Review of the Confucius Institutes’ Strategy for the Dissemination of Chinese Culture

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 391-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wu Ying
2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 647-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Schmidt

Abstract. Confucius Institutes (CIs), modelled on similar European organizations, promote China’s official national language and culture abroad. Unlike their European counterparts, however, the interactions between CIs and Canadian audiences are haunted by complex histories of a racialized “Oriental Other” in Canada and “Western Other” in China. Through ethnographic research on the Confucius Institute in Edmonton and the CI Headquarters in Beijing, this paper explores racialized representations of China and Chinese culture, as well as racialized understandings of the desired Western audience, in both locations. I argue that representations of Chinese culture are caught between two competing logics which I term reorientalism and reorientality. Reorientalism attempts to reclaim definitions of Chineseness and redress misunderstandings about China while simultaneously making China comprehensible and ultimately marketable through reorientality, or a use of familiar Orientalist tropes. Canadians (most often imagined and represented as white) are encouraged to engage with this reorientality through their own performance and embodiment of Chinese culture (a conceptually distinct process I call re-orientality) as a means of understanding the project of reorientalism. However, the spectacle of Chinese culture through CIs resonates with Canadian multiculturalism in ways that may unintentionally reproduce a social landscape that normalizes whiteness and the consumption of ethnicized Otherness.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Marco Volpe ◽  
Li Qiuyang

<p align="LEFT">Along with a considerable increase of the</p><p align="LEFT">people involved in studying Chinese culture and</p><p align="LEFT">Chinese language, Confucius Institute, initially</p><p align="LEFT">founded in 2004 in Seoul, South Korea,</p><p align="LEFT">provoked different reactions regarding to the</p><p align="LEFT">management and the activity held. Especially</p><p align="LEFT">on American press, the debate focused on what</p><p align="LEFT">the real aim of the project consists in, has been</p><p align="LEFT">retained responsible for political propaganda</p><p align="LEFT">and a threat for the academic freedom. Soon</p><p align="LEFT">the debate involved reporters, journalists,</p><p align="LEFT">Chinese Studies experts, sinologists and</p><p align="LEFT">Confucius Institutes directors from every part of</p><p>the world, leading the debate to an</p><p align="LEFT">international dimension. 32 articles published</p><p align="LEFT">since 2010 on the Italian national newspapers,</p><p align="LEFT">periodicals, specialized website and online</p><p align="LEFT">channels, have been collected and examined in</p><p align="LEFT">order to propose a critical analysis on how the</p><p align="LEFT">image of Confucius Institute is perceived in Italy</p><p align="LEFT">through examining the discourse of the Italian</p><p>press and the voices of the experts in the press.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Natalia V. Selezneva

Southeast Asian countries have always been one of the priority regions of the Chinese foreign policy due both to the geographic proximity and to the long historical and cultural connections and new forms of economic and trade cooperation which have been formed on that basis. Vietnam supports close interaction with its northern neighbour not only in the Party matters, but also in the trade and economic, agricultural, tourism, educational, medical, and other spheres. Naturally, this suggests intense learning of the Chinese language on a large scale. China, in its turn, is interested in maintenance and increase of its positive image among the countries of Southeast Asia. That is why China applies various methods and tools of nonforce pressure, which are known as cultural soft power. One of these tools is the Confucius Institute (Classes). China considered it the site of promotion of the Chinese language and Chinese culture abroad. From the outside, Vietnam and China appear to move toward each other in the matter of teaching and learning Chinese, but the reality shows that the Vietnamese side is not hastening to join the Chinese initiative, striving to control the situation, and does not let the Chinese side expand the Confucius Institutes network in Vietnam. Also, the analysis of the situation has shown the insignificant role of the Confucius Institutes in teaching the Chinese language.


