On Tuesday last week, Soochow University’s School of Law and School of Business held a freshman induction ceremony in which new students had to bow to their teachers while holding six gifts and a letter requesting apprenticeship. The ritual has sparked heated discussion, with one netizen critically commenting, “The cultivation of servility begins when you are a student.”
The six gifts included celery, symbolizing diligent study; lotus seeds, denoting dedicated teaching; aduki beans, representing a promising future; jujubes, suggesting gratitude; longans, conveying good fortune; and bakkwa (dried meat), signifying humility. After students knelt down to their teachers, the teachers gave them souvenir T-shirts, name tag clips and eco-friendly bags in return to wish then a fruitful future in the school.
After the news came out, netizens were drawn into intense discussions. One said, “The cultivation of servility begins when you are a student. This is nothing but servility training.” Another said, “You pay money to kneel down. So hilarious.” Still another said, “Even parents do not ask us to do that. What is up with this kneeling down thing?” Some students also denounced the ceremony as “meaningless.” Yet netizens from Soochow University said that to kneel down in accordance with ancient conventions is actually an expression of good faith and therefore is not a problem. Nonetheless, they also said that the freshman induction ceremony should have been more creative, and that it was because the ceremony lacked uniqueness that it drew criticism.
(Liberty Times, Translated By Ethan Zhan)
Photo: Peng Chien-li, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者彭健禮
東吳大學法商學院上週二舉行入學典禮,學生手捧「六禮」及拜師帖向師長行禮引發熱議,有網友批:「奴性養成從學生開始。」
「六禮」包含芹菜(勤奮好學)、蓮子(苦心教導)、紅豆(鴻圖高照)、紅棗(感謝栽培)、桂圓(福祿圓滿)、肉乾(虛心學習)。學生行跪拜禮後,老師也回贈紀念服、名牌掛夾以及環保袋作為回禮,期許新生未來能夠有所收穫。
消息一出,引發網友熱烈討論。有人說,「奴性的養成要從學生開始,根本培養奴性」、「付錢下跪哈哈哈」、「連父母都沒這樣,要跪什麼跪 」等,部份學生也批評活動「沒意義」。該校網友表示,尊古禮跪拜其實誠意十足並無問題,但新生入學活動應該再有創意些,認為「沒有特色」,才會在網路上招批。
(自由時報綜合報導)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
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