(30th October, 2017, Accra)
Honorable Dr. Joel Sonne, Chief Director of the Ministry for Tourism, Culture and Arts and representative of the Minister,
Honorable Ishmael Ashietey, Regional Minister of the Greater Accra,
Honorable Frank Quist, Chief Director of the Ministry for Youth and Sports,
Respected Director of Public Relations of the Ministry of Education,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My Compatriots,
Good evening! I'm very delighted to welcome you all at the China-aided National Theatre for the WULIN HANYUN performance! Since its inception in 1992, the National Theatre has witnessed many performances of Chinese art groups. Tonight it will stage another radiating show of Chinese Kung Fu, folk music and dancing.
WULIN HANYUN troupe comes from the Henan Province of China, the birth place of the 5000-year Chinese culture and hometown of Chinese Kung Fu. The world-famous Shaolin Temple is located in the Henan Province. Over the past thousand years, Shaolin monks have been using their Kung Fu to protect the safety of local people and countless legendary stories are associated with their great deeds.
I believe many of the guests present today are no stranger to Chinese Kung Fu because Bruce Li, Jackie Chen, Jet Li and other movie stars have earned their international fame. However, what exactly is Chinese Kung Fu?
Kung Fu, formally called martial arts, is a philosophy. In Chinese character, martial is composed of two words meaning stop and weapon. Therefore Kung Fu contains the meaning of termination of war. It stops fighting rather than starts fighting. Termination of war is the ultimate goal of martial arts. The purpose of learning Kung Fu is not to threaten others, but to safeguard peace and social justice. This means that people must learn how to lay down weapons before learning how to use weapons.
Kung Fu is a spirit. It not only strengthens people’s physical fitness and responsiveness, but also improves people's internal traits and external behavior, contributing to the cultivation of sound mentality and morality. There is an old Chinese saying, “learn the etiquette before learning the skill, and learn the ethics before learning Kung Fu”. So before learning Kung Fu, one must first become a good person. During the thousand year’s time, the ethical tradition of “respecting masters, obeying justice, helping the poor, protecting the good and destroying the wicked” has been carried forward and become a valuable spiritual wealth for succeeding generations.
Kung Fu is a cultural life. As time passes, Kung Fu has been given a new meaning and has become the favorite way of fitness for Chinese people. You can see people practicing Tai Chi boxing and Tai Chi swordsmanship everywhere in China. Kung Fu has also developed into a popular sports event because of its high degree of confrontation and skill and Kung Fu contests always become the focus of media. Kung Fu has evolved into a performing art too as it is expressive and elegant. Kung Fu performances that contain oriental aesthetics are popular among peoples of the world, and have become a beautiful name card for cultural exchange between China and other countries.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
China-Ghana friendship enjoys a long history. Ghana is the second country in sub-Saharan Africa to establish diplomatic relations with China. The old generation leaders of the two countries have forged a profound friendship. Since the NPP took office this January, the new government has firmly adhered to the friendly policy towards China and is committed to building a stronger Ghana-China relation. In June, Vice President Dr. Bawumia visited China successfully, injecting strong impetus into the development of China-Ghana relationship.
The cultural communication and cooperation between China and Ghana are also becoming increasingly close. Two Confucius Institutes that have been established in Ghana play a very important role in promoting Chinese language teaching and Chinese culture and are very popular among Ghanaian people. Last month, several Ghanaian students performed authentic Chinese Kung Fu at the Confucius Institute Day Celebration.
One week ago, the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was concluded in Beijing successfully. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the mission of the CPC has always been to make a new and greater contribution to mankind. The aim of China's diplomacy is to build a community with a shared future for mankind. China will strengthen solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries guided by the principle of upholding justice while pursuing shared interests and the principle of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith. China appeals that people respect the diversity of civilizations and replace estrangement with exchange, clashes with mutual learning and superiority with coexistence in handling relations among civilizations. Chinese people are ready to work with the people of all other countries to create a bright future for all of us.
By conclusion, I wish all of you a pleasant night and wish tonight’s performance a complete success!
Thank you!