2024 HCCF Creative Competition

This year, Harvard College China Forum is pleased to announce the launching of our first High School Creative Competition. In this competition, we ask students to engage with the forum's overarching theme for the year: “嘤其鸣矣，求其友声”, translated as "Seeking Resonance, Echoing Friendship" and inspired by verses from the Book of Songs. This theme not only embodies China's cultural heritage but also symbolizes our ongoing desire to understand and promote friendly exchange in fields such as culture, politics, and the global economy.

Harvard University, as an academic institution with a rich history, has consistently served as a bridge in Sino-U.S. relations, fostering academic and cultural exchange between the two nations. Today, we call on students worldwide to actively participate in this contest, and help promote mutual understanding and cooperation.

We encourage students to showcase their creativity and talent through various artistic mediums such as, but not limited to, painting, sculpture, photography, microfilms, as well as literary forms like poetry and prose. This platform not only provides an opportunity to share artistic and literary creativity but also serves as an excellent chance to engage with Harvard students and experts.

Awards Announcement

First Prize: Lizhou Ding (Music Composition)

Tsinghua University High School International - Chaoyang

Class of 2024

Chaoyang, Beijing, China

Artistic Statement: "1,2,3, Go!" is a four-movement piano solo suite that I created myself (original), documenting my tumultuous three-year high school career and dedicating it to my best friend in high school. I hope it not only tells my personal story but also brings hope and resonance for the future to others. I hope to use this platform to allow more people to see this work and resonate with it.

Second Prize: Lixin Peng (Painting)

Windermere Preparatory School

Class of 2027

Windermere, Florida, USA

Artistic Statement: The artwork is a traditional Chinese painting capturing a moment of action in a football game. Three players are depicted who are grabbing the ball, their bodies in dynamic motion. The composition is balanced and harmonious, with the players' movements flowing naturally within the frame. The use of traditional Chinese painting techniques, such as brushstrokes and ink washes, adds depth and texture to the image.

The painting conveys the theme of the 27th Harvard College China Forum, "Seeking Resonance, Echoing Friendship," through its portrayal of cultural exchange. The sport of football is traditionally associated with Western culture, yet the painting is done in a Chinese style, blending