Monday, September 28, 2009

It's 教師節 (Jiaoshi Jie, Teachers' Day)!


September 28, 2009

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It's Teachers' Day in Taiwan! Do you have Teachers' Day in your country?
What do you do on that day?

In Taiwan, we show our appreciation to our teachers mostly with cards.
There's also festival celebration in the temples of Confucius around the island and overseas, known as the "Grand Ceremony Dedicated to Confucius" or "Confucius Memorial Service".
Confucius is known as "Zhìshèngxiānshī" (The Most Sage Venerated Late Teacher) and also "Wànshìshībiǎo" (Role Model for Teachers through the Ages). His teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced many Asian people's thoughts and life.
Below is a video of one of the "Confucius Memorial Service" in Taipei Confucius Temple and one in San Francisco in 2008.

Video title: "Taiwan Hongguan Dianshi TMACTV Jikongdadian"
( Taiwan Macroview TV TMACTV Confucius Memorial Ceremony)
The 3 Chinese characters on the screen before you play the video: "Bayiwu"
( Eight-Row Dance).
CLICK HERE then scroll down to "Worship" section to see the detail.





Conversation of the day ( pinyin & translation ):

Xuesheng men: Qinai de laoshi Jiaoshijie kuaile!
( Students: Dear teacher, Happy Teachers' Day! )

Laoshi: Xiexie nimen!
( Teacher: Thanks to you all! )

Xuesheng men: Zhe shi song gei nin de kapian.( Students: This is a card for you.)Laoshi: Wa! Xiexie nimen de kapian!
( Teacher: Wow! Thanks for your card! )


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I'll be sharing a song "Grateful Heart" in the next post. Stay tuned!

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8 comments:

Cyrano C said...

Yup, Happy Teachers' Day :) I have never been one of those Confucius Memorial Ceremony ...

Unknown said...

Very happy teachers' day to you. We do celebrate this grand day. But this is my first time to watch the Confucius Memory Ceremony.

Jakkie said...

Hi. The ceremony looked interesting. By being American, I couldn't understand much about what was going on. I would appreciate an explanation.

Dale said...

Laoshi Jiaoshijie kuaile! We also celebrate by giving the Teachers cards or small gifts of appreciation. This is done more on an individual basis and not as whole like shown in the video. Some children participate and some don't. I enjoyed the ceremony presentation with it's music and colorful dress and music, along with the unified respectful appreciation given to the Teachers by their students. Something rarely seen nor given here in the U.S.A. Hen hao! Xiexie ni :)

Jeannie said...

Thanks, Cyrano and James. I myself have never been to the ceremony either...lol
I would love to when I get any chance.

Jeannie said...

Thanks, Jakkie!

About the Teacher's Day:

It's a day to memorialize our greatest teacher, Confucius (lived in China about 2500 years ago), in Chinese history. There's a link to Confucius Wiki page on the post if you'd like to know more about him.

On that day, Chinese people holds a grand ceremony to celebrate it. The dance in the video is part of the ceremony.

It's also a day to show our appreciation to our teachers. Most students send cards to their teachers on this day.

I hope this helps you understand a bit.

Jeannie said...

Dale, thank you so much!
The ceremony in the video is to memorialize our greatest ancient teacher, Confucius, not for the teachers who are teaching now. I'm glad that you enjoy the music and dress in the video. I like the dress better though...lol

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