CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE AT MSU CELEBRATES CHINESE NEW YEAR (OF THE DRAGON)

On January 21 MSU President Dr. Supachai Samappito attended Chinese New Year festivities at the invitation of MSU Confucius Institute Director Mr. Lin Haoye.

Chinese New Year is traditionally the most important holiday in China and marks the start of the fifteen day Spring Festival. As the Chinese calendar is lunar based, the day upon which New Year falls varies from year to year. 

This year Chinese New Year falls on January 23 and in 2013 will fall on February 10. Thai and Chinese students alike joined in the New Year celebrations for the Year of the Dragon held at the Confucius Institute Cultural Center located on the old campus in downtown Mahasarakham.

The popular Confucius Institute has now been in operation at MSU for five years, having celebrated this milestone in December. 

CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE CELEBRATES FIVE YEARS AT MSU

On December 16 the Confucius Institute held the fifth anniversary of its establishment at Mahasarakham University.

MSU President, Dr.  Supachai Samappito chaired the opening ceremony which was attended by many MSU Executive staff, Faculty Deans, students and staff.

The Confucius Institute is designated as part of MSU Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences with Faculty Dean and Director of the institute Dr. Somkiet Poopatwiboon giving the opening address.

Special guests, students and staff were treated to an exhibition of traditional Chinese music, song and dance during the celebrations.

The Confucius Institute at MSU may be described as a satellite institute of Guangxi University for Nationalities of the People’s Republic of China. It provides not only for MSU students but also for those interested in learning Chinese for communicative or business purposes within the local community and other provinces.

The Confucius Institutes offers Chinese language and culture courses, cultural exchange programs, calligraphy, Chinese song, dance and music. The institute also trains instructors in Chinese and provides information and consultation regarding Chinese education.

Many volunteer teachers from China come to Mahasarakham and surrounding provinces where Chinese language and culture is taught to over four thousand secondary and primary school students in Mahasarakham and surrounding provinces.

Visitors to MSU and Mahasarakham are welcome to visit the recently opened Confucius Cultural Experience Centre located on the old campus in downtown Mahasarakham. 

MSU CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE OPENS NEW CHINESE CULTURE EXPERIENCE CENTER

On September 12 MSU Confucius Institute held the official opening of its new Chinese Culture Experiencing Center. Confucius Institute Director Mr Lin Hayoe (pictured left) was on hand to personally welcome every guest to the event which auspiciously coincided with traditional Chinese Mid Autumn Festival celebrations.

The Chinese Culture Experience Center is located in the Confucius Institute building in MSU downtown campus.

Although not a large exhibition, the center contains an array of examples of Chinese cultural items exhibited in an atmosphere which is purely Chinese; a little piece of China in the middle of Mahasarakham, if you will.

Besides the immaculately presented static exhibits there is also a wall of large interactive touch screens providing a huge amount of information on China. It is felt these screens will be a huge hit with visiting schoolchildren (of all ages).

After the speeches and tour of the exhibition guests were treated to a Mid Autumn Festival Eve Party stage show which included traditional Chinese dance blended with a mixture of modern song and dance.

Invited guests were also presented with Chinese moon cakes which are traditionally presented to friends during the mid autumn festival. 

There is a Chinese folk tale which entails the overthrow of Mongol rule ending the Yuan Dynasty in China in the mid 14^th Century. Ming revolutionaries spread a rumour of a deadly plague spreading - the only method of prevention being to eat special moon cakes (apparently Mongols did not eat moon cakes). Therefore moon cakes became a very popular food item. The catch was Ming revolutionaries were sending secret messages inside the moon cakes to coordinate the Han Chinese revolt which is fabled to have occurred on mid autumn, the 15^th day of the eighth lunar month.
The mid autumn festival is sometimes referred to as the Mooncake Festival.

Visitors are welcome to visit the Chinese Cultural Experience Center although it would be best to contact the MSU Confucius Center first (Phone: (66) 0- 4374-2824 or email: Mahakongzi@hotmail.com).
For visitors there is also beautiful small shaded park just outside the Confucius Center and a canteen located fifty metres away. A wonderful way to spend a morning or afternoon.