2020 ◽  
pp. 137-155
Author(s):  
Shaun Breslin

As China continues to “rise” in world affairs, its international image is becoming more and more important. The Chinese Communist Party and government has become interested in—some would say obsessed with—its international image. In recent years it has sponsored mega events such as the Shanghai Expo and Olympic Games, G-20 Summit, and Belt and Road Forums. Beijing has also established Confucius Institutes (CIs) and classrooms worldwide, and has internationalized the Chinese media. This chapter examines China’s “soft power” and traces the historical precedents behind the contemporary promotion of Chinese culture abroad. It finds that, despite enormous investment, China’s internatonal image continues to be mixed and challenged by a number of domestic impediments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-11
Author(s):  

In 1956, UNESCO confirmed the top ten cultural celebrities in the world, and Confucius was ranked first in the list. In recent years, “Confucius fever” has become a trend all over the world, and Confucius Institutes have been set up in many countries. Qufu, Confucius’ hometown, is an important material carrier of Confucius thought, Confucian philosophy and Chinese culture. It is of far-reaching cultural significance. Its overseas communication has made some achievements, but still needs redoubled efforts. In the context of globalization, it is necessary to take measures to promote the global understanding of the San Kong, also called “The Three Confucian [sites]” in Qufu, including the Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 176-186
Author(s):  
Xinhui Bi ◽  
Iuliia A. Azarenko

With the increase of Sino-Russian cooperation in various fields, interest in Chinese is growing in Russia, which highlights the role of Confucius Institute to meet demand. Confucius Institute is a non-profit educational organization jointly established by China and other countries. Each of the 22 Confucius Institutes and classrooms in Russia present its distinctive feature and work hard in helping the Russian people learn Chinese, understand Chinese culture and enhance the humanist exchange between China and Russia. Chinese education is the most important task of the institutes. Using Confucius Institute of Novosibirsk State University as an example, this paper introduces works done by the institute from three aspects. Firstly, it contributes to Chinese education in the university. Secondly, it meets local residents’ needs to learn Chinese. Thirdly, it broadens the scope of regional cooperation and trains local Chinese teachers. With the support of Xinjiang University in China, the Confucius Institute at Novosibirsk State University has cooperated with many higher and secondary education institutions in Russia to expand international cooperation in Chinese education. The effective work of Confucius Institute at Novosibirsk State University has proved that it has played an active role in Chinese education. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, all Confucius Institutes and classrooms in Russia have continued operating by taking advantage of online teaching and learning and explored the route of development characterized with “Internet + Chinese”. The authors believe that Confucius Institutes will keep on contributing to the Chinese education in Russia with the joint efforts of both parties.


2021 ◽  
pp. 468-480
Author(s):  
Elena Vladimirovna Gavrilova ◽  
Oleg Ivanovich Karpukhin

The article analyzes the activities of Confucius Institutes as a subject of modern foreign cultural policy of China. Methods of increasing influence at the international level are very diverse, ranging from China's participation in international projects (cultural and industrial exhibitions, Olympiads, scientific forums, etc.) organized on its territory to the organization of the media space that gradually covers the whole world. To implement the state policy of "soft power", the Chinese government approved the development of Chinese educational and cultural centers around the world. These institutions bear the name of the greatest Chinese philosopher, the teacher of the nation, Confucius. In China, his name is associated with culture and education, as the philosopher himself attached great importance to tradition and education. The Confucius Institutes network provides opportunities for personal and business contacts of the international community with representatives of Chinese science, culture, business, and politics. Such meetings increase the interest in learning the language, raising it to a more pragmatic level, associated with obtaining new opportunities. As a rule, the departments of the Confucius Institute are opened on the basis of Oriental Studies faculties in the leading national universities of a particular country. Thanks to their educational and cultural projects, the Confucius Institutes arouse not only great interest and desire to join the values of Chinese culture, but also enjoy great trust among all those who love China or plan to connect their lives with the prospects that this country opens for friends, opening up new prospects for student and professor mobility.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Schmidt

AbstractThis article examines the use of material objects and interactive technologies in Confucius Institutes (CIs) as a means of affectively engaging foreign audiences. By asking for an emotional investment in Chinese culture on the part of foreigners, CIs work to re-orient audiences outside China towards the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in positive ways. In particular, I examine a museum-like exhibit space in CI headquarters titled the


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