Quan Wu, Vice Chairman of CPPCC Xining Committee and Liu Chengyou, President of Qinghai Branch of People's Daily. Zhou Weidong, Director of the Civil Exchange Promotion Department of Jiangsu Foreign Affairs Office and Secretary General of Jiangsu Foreign Friendship Association, and Wang Yu, a first-class officer of the Civil Exchange Promotion Department of Jiangsu Foreign Affairs Office, also came to the scene to support and cheer for the three contestants from Jiangsu Province.
With the title "'Ren' in my heart", Yang Jing explained his understanding of the Chinese character "仁" from three perspectives. He said, "Ren" is love, which is the tolerance and help of Chinese people to him, an African boy, and the wisdom and strength he learned from Chinese people; "Ren" is commitment, which is his determination and mission as a medical student to seek and save lives. "Ren" is harmony, He is a dark-skinned, dark-haired foreigner with a heart to bring the sound of the Mei'an School Guqin, a world-class "Intangible cultural heritage", to Africa and the world! Yang Jing, combining his own experience, spoke eloquently and sincerely, expressing his ambition to become a cultural ambassador between China and Africa, which is very suitable for the competition to convey the beautiful concept of mutual appreciation and exchange, mutual knowledge and integration of world civilizations.
Yang Jing's speech was highly commented by the judges and the audience. Judge Zhou Ting commented that Yang Jing's speech not only talked about the harmony and benevolence of "Ren", but also the courage and commitment of "当仁不让" which means not decline to shoulder a responsibility, that was refreshing and insightful; she appreciated Yang Jing's splendid stage style and confidence, and his storytelling presentation style. And Wang Zhongyi commented that Yang Jing, as a medical student and a learner of the world-class "intangible cultural heritage" -- Mei 'an School of Guqin, showed a kind heart of a doctor in his speech. He affirmed Yang Jing's choice and determination to study guqin and appreciated his ambition to spread Chinese guqin culture to the world. All six judges gave Yang Jing high marks, and finally, Yang Jing ranked first among the top ten contestants with the highest score of 96.50 and won the grand prize.
The Language and Culture Center attached great importance to the organization and guidance of the competition, which was coordinated and directed by Ren Xiaofei, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Director of the Language and Culture Center, and Qu Yunjin, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Liberal Arts (Language and Culture Center). Jiang Yonghua, Vice Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Deputy Director of the Language and Culture Center, led the team in the competition. Xu Dan, a full-time Chinese language teacher at the Language and Culture Center, prepared Yang Jing's speech and trained him in speaking skills. Yang Jing won the Grand Prize in the People's Daily Online "' My story of Chinese Hanzi ' 2021 International Story Conference", which is another important achievement of the international students of the university to participate in national high-level Chinese language events. The Language and Culture Center, as the direct department responsible for teaching Chinese language to international students and language and culture events, always follows the teaching concept of promoting teaching and learning through competitions under the correct leadership of the university party, and strives to make contribution to enhancing the social influence of the university and promoting the smooth implementation of the strategy of international dissemination of Chinese culture.
