A statue of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius was unveiledat the Confucius Institute (CI) in the University of Ljubljana (UL)on May 27. H. E. Mr YE Hao, Chinese Ambassador to Slovenia, Prof.Metka Tekavčič, Dean of the Faculty of Economics of LU, Ms.Danijela Volič, Slovenian Director of the CI, Associate Prof. XieDuquan, Chinese Director of the CI, Prof. Mitja Saje from theFaculty of Arts of LU and artists from Nanjing who made and donatedthe statue attended the unveiling ceremony.
In her address, Dean Tekavčič highly acknowledged the positive rolethe CI had been playing as an economic and cultural bond betweenChina and Slovenia, and said that the successful cooperationbetween UL and the CI would not have been possible without thegenerous and unremitting support of the Chinese government. It isher hope that the statue will augur well for further and moredeepened cooperation.
Ambassador Ye said in his address that as a symbol for ConfuciusInstitutes and an outstanding representative of the Chinesethinking and Chinese culture, Confucius is a significant figurerepresenting good virtues and diligence which are important valuesof worldwide relevance. He expressed the wish that the unveiling ofthe statue would encourage greater enthusiasm among the students tolearn the Chinese language and culture. He also said that Chineseembassy would continue to render support to the CI and to morepragmatic cooperation in education between the two countries.
Mr. Guan Ce, on behalf of the arts community, thanked the CI forthe gracious invitation, ardently reviewed the development of hisfriendship with the Slovenian director of the CI, introduced theinspirations for making the statue, and wished a long friendshipbetween China and Slovenia.
The statue was unveiled by Ambassador Ye and Dean Tekavčič in warmrounds of applause at the newly built multi-functional hall of theCI. It is the first bronze statue of Confucius in Slovenia.