Chinese Culture – At the beginning there was Confucius

UPF-Austria: Vienna, April 24, 2007

At an evening about Chinese culture organized we realized the growing interest of the Viennese people in Confucianism and Chinese culture. More than 100 guests came to listen to a lecture by Mr. Jia Jianxin, Cultural Attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Vienna. After a beautiful Chinese dance and a presentation of a recently released film on Confucius, Chinese history and several aspects of its culture, Mr. Jianxin spoke about the importance of Confucian thinking for today's China - in fluent German.

His presentation was followed by a round table discussion. Topics like "What can Austrians learn from Confucius?" as well as questions on Chinese environmental protection were discussed. Among the panelists were Prof. Dr. Helmut Lukas, an expert on East and Southeast Asia and Mrs. Zhou, a China-Austria Business Consultant from the Austria-Hong Kong-Society. A piece of traditional Chinese music played on a bamboo flute concluded the official program. A Chinese travel agency sponsored a Chinese buffet which the guests enjoyed afterwards.