Inheriting the spirit of ship administration and promoting Sino-foreign exchanges
“Friends of Ship Administration” International Exchange Center Unveiled
On the morning of October 22, the unveiling ceremony of “Friends of Ship Administration” International Exchange Center was held at the Ship Administration School in Mawei. The establishment of this center marks a new stage for the international exchange of ship administration.
More than 150 years ago, foreign friends like Giquel traveled across the ocean, together with Zuo Zongtang, Shen Baozhen and other ship administration ancestors, built shipyards, organized education, built warships and developed the navy on the Minjiang River in Mawei, founded the first new education school in modern China, sent the first batch of students from China to study in Europe, trained the first batch of engineers from China, built the first armored ship from China, opened the prelude to China’s modernization construction, and wrote a story of strengthening sea power. As the first modern education school in modern China, Ship Administration School has always been a model of cultural exchange and mutual learning between China and foreign countries. It trained a large number of people of insight who had a far-reaching influence in various fields in modern China, such as Yan Fu, Wei Han, Liu Buchan and Deng Shichang.
For 158 years, Ship Administration School has been shouldering and fulfilling the mission of bridging Chinese and Western cultures. On October 22, responsible persons of Mawei District and Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, as well as French friends Amel de Rabdonay and Cécile Garçon. jointly unveiled the “Friends of Ship Administration” international exchange center.
The center is an important platform dedicated to inheriting and carrying forward the ship administration culture and deepening international exchanges and cooperation. The establishment of the center aims to inherit and carry forward the spirit of “patriotism, science, innovation and strength” in ship administration, and continue to promote in-depth exchanges and mutual reference between Chinese and foreign cultures.
The person in charge of Mawei District said that a hundred years ago, ship administration became a bridge between China and France, and new stories are still being written. It is expected that through the platform, with ship administration culture as a bridge, we will deepen exchanges and cooperation with international culture, further promote the brand of ship administration culture, promote the application of ship administration cultural historical sites for world cultural heritage, and set up a new model of international exchanges between China and foreign countries in the new era.
At the ceremony, Fujian Ship Administration Culture Research Institute and Xiamen University Civilization Exchange and Mutual Learning Research Center signed a co-construction agreement. The two sides agreed to integrate superior resources, jointly excavate and sort out historical documents, establish research platforms and think tanks, build high-end dialogue brands for international exchanges, and promote in-depth research on ship administration culture and international cooperation and exchanges to a higher level.
The Fujian Shipbuilding Culture Management Committee also issued a letter of appointment to Zhang Lanying of Fuzhou Polytechnic, Deng Weida of the School of Education of Xiamen University, and Chen Ruipeng of Fuzhou University as a distinguished researcher of the Fujian Shipbuilding Culture Research Institute. The person in charge of Fujian Ship Administration Culture Management Committee said that with the participation of specially invited researchers, the research power of ship administration will become stronger, and a research matrix covering the whole chain of ship administration culture will be built.
During the activity, everyone visited the Giquel special exhibition of ship administration supervision. Armel, president of the French National University of Applied Science and Technology, watched one by one, and saw a copy of the oil painting of the portrait of Giquel, wearing a yellow jacket, presented by the descendants of Giquel to the Museum of Ship Administration and Culture in China. he was quite shocked and marveled at the story that Giquel and others dedicated their lives to their dreams and careers in China a hundred years ago.
On the same day, the symposium on international brand exchange of ship administration culture was held in China Ship Administration Culture Museum. Experts and scholars offered suggestions to help the ship administration, a unique cultural treasure in China, go global and help Fuzhou to become an international brand of Fujian culture.