North African Sinologists open new page

Around 30 Sinologists and translators from North African countries including Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, gathered in Rabat, the Moroccan capital, on Dec 22 to discuss mutual learning between civilizations and regional development.

The conference, held at the city's China Cultural Center, has keynote speeches and roundtable dialogues on topics like development of Sinology in North Africa, the translation and publication of Chinese literature in the region, as well as Chinese language education and talent cultivation in the area.

"The history of civilizational exchanges between China and Africa shows that it is only through exchanges and mutual learning can a civilization maintain its vitality," says Ji Bingxuan, head of the Chinese Association for International Understanding.

He stresses the importance of holding dialogue between the two sides, promoting inclusiveness and mutual learning, and suggests that China and the North African countries explore together, within their cultural traditions, the enduring ideas that can contribute to today's development.

The director hopes that the Sinologists can take action to eliminate misunderstanding, misinterpretation and misjudgment caused by cultural differences between countries and their people, and to interpret Chinese civilization and share its wisdom with the world.

Abdel Aziz Hamdi, Sinologist and head of the Chinese language department of Al-Azhar University in Egypt, reviews the more than 20 Chinese literary works he has translated, and pointed out the crucial role that the Chinese authorities, foreign academic institutions and publishers have played in translating and publishing Chinese literature globally.

He says, a greater number of Arab readers these days expect to learn more about Chinese history, culture and society through literary works, and a growing number of young translators have joined the undertaking of transposing Chinese literature into Arabic.

Khalid Hammes, Moroccan Sinologist and an economics professor at the Mohammed V University in Rabat, compares the Confucian ideal "the doctrine of the mean" that is embedded in the Chinese culture and that has similar reflections in the Moroccan culture.

Despite the differences in cultural backgrounds and historical development, he says, the two countries both uphold the principles like balance, coordination, as well as respect for each other's sovereignty and independence, when dealing with international relations and regional affairs.

This approach not only embodies the essence of the doctrine, but also demonstrates the wisdom of both countries in tackling complex international relations, he adds.

According to Tunisian Sinologist Samah Mohamed Korashy Abdelkader, for the past two years, seminars on Chinese language education in North Africa have been held by the Confucius Institute of the University of Carthage in Tunis, the capital city, and the university's higher institute of languages, in order to deepen knowledge in the field.

She adds that Chinese books on various topics have been introduced to the region via the effort of platforms such as the Oriental Knowledge Publishing Company, which have become an important window through which the Arab world can learn about China.