Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, led a group of young people from Taiwan visiting the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province on Thursday, and attended a seminar to celebrate and strengthen cross-Strait cultural ties.
Ma and the youth representatives were welcomed by crowds of tourists in the millennium-old UNESCO World Heritage Site and exchanged greetings in Hokkien, a dialect of Chinese language, spoken mainly in Southern Fujian Province and Taiwan in China.
Student representatives of the group said they were amazed at the colored sculptures and murals in the grottoes.
"The name of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes records the glory and vicissitudes of thousands of years of history. This is a crucial meeting point of the ancient Silk Road which fused the art and religious thoughts from China and Western countries. I feel inexplicably excited today to be in the Mogao Grottoes today. I wonder how our ancestors could create such a great place of art. It's really an immersive experience," said a student representative from Taiwan.
Following the visit, the group participated in a cross-Strait seminar which gathered about 180 scholars, researchers and students from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Ma underscored the deep cultural connections between the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait at the seminar.
"From the religious fusion and artistic attainment in the murals to the texts, artifacts and culture relics left over from history, all of them prove the glory of Chinese culture here. It is the common responsibility of both sides of the Taiwan Strait to cherish and inherit Chinese culture. In recent years, the exchanges between the two sides in the fields of religion, music, culture, philosophy, and historical research have become increasingly frequent. We are inspiring each other, growing together and showing the power of culture," he said.
Youth representatives from both sides of the Taiwan Strait also shared their perspectives, saying that the cultural ties between the two sides will remain strong and unbroken, no matter the challenges that arise.
"I saw the flying fairies on the murals slowly emerging in the darkness when the tour guide turned on the flashlight in the grottoes. The murals didn't fade away through thousands of years. They show the Chinese nation's persistence in protecting beauty, ideals, and culture in the wind and sand. I came from Taiwan, but when I stood by the Yellow River, in front of the Fuxi Temple and in Mogao Grottoes, I knew that there was no distance between us as our culture connects us over the Strait," said a Taiwan student representative surnamed Cheng.
Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, also attended the event. Calling on compatriots on both sides to carry forward Chinese cultural heritage and strengthen confidence in Chinese culture, he stressed the importance of adhering to the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, and the importance of firmly opposing "Taiwan independence" and external interference.
Former leader, youth representatives of Taiwan visit Mogao Grottoes
Former leader, youth representatives of Taiwan visit Mogao Grottoes
