By Qian Ding, reporter and editor of CCTV.com

The fourth "Huilin Prize" award ceremony was held in Jingshi Hall, Beijing Normal University on January, 19. The event was hosted by Huang Huilin "Third Pole Culture" Foundation ("Huilin Foundation") and Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture. According to "Huilin Prize" regulations, with the consensus of all judges, "Huilin Prize" of 2017 was given to Daniel A. Bell, Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University and professor at Tsinghua University and Chen Lai, professor at the philosophy department, Tsinghua University. Lee Flora, patriotic personage from Hong Kong, was given a special contribution award. The hostess of the event was Yudan, a well-known Chinese scholar and professor at Beijing Normal University.

Group photo of the attendees

"Huilin Prize" selects two winners, one Chinese and one non-Chinese individuals alive worldwide annually in order to honor their contributions to the international communications of Chinese culture and awards 300,000 CNY to each winner, together with a trophy and certificate.

Daniel A. Bell was born in Montreal, educated at McGill and Oxford universities, has taught in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and has held research fellowships at Princeton’s University Center for Human Values, Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and Hebrew University’s Department of Political Science.

Daniel A. Bell delivering a speech in the award ceremony

He said for the successful promotion of Chinese culture abroad, there has to be a greater understanding of Chinese language and achievements of Chinese culture. "Many people appreciate Chinese food, though the rich variety of Chinese cuisine is not well known outside of China. Kung Fu is well-known, but more as a fighting skill than as a philosophy of life. A few Chinese movies have been widely viewed abroad, but not necessarily the most sophisticated films. Some art collectors and museum goers appreciate Chinese painting, pottery, and porcelain, but they still seem strange and inaccessible to most people outside China."

Besides, the idea of "Chinese culture" needs to be separated from the idea of "Chinese ethnicity." He declares a more culture-based view of what it means to be Chinese will blur boundaries of races, and make more people not just learn about Chinese culture, but love it too.

Chen Lai, a famous Chinese philosopher from Tsinghua University, mentioned that not only western values can be globalized, but also eastern values as well. The world cultures should be diversified and we should be aware that the perishing trend of non-western cultures in our current globalization era.

Chen Lai delivering a speech in the event

Lee Flora, a patriotic personage from Hong Kong, was given a special contribution award to honer her long term support for the promotion of Chinese culture.

Huilin Foundation, short for Huang Huilin's "Third Pole Culture" Foundation, is a non-profit foundation named after Huang Huilin, Professor Emeritus of Beijing Normal University, Dean of AICCC, and founder of "Third Pole Culture" with a mission for international communication of Chinese culture on the the theoretical basis of the "Third Pole Culture". Its aim is to build a key platform integrating various cultural resources, as well as a major engine pushing forward public programs, culture and education that can all contribute to the rejuvenation of Chinese culture.

Founder of the Huilin Foundation, Mrs. Huang Huilin

In 2015, the Prize was given to Professor Torbjorn Loden from Stockholm University, Sweden and Chinese artist, Mr. Han Meilin. The winners in 2016 are Professor Roger Ames from University of Hawaii, USA, and Professor Yue Daiyun from Beijing University. The 2017 Prize was given to Joël Bellassen, General Supervisor, Chinese Linguistic and Literature of French Ministry and Li Xueqin, Chinese historian and paleographer.

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