The University of Almería (UAL) has organized the First Training Workshop on Chinese Thought in collaboration with Kimitec Group. It has had four speakers and three film projections.

Professor Francisco García Marcos, the first speaker of the day, expressed his vision saying that “at UAL itself we are experiencing this, we have an ever growing population on Chinese students, and it is evident that China is a world reference in Almeria and any other part of the world, so it is important that we take the ‘right path’ when stepping into that world, if we get a little confucian. ” That path entails addressing “not superficial questions, but the three main axes of classical Chinese thought, which go through Confucius, Tao and Buddhism.”

These conferences are held with the aim of entering the field of sinology, and to publicize the three major belief systems in China: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. To break the barriers and bring this knowledge to UAL  students immersing them for several days in this area of Asian culture through a complete program, not only with four presentations and the three film projections, but also through the sense of taste,  thanks to the collaboration of the campus’ Central Cafeteria, where they have been serving a Chinese menu during those days.

Patricia Amate, organizer of the First Training Workshop on Chinese Thought, is grateful for the development of the Conference: “There has been a lot of activity around it and I believe that shows interest”. She also stressed that “it is very important to bring Asia closer to the UAL since there is a knowledge gap in this area of study.”

The workshop addressed different perspectives, for example with Francisco García Marcos presentation on “Communication in Confucian thought”, explaining “his proposal on how exemplary people should behave when communicating with others, all guided by a lot of norms and advice framed in his conception of life and the exemplary social being “.

It was followed by Antonio Martín Morillas presentations, on the  “Typology of classical Buddhist thought”, and “Confucianism in the Dao culture” by Pedro San Ginés Aguilar, both from the University of Granada. And as a finishing touch, the organizer herself covered the topic “An Approach to Taoism from the West.”