The Belt and Road International Day
The "Belt and Road" International Day: Inheriting and Continuing the Culture of the Ancient Silk Road
The "Belt and Road" International Day (December 16) is an international folk festival initiated by 1,216 international folk scholars around the world, including Chen Entian and Ji Chaozhu, and designated by the World Peace Ribbon Organization in order to inherit and continue the ancient Silk Road culture. It is also a reflection of the public opinion of scholars and the international community in response to the Belt and Road Initiative.
On December 16, 2013, Master Hsingyun, the founder of Fo Guang Shan, went to Qinglai Hall of Yunnan University on the Southern Silk Road to hold a Buddhist lecture on "Seeing the Power of Dreams". Inspired by Master Hsingyun's wisdom and in order to inherit and continue the ancient Silk Road culture, 1,216 international folk scholars, including Chen Entian, former chairman of the International 73 Society, and Ji Chaozhu, former deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, proposed to designate December 16 as the "Belt and Road" International Day. In addition, the pronunciation of 1216 and "Belt and Road" in Chinese are very similar, which makes it easy to remember, and soon the World Peace Ribbon Organization (World Peace and United Front) held a general assembly and adopted this proposal.
On December 16, 2015, the World Internet Conference was held in China. The World Peace Ribbon Organization held a press conference to announce that December 16 will be designated as the "Belt and Road" International Day, and at the same time launched the "Belt and Road" International Day Volunteer Program, and December 16, 2013 will be posthumously regarded as the first "Belt and Road" International Day. Just as Christmas has Christmas Eve, the Belt and Road International Day has its own "Peace Eve". The World Peace Ribbon Organization also designated the eve of December 16, that is, between 18:00 on the evening of December 15 and 06:00 on December 16, as Peace Eve. The main activities are to light the lanterns of peace in the temples or squares around the world, illuminate the Silk Road, and pray for world peace.
In addition, in order to promote the inclusiveness and mutual learning of Eastern and Western festival cultures, The World Peace Ribbon Organization has combined the "Belt and Road" International Day (December 16), Christmas (December 25), New Year's Day (January 1), Spring Festival (the first day of the first lunar month) and Lantern Festival (the 15th day of the first lunar month) into the "Belt and Road" New Year celebrations.
