News

In February and March, interns from the Confucius Institute of Vilnius University held Chinese culture lessons.

In February, at the Vilnius University Confucius Institute, we celebrated the 160th anniversary of the birth of Chinese artist Qi Baishi and watched a short film about his artwork.

In February, Ieva Virbalaitė, a tea ceremony specialist with many years of experience, introduced participants to Chinese tea and its preparation at the event "The Magic of Chinese Tea in the Background of Qi Baishi's Paintings."

We celebrated Chinese New Year by organizing a quiz game for kids in our institute.

In January, at our institute, in the lecture “Dragons in Chinese Culture and Cosmology”, Sinology studies teacher and PhD student, junior assistant Balys Astrauskas, introduced the meaning and significance of dragon in fields such as culture, religion, government and cosmology.

On the last Saturday of January, the Confucius Institute at Vilnius University was buzzing with children's excitement and enthusiasm, as the much-anticipated Chinese language and culture quiz took place.

On 20 January we had a virtual meeting with translator Indre Balčikonyte-Huang, who was awarded the Dominik Urba Prize in 2024 for her translation of Shuang Xuetao's (双雪涛, b.1983) short story collection "Rouge street" (2023) - one of the first translations of Chinese literature into Lithuanian, and the first translated work of the same title was also included in the lists of the best translated works of the year.

In the last lecture of the lecture series "Great Classical Chinese Novels", Balys Astrauskas, Junior Assistant, Lecturer and PhD student at the Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies of Vilnius University, presented another Chinese novel "The Dream of the Red Chamber". This novel is considered one of the four great classical Chinese novels and is known for its complex plot and profound themes.

We ended the year with a high-profile lecture on health, "Taiji: brain-body harmony from a neurobiological perspective", given by Osvaldas Rukšėnas, PhD, Professor and Head of the Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics at the Institute of Biosciences.

The fourth lecture was dedicated to one of the most scandalous and controversial works of Chinese fiction - "The Plum Branch in the Golden Vase", delivered by a lecturer, PhD student, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies of Vilnius University. Balys Astrauskas. 

On 16 October, we listened to the lecture "Journey to the West" from the lecture series Great Classical Chinese Novels, given by Balys Astrauskas, a junior assistant professor, lecturer and PhD student at the VU Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies.

In the second week of September, we delved into the truths of Confucius in a lecture by Dr. V. Silius on "Confucius - The Teacher".  We also celebrated Teacher's Day in China on 10 September, which is associated with the philosopher's birthday. After all, Confucius (Kongzi 孔子) entered Chinese tradition and is still remembered today as the "teacher of ten thousand generations".

On the occasion of the birthday of the Chinese philosopher, politician, teacher and founder of Confucianism Confucius, the audience had the opportunity to hear a lecture by Dr. Assoc. Prof. L. Poškaitė on "Confucianism in Traditional and Contemporary China".

At the end of September, the Ukrainian Chinese artist Qi Xiaoting visited our institute for the 6th time, giving 4 Chinese painting and 1 Chinese calligraphy workshop.

As the summer is in full swing, we invited all those interested in Chinese culture to the last painting workshop of this academic year with our beloved, already four-times visiting Ukrainian-Chinese artist from Germany Qi Xiaoting [Chi Shaoting]

This year, the summer camp at our institute was unique in that it took place in two shifts: the last week of June for the younger children and the first week of July for the older group.

This spring, we met twice in a cosy circle of like-minded people, as well as visitors to our Taiji courses, to strengthen our health.

We started the lecture series "Great Classic Chinese Novels" with the lecture "Heros of the marches" (Shuǐhǔ zhuàn 水滸傳/水浒传).  It was given by j. asst. professor at the Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies, VU. B. Astrauskas.

The first lecture of this series presented one of the oldest Chinese novels 小说 xiāo shuō. It is a colourful, expressive, multi-layered tale full of action, intrigue and timeless humour about a brotherhood of 108 robbers who operated in the Shandong province of what is now Kaifeng. The action took place during the reign of the northern Sòng 宋 Emperor Huīzōng 徽宗 in the 12th century (960-1127). This group was characterised by endless heroism and exceptional brotherhood.

In this lecture, the speaker introduced us to the late emergence of the prose genre, as poetry had a much higher status in China.

Since the end of the 20th century , Taoism became a global religion from a local Chinese religion. It attracts many so-called "spiritual tourists" from the West and especially the United States, who want to acquire various "superpowers" or go on "spiritual journeys" and ecstatic experiences.

24-26 April Vilnius University hosted the ATSIbusk'24 events as it does every year. These days are aimed at both students and the general public who want to get to know Asia and the Middle East better. The three days were packed with interesting lectures, exclusive workshops and inspiring activities.