On the afternoon of September 10, SBC Year one students wearing ancient Chinese costume from the Han Dynasty expressed their sincere gratitude to their teachers in accordance with Chinese tradition. Professor John Wilson, Principal and CEO of SBC, Dr Liu Bin, Secretary of Joint General Party Branch, Fuxing Campus, as well as several SBC academic teachers and administrative teachers attend the event.
In ancient China, students would have to give their teachers a gift before they formally became the teacher’s student. The gift had to include six different things, each of which implied different meanings. These were celery, which indicates that the student will study hard; lotus seeds, which indicates that teachers put a great deal of effort in to their teaching; red beans, which indicate the wish for students to have a successful career; Chinese dates, which indicate the wish for students to have great achievements; longans, which indicate that teachers will complete their work successfully, and dried slices of meet, which indicate students’ sincere gratitude to their teachers. Around a hundred Year one SBC students gave these gifts to their teachers and bowed to them in a Chinese traditional salute. Except for the traditional rituals, students also danced and recited a poem with music to thank the teachers for their effort.
The whole event was initiated and organized by Chen Junwei, a SBC Year one student. He said that, unlike the situation at other Chinese universities, most of SBC teachers are foreigners. As Chinese students, they wanted to give their best wishes to the teachers in a unique way, a traditional Chinese way. He added that in their mind, this was the sincerest way to thank all the teachers.
In China, it is a traditional virtue for people to respect their teachers and value education. There are many expressions to describe this virtue, which can be found in many of Chinese famous ancient books. This was China’s 31st Annual Teacher’s Day. To celebrate the day in the traditional Chinese manner shows the cross cultural education of SBC as one of the features and focuses of SBC’s teaching and learning mission.
