The Chinese Traditional Culture and Arts Week

Rites and music are the essential components of ancient and modern Chinese culture.
In the sixth century A.C, Confucius told his followers that music feeds the spirit and helps us in the search for inner balance, and this is a belief that is still continued today. The rites suggest respect for roles and for others and they permeate Confucian ethics. Kong Aiping, descendant of the Confucius family, comes to Italy for the first time to hold a lecture on traditional Chinese rituals in everyday life and in contemporary China. She is also a famous Kunqu actress, one of the oldest forms of Chinese opera.

The conference, "Etiquette in Traditional Chinese Opera" will take place in Aula Baratto of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice on Monday, November 14th at 10am. The second event, on November 16th at 10:00 am (Aula Baratto), will focus on the famous character of The Monkey in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West (Xiyouji), also known as The Monkey (late sixteenth century), the story of the monk Xuanzang (Tripitaka), en route from China to India in search of Buddhist scriptures. The Monkey, miraculous and ineffable, assists the Buddhist Monk in his difficult task, and performs magic tricks and adventures to achieve immortality. The performance will be preceded by an introductory lecture by Prof. Marco Ceresa, a professor of Chinese literature and director of the the Ca’ Foscari Confucius Institute.

Finally, to crown the two events, the week of culture and traditional arts ends with a classical Chinese music concert, "Beyond the sense - Music from the Soul", Friday, November 18th at 5pm  in the Santa Margherita Auditorium.
The Week of Chinese Culture and Traditional Arts is organized by the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Department of Asian and North African Studies, the Dunhuang Culture Promotion Foundation and the Confucius Institute of Venice.