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On May 21st, the Second Nishan Forum on World Civilization kicked off in Shandong Province Sishui Nishan Shengyuan College. Xu Xianming, Member of National People's Congress Standing Committee, President of Shandong University and Vice President of the Forum’s organizing committee, hosted the opening ceremony and attended its activities.
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Vice Chairman of the Ninth and Tenth National People's Congress Standing Committee and President of the Forum’s Organizing Committee Xu Jialu, Deputy Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Governor of Shandong Province Jiang Daming, Vice Minister of Culture and Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage Li Xiaojie, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and Director-General of Publicity Department of CPC Shandong Provincial Committee Sun Shougang, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage Tong Mingkang, Secretary-General of Shandong Provincial People’s Government Hao Feng, and the Vice Presidents of the Forum’s Organizing Committee, all attended the opening ceremony.
Over 90 well-known experts and scholars from over 20 countries and regions in the world gathered at the foot of the Nishan mountain, where Confucius was believed to be born, and had dialogues and exchanges on “Harmony with Diversity and the Harmonious World: Belief, Moral Values, Respect, Solidarity”.
The Nishan Forum on World Civilization, “Nishan Forum”for short, is named after Mountain Ni, birthplace of Confucius, the great ancient Chinese philosopher and educator. With the theme of carrying out dialogues among world civilizations advocated by the United Nations, the forum aims to promote world cultural diversity, cross-cultural exchanges, and to build a harmonious world. It is academic, non-governmental, international and open in nature.
The Nishan Forum was initiated by Prof. Xu Jialu. The first Nishan Forum was successfully held in Nishan on September 26th and 27th in 2010. The forum is held every two years and Shandong University is one of its sponsors. Shandong University was responsible for the design and organization of the academic activities for this forum.
When hosting the opening ceremony, on behalf the organizing committee of the Nishan Forum, Xu Xianming expressed gratitude to people of all circles at home and abroad who have given their support and spent great efforts to organize and prepare for this forum, and he extended a warm welcome to the guests, experts and scholars who attended the forum.
At the opening ceremony, Prof. Xu Jialu, initiator of the Nishan Forum and president of the Forum’s organizing committee, delivered the keynote speech.
Jiang Daming, Mexico's former President Vicente Fox, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning of UNESCO Dr. Hans d’Orville, and Senior Advisor Strategic Development and Partnerships at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Jean-Christophe Bas, also addressed the opening ceremony.
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Xu Jialu, Vice Chairman of the Ninth and Tenth National People's Congress Standing Committee and President of the Forum’s Organizing Committee, initiator of the Nishan Forum and President of the Forum’s organizing committee, delivers the keynote speech. |
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Jiang Daming, Deputy Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Governor of Shandong Province, makes a speech. |
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Xu Xianming, Member of National People's Congress Standing Committee, President of Shandong University and Vice President of the Forum’s organizing committee, hosts and addresses the opening ceremony. |
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Vicente Fox, Mexico's former President, addresses the opening ceremony. |
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Dr. Hans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning of UNESCO, gives a speech. |
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Jean-Christophe Bas, Senior Advisor Strategic Development and Partnerships at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, delivers a speech. |
Before the opening ceremony, Xu Xianming, along with experts, scholars and postgraduates students of SDU who attended the forum, attended the unveiling ceremony for the “Quadrate Ding Engraved with Dialogues among World Civilizations”.
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Xu Jialu and Xu Xianming unveiled the plaque for the “Center for Research and Experience of Traditional Chinese Culture” by Hanban and Shandong University in Nishan. |
After the opening ceremony, Xu Jialu and Xu Xianming unveiled the plaque for the “Center for Research and Experience of Traditional Chinese Culture” by Hanban and Shandong University in Nishan.
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The scene from the forum |
The theme of this year’s Nishan Forum is “Belief, Moral Values, Respect, Solidarity”. It will last three days and include seven high-level talks, two televised forums, seventeen academic conferences, five lectures, and six forums of doctoral students and entrepreneurs.
In addition, there are other activities such as the Book Exhibition on Dialogues between World Civilizations over the Past Decade, the commencement ceremony for the construction of national large-scale heritage site -Qufu District and 88 key heritage protection projects of Shandong Province, and the Violin Concert “Spring of Nishan” by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
Written by: Yu Jialiu
Photo by: Yang Yunlei
Edited by: Ben Hammer, Jing Zizhao