As part of the program of the Artistic Festival, students fromSUIBE-cosponsored Confucius Classroom at Savsko Naselje PrimarySchool in Slovenia staged the play A Slovenian in the ForbiddenCity – Ferdinand Augustin Hallerstein at the Foerster Park on theafternoon of May 26. About 80 people gathered at the show,including the Chinese director of Confucius Institute Ljubljana,the principal of Savsko Naselje Primary School, students andparents.
The play related the story of Ferdinand Augustin Hallerstein, alsoknown by his Chinese name Liu Songling, a Slovene Jesuit who spentdecades at the imperial court of the Qianlong Emperor in QingDynasty as the Head of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, makinggreat contribution to the Chinese astronomy. The excellentperformance by the students re-created the long history of friendlyexchange between the two countries, striking a chord in the heartsand minds of the audience. After the play, Professor Mitja Sajefrom the Department of Sinology at the Faculty of Arts of theUniversity of Ljubljana took questions from the students onHallerstein and China.
The Artistic Festival is an important annual event at the Facultyof Arts of the University of Ljubljana, covering such activities asbook exhibitions, academic lectures, and theatrical performances.