• 2017-09-25

On September 25, the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS) held “A Dialogue between Tea and Music,” a Moon Festival tea party for visiting scholars, at the Nanhai Academy (南海學園). All scholars supported by a CCS Research Grant for Foreign Scholars in Chinese Studies or MOFA Taiwan Fellowship were invited to the event, which took place with the Moon Festival just around the corner. 47 scholars hailing from 20 countries attended the party, where they had the chance to experience a traditional Taiwanese festival celebration.

NCL Director-General Tseng Shu-hsien (曾淑賢) and Deputy Director of the MOFA’s Department of Policy Planning Tan Kuo-ting (譚國定) both gave welcoming speeches before the party began. Then, to create a festive atmosphere, Mr. Hou Kuang-yu (侯廣宇), a famous flute player, was invited to perform to kick off the celebrations. The half-time performance was given by Ms. Chen Ya-yun (陳雅筠), a young guzheng player, who gave a wonderful interpretation of the tune “Western Chinese Fantasy” (西部主題暢想曲). At the end of the party, Mr. Pan Chun-jern (潘俊仁) put on his make up and took to the stage to perform “Concubine Yu’s Sword Dance” (虞姬劍舞). The scholars were full of praise for Mr. Pan’s gentle and lovely movements in his portrayal of a woman. The audience could not take their eyes off him as they cheered and clapped, bringing the Moon Festival Tea Party to a climax!

During the tea party, the scholars and their families not only tasted festival foods such as mooncakes and Taiwanese pomelo, but enjoyed chatting with their colleagues from other countries. They shared not only their experiences of living in Taiwan, but also the research resources useful in their respective fields and what they had learned.