CGTN UN: China Views: What does civilization or culture mean to you?
Washington DC (PRWEB) July 05, 2023 -- CGTN UN releases “China Views: What does civilization or culture mean to you?”
“What does civilization or culture mean to you?” we asked UN officials and other guests in our “China View” video. This prompted diverse answers, but with at least one consistent theme: culture is a way to connect people.
These connections are vital, they said. We live “in a new world … and a multipolar world,” observed UN Under-Secretary-General holding the post of High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, and “we need to understand each other.”
Culture embodies a nation’s collective values, which are unique, but in their humanity they can also unite. People of different cultures can create a shared “social fabric,” said Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the UN Development Programme, Xu Haoliang. This fabric “ultimately binds people together and create the kind of environment where you live in harmony,” he said.
Harmony is an ancient Chinese value that seemed especially fitting to cite in this setting. Xu and Moratinos were speaking at the “Journey Through Civilizations” exhibit at the UN – a global institution whose 193 member states gather each year to “discuss common problems and find shared solutions.”
The multimedia exhibit, organized by CCTV’s United Nations Bureau, runs from June 26 through July 7. When visitors were asked to name the first thing that came to mind about Chinese culture, “Chinese medicine,” “beautiful works of art,” “tea,” “philosophy,” and “fashion,” were among the many answers. “If you want to understand contemporary fashion, go to China,” said a visitor.
What did visitors like most about the exhibit that featured demonstrations of acupuncture, a tea ceremony, calligraphy, a poetry reading and a musical performance with the ancient Chinese stringed instrument, the guqin?
The music got the attention of Jeffrey Greene, Chairman of Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation (SAAHF). “You’re listening to music that’s 3,000 years old,” he said. Greene’s foundation honors the legacy of World War Two’s “Flying Tigers” – American volunteer pilots who flew combat missions in China against the Japanese.
Canadian comic, Mark Henry Rowswell paid a visit, too. Rowswell is a celebrity in China where under the stage name, “Dashan” his TV specials have been seen by hundreds of millions of viewers. What does he recommend to “strengthen cultural exchanges?” All jokes aside, Dashan had this advice: “Not only to tolerate but to celebrate cultural differences.”
Click here to watch the “China View” video:
https://newsus.cgtn.com/news/2023-07-04/China-Views-What-does-civilization-or-culture-mean-to-you--1l9zCSAmrMA/index.html
Contact: Zeng Siwei
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(This material is distributed by MediaLinks TV, LLC on behalf of CCTV. Additional information is available at the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.)
Zeng Siwei, CGTN UN, 1 2023931850, [email protected]
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