A major event occurred at the United Nations in New York City, not surprisingly the event was not covered on any of the major Western news networks.

The Chinese Ethnic Scripts Exhibition made its debut and was organized by Liu Jieyi, permanent representative of China to the U.N. and The Chinese National Museum of Ethnology.

The event featured approx. 56 different ways of writing “Hépíng yǔ héxié 和平与和谐 or he” which roughly translates as peace and harmony. Each of China’s ethnic groups were represented with their local script and many were additionally represented with local traditional clothing and photos of the various regions.

Liu, informed the audience that the scripts & dialects represent China’s accumulated wisdom and are an integral part of China’s civilization.

Some of the scripts and exhibits included:

• Han Scripts: including an ancient tortoise shell used for I-Ching divination/consultations and Taoist scripts
• Qiang script
• Va script

“Liu said, Diversity enriches culture and makes our world a better one. Ethnic interactions and interdependence have formed a unique multifaceted cultural heritage in China’s 5,000-year history. He explained, In my view, the various ethnic scripts on display represent the richness of these cultures that are part of China’s heritage. The Chinese writing system is one of the oldest known written languages in the world. They’re indispensable resources for understanding China’s multi-ethnic history and culture. These ethnic scripts not only contribute to the preservation of unique cultural identities, but also celebrate cultural diversity around the world. (The China Voice by Kaileen Wang)”

Liu wanted to host the exhibit at the U.N. to share this accumulated wisdom with the world as the principles of peace and harmony are at the core of Chinese civilization and should be goals for all of mankind.

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