Date April 20 | Frequency annual | |
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Next time 20 April 2017 (2017-04-20) Related to | ||
Un chinese language day
UN Chinese Language Day is observed annually on April 20. The event was established by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)in 2010 to seeking "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organization". April 20 was chosen as the date for the Chinese language "to pay tribute to Cang Jie, a mythical figure who is presumed to have invented Chinese characters about 5,000 years ago".
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The first Chinese Language Day was celebrated in 2010 on the 12th of November but beginning in 2011 the date is the 20th of April, roughly corresponding to Guyu in the Chinese calendar. Chinese people celebrate Guyu (which usually begins around April 20) in honour of Cangjie, because of a legend that when Cangjie invented Chinese characters, the deities and ghosts cried and it rained millet; the word "Guyu" literally means "rain of millet".