Chinese Language Day—20th April

Chinese language day was initiated by the United Nations to celebrate the language, its facts, and its culture. It is observed on April 20th every year. UN Department of public information took this initiative in 2010 to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity. They also planned the promotion of all six languages of the United Nations throughout the organization.

History of Chinese day

Chinese got its place in the United Nations in 1946. It was not much in use and practice in the United Nations' work. However, the situation got better with the restoration of the lawful placing of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations in 1971. Moreover, a general assembly of the United Nations included Chinese as a working language in 1974.

They selected the date of 20th April to pay homage to Cangjie, who was a legendary figure in China. He is a great historian and is also considered an inventor of Chinese characters. According to history, he invented these characters about 5000 years ago.

Significance of ‘Guyu’

They celebrated Chinese language day in 2010 for the first time. However, the date was different i.e. 12th of November. Its date was later changed to the 20th of April due to Guyu in the Chinese calendar. Chinese people celebrate ‘Guyu’ which roughly happens to start on April 20th. They celebrate Guyu in the honor of Cangjie who invented Chinese characters, deities, and ghosts, and they all cried and it further rained millet. ‘Guyu’ word literally means “rain of millet”.

Annual events

There are different events and activities held every year. At UN headquarters in New York, a three-event series which is organized by the UNSRC Chinese book club is conducted.Moreover, it has its focuses on three types of pictographs Liangzhu inscribed symbols, Dongba script, and oracle bone script. It is associated with three cultures and also refers to three UNESCO world heritage sites The archeological ruins of Liangzhu city, the old town of Lijiang, and Yinxu). The three events were

Guided tour of the Lianghzu Museum

A language class on Dongba script

A lecture on the origin and Chinese characters' evolution

Three events were also conducted within three broader contexts. Four great ancient civilizations, multilingualism, and a pristine writing system. These events were conducted via zoom starting from 19th April to 21, 2021. China’s permanent representative to the UN and ambassador Zhang Jun delivered his speech at the first event.

Final words

Chinese language day is celebrated on the 20th of April. The date was selected to honor the Chinese legendary figure who invented Chinese language characters around 5000 years ago. Chinese language speakers and enthusiasts celebrate the day by conducting different activities and cultural practices.