On Friday 28 September 2012, the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury (CIUC) successfully presented a CI Focus seminar titled “Interpreting Confucius: the Analects”. This seminar was specially provided for the 2012 Annual Conference of the New Zealand Association of Philosophy Teachers (NZAPT). The president of NZAPT, Mr Jay Sloss was present, with over 20 members of the association, as wells as a number of students. The key speakers were Prof Li Licheng of Beijing Language and Culture University and Dr Song Zhifang, who is a lecturer of the University of Canterbury’s College of Arts.

Prof Hu Hong began by briefly introducing the Confucius Institute, in order to give the audience a general understanding of the Institute’s purpose and function. Prof Li Licheng followed by introducing and explaining the central tenets and structure of The Analects. Dr Song Zhifang then discussed the effect of The Analects on China’s common people. The audience displayed a high degree of enthusiasm and interest in Dr Song and Prof Li’s presentation, and showed this by asking questions that demonstrated a thorough understanding of ancient China. Some of the questions even involved comparisons of the Taoist and Confucian schools of thought. A large number of those attending expressed considerable interest in the impact of Confucian thinking on the young people of Modern China. Because of time constraints, the seminar ended before people’s desire for information was satisfied. When Mr Jay Sloss expressed his appreciation for the seminar, he said that he hoped that there would be more seminars like this so that more opportunities could be provided for local residents to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese culture.