October 28, 2016, was a lovely day. The sky was clear and the breeze was warm and comfortable. It was at such a wonderful day that this week`s IFC event was held. This Friday`s event was a lecture delivered by Prof. Yang Defeng from the College of Chinese as Second Language. Prof. Yang gave a lecture about animals in Chinese culture for IFC last year, about which the foreign faculties spoke highly. This year, Prof. Yang`s lecture focused on numbers and colors in Chinese language culture.
At approximately 2 pm., a dozens of foreign faculties arrived at Luth Pavilion for IFC activity. Dr. Sieun An was an old friend of IFC and came to IFC`s activities almost every single time. This time she brought a very delicious traditional Japanese desert called mizuyoukan for everybody to share. Mizuyoukan is a kind of sweet gelatinized cake, made of flour and red bean. It tastes a little bit sour and sweet. Everybody loved it.
Before the lecture began, we first prepare a small class for the faculties in order to help them better understand the lecture. During the class, the faculties learned the writing and pronunciation of Chinese numbers and colors and discussed about the symbolism of number and color in different cultures.
After half an hour of this small class, Prof. Yang`s lecture began. The first part of his lecture was about Chinese numbers. To be exact, he centered on the taboo and euphemism of numbers. For example, he explained the special meanings, its origins and customs of number two, six and seven in Chinese language. Moreover, he also involved the number buzzwords in modern Chinese Internet culture. The focus of the second part of the lecture moved to colors. Like numbers, some colors also obtained special symbolism throughout Chinese history, just like the royal preference of yellow from Tang dynasty to Qing dynasty and black of Qin dynasty. Prof. Yang also included the symbolism which was formed after the establishment of new China, such as how yellow started to represent vulgarity and eroticism.
The lecture lasted about one and half hour. After it finished, the faculties had many questions about the lecture and started a discussion. Many of them showed great interest about the topic and required the power point of Prof. Yang for further study.
