__NOTOC__ UN Chinese Language Day () is observed annually on April 20. The event was established by the

UN Department of Public Information The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) (prior to 1 January 2019, the United Nations Department of Public Information) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations. It is tasked with raising public awareness and ...

in 2010, seeking "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

". April 20 was chosen as the date "to pay tribute to

Cangjie Cangjie is a legendary figure in Chinese mythology, said to have been an official historian of the Yellow Emperor and the inventor of Chinese characters. Legend has it that he had four eyes, and that when he invented the characters, the deities ...

, a mythical figure who is presumed to have invented

Chinese characters Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...

about 5,000 years ago". The first Chinese Language Day was celebrated in 2010 on the 12th of November, but since 2011 the date has been the 20th of April, roughly corresponding to

Guyu The traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar divide a year into 24 solar terms. ''Gǔyǔ'', ''Kokuu'', ''Gogu'', or ''Cốc vũ'' is the 6th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 30° and ends when it reaches the ...

in the

Chinese calendar The traditional Chinese calendar, dating back to the Han dynasty, is a lunisolar calendar that blends solar, lunar, and other cycles for social and agricultural purposes. While modern China primarily uses the Gregorian calendar for officia ...

. Chinese people celebrate Guyu (which usually begins around April 20) in honour of Cangjie, because of a legend that when Cangjie invented Chinese characters, the deities and ghosts cried and it rained millet; the word "Guyu" literally means "rain of millet".

Annual Events

2021

The Events Theme for 2021 is Highlighting Pictographs. In UN Headquarters in New York, a three-event series organized by UNSRC Chinese Book Club focused on three types of

pictographs A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...

( Liangzhu inscribed symbols,

Dongba script The Dongba, Tomba or Tompa or Mo-so symbols are a system of pictographic glyphs used by the '' ²dto¹mba'' (Bon priests) of the Naxi people in southern China. In the Naxi language it is called ''²ss ³dgyu'' 'wood records' or ''²lv ³dgyu'' ' ...

and

oracle bone script Oracle bone script is the oldest attested form of written Chinese, dating to the late 2nd millennium BC. Inscriptions were made by carving characters into oracle bones, usually either the shoulder bones of oxen or the plastrons of turtl ...

) associated with three cultures and three UNESCO

World Heritage Sites World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

( Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City,

Old Town of Lijiang Dayan (), commonly called the Old Town of Lijiang () is the historical center of Lijiang City, in Yunnan, China. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. History The town has a history going back more than 1,000 years and was once a confluence for ...

and

Yinxu Yinxu (; ) is a Chinese archeological site corresponding to Yin, the final capital of the Shang dynasty (). Located in present-day Anyang, Henan, Yin served as the capital during the Late Shang period () which spanned the reigns of 12 Shang ki ...

). The three events were: a guided tour of the Liangzhu Museum, a language class on Dongba script, and a lecture on the origin and evolution of Chinese characters (the oracle bone script, and ''Liushu'', or pictographically-based character building in Chinese). The three events were also placed within three broader contexts: the four great ancient civilizations,

multilingualism Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, and pristine writing systems. The three events were conducted via

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Zoom'' (2006 film), starring Tim Allen * ''Zoom'' (2015 film), a Canada-Brazil film by Pedro Morelli * ''Zoom'' (2016 Kannada film), a Kannada film * ''Zoom'' (2016 Sinhala film), a Sr ...

from April 19 to 21, 2021. China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador

Zhang Jun Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

, delivered a speech at the first event.

References

External links

Official site
(English)
Official site
(Chinese) April observances United Nations language days {{holiday-stub

Annual Events

2021

See also

References

External links