Language Days at the United Nations seek to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization. Under the initiative, UN duty stations around the world celebrate six separate days, each dedicated to one of the Organization's six official languages.

 

The date for the Chinese day was selected from Guyu ("Rain of Millet"), which is the 6th of 24 solar terms in the traditional East Asian calendars, to pay tribute to Cangjie. Cangjie is a very important figure in ancient China, claimed to be an official historian of the Yellow Emperor and the inventor of Chinese characters. Legend has it that he had four eyes and four pupils, and that when he invented the characters, the deities and ghosts cried and the sky rained millet. From then on, Chinese people celebrate the day Guyu in honour of Cangjie. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around April 20.

 

Chinese was established as an official language of the United Nations in 1946. However, in early years, Chinese was not commonly used in the work of the United Nations. The situation was improved after restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations in 1971. In 1973, the General Assembly included Chinese as a working language, which was followed by the Security Council in 1974. More and more UN offices and staff members work with Chinese language.

 

Chinese Wisdom for a Green World

2023 is a critical year for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Midway to the deadline set out in the Agenda, we are unfortunately far off track for many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out, it is high time to turn words into action and redouble our efforts to regain the lost ground for sustainable development.

In this context, this year's Chinese Language Day will be held under the theme of “Chinese Wisdom for a Green World” to provide Chinese wisdom and solutions for green and sustainable development, thus echoing the Water Conference, the SDG Summit, and other important SDG-related meetings held or to be held by the UN this year.

 

The opening ceremony will be held on the evening of April 20 at the UN Headquarters.

 

 

World-renowned sci-fi writer and Hugo Award winner Mr. Liu Cixin will join UN officials via video link and share views on sustainable development and the protection of mother earth. The symposium will be held in Conference Room 7 of the UN Headquarters from 09:00am to 10:30am and be broadcast live on UN Web TV.

 

 

Calligrapher and educator Mr. Cui Xuelu will give an interactive lecture on the history of Chinese characters and calligraphy, elaborating on the concept of harmony between humanity and nature in Chinese calligraphy. The lecture will take place in Conference Room 7 from 11:15am to 12:00pm, April 20, and be broadcast live on UN Web TV . In addition, an exhibition of Cui's works will be held at the Curved Wall Lobby.

 

 

According to Chinese lunar calendar, 2023 is the "Year of Water Rabbit". An exhibition of traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy, under the theme of water and rabbit, will be held at the South Wall area. With all the works made by professional artists, the exhibition is aimed to celebrate the concept of water in traditional Chinese culture and highlight the important role water plays in sustainable development.

 

Sponsored by Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN,the Chinese Translation Service(DGACM), and in association with UNSRC Chinese Book Club, a series of events will be hosted on the UN Headquarters premises in New York to celebrate this year's Chinese Language Day, and the celebrations will be highted by

A multi-media exhibition entitled "The Chinese Zodiac: In Praise of the Jade Rabbit"(《中国生肖：玉兔礼赞》) has opened in the Albano building lobby and will last until April 21st. This exhibition is co-sponsored by the Chinese Translation Service and the Chinese Book Club;

A related presentation will be given by a team from the Chinese Translation Service on the same topic of the exhibition as the Documentation Division Lecture Series of DGACM on April 19th from 12 noon to 1:30pm;

Two other exhibitions co-sponsored by the Chinese Permanent Mission, Chinese Translation Service and Chinese Book Club will open in the Secretariat Building Lobby. One is entitled "The Highest Virtue Resembles Water"(《上善若水》), which will open on April 17th in the South Wall Lobby and last until April 28th. The other exhibition will be entitled "Cui Xuelu's Calligraphy Exhibition"(《崔学路书法展》), which will open on April 17th in Curved Wall Lobby and last until April 21st.

 

On April 20th (this year's Chinese Language Day) from 6：15pm to 7:30pm, an opening ceremony in celebration of the Chinese Language Day will be held in the Secretariate Building between Curved Wall and South Wall lobby where the two exhibitions will be held. The opening ceremony will be co-sponsored by the Chinese Permanent Mission, Chinese Translation Service and Chinese Book Club. Several VIPs including the USG of the Department of Global Communications will be invited.

On April 20th, Mr. Liu Cixin(刘慈欣) will give an online presentation about the topic of "Sustainable Future Through Sci-Fi Lens(科幻文学与可持续未来)" from 9am to 11am in Conference Rm. 7. There will be a live coverage of the presentation. Mr. Cui Xuelu will give a presentation on the Chinese calligraphy from 11:15am to 12:00pm on the same day and in the same venue.

Events Around the World

In addition, the United Nations offices in Geneva, Vienna, as well as the Economic Commission for Africa and UN peacekeeping missions will host exhibitions, lectures, online campaigns to mark the day.

Sources: https://www.un.org/zh/observances/chinese-language-day/english