Many foreigners feel intimidated by the prospect of learning Chinese characters, but a fun exhibition at a university aims to enhance awareness of traditional Chinese culture.

The exhibition, launched by the National Museum of Chinese Writing, opened in the capital at Beijing Foreign Studies University on Monday, showcasing the origin, development and dissemination of Chinese characters.

"The exhibition adds historical and cultural atmosphere to the university," said Peng Long, the university president.

As a school specializing in foreign language teaching, the university plays an important role in promoting Chinese culture overseas, the president said, adding that the school has 64 foreign languages programs and more than 1,300 international students.

"Characters are not only for use, but an essence of human wisdom and civilization," said Feng Kejian, executive deputy curator of the National Museum of Chinese Writing.

"Chinese people are familiar with characters, but the exhibition provides a new angle for visitors to understand the origin and cultural messages characters convey, and the roles they play in civilization."

The traveling exhibition, launched on Aug 13, 2013, has already toured 23 places - 10 domestic and 13 overseas.

It is the second stop at a university, following one at Zhengzhou University in November.

The next move is to exhibit in government departments, communities and the army, Feng said.

President Xi Jinping urged the promotion of traditional Chinese culture among youth in 2014, prompting many universities to work toward the goal.

Renmin University of China established a li center on Sunday, aiming to study China's traditional rites including ceremonies and rules of conduct. Confucius described li as all traditional forms that provide a standard of conduct.

Sophomore student Wang Meili from BFSU was impressed by the character expo, which she came across by accident when she went to study in the library.

"I like traditional cultures, including music and Chinese traditional thought, but know little about Chinese characters and calligraphy. I like exhibitions like this, giving me direct explanation to some profound knowledge," Wang said, adding that as a student majoring in international relations, she has less access to traditional cultures and hopes for more similar expos on campus.

"It is very attractive, driving me to learn calligraphy," she said.

Wang Bo, director of the Chinese training center at the School of Chinese Language and Literature of BFSU, saw the exhibition as a good chance for her foreign students to learn Chinese characters.

She brought along about 30 foreign students from the Chinese program.

"Characters are the most difficult part when many foreign students learn Chinese. The exhibition makes characters tangible and more fun, telling them interesting stories about characters," Wang said, hoping the exhibition could ease foreign students' fear of characters.

However, she suggested providing oral English guidance to foreign students to make the mysterious characters more fun.

"We are focusing a lot on modern Chinese, the grammar and the structures, but we don't know the meaning of characters and the development of Chinese cultures," said student Ana Padilla from Spain, adding that she thought the exhibition was fascinating.

Mariya Shevchenko, a student from Ukraine, said, "When I studied Chinese at home I studied words, but I think the best way to study a language is to study the origin of it. In Chinese learning, it is to study characters."

luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 03/17/2015 page4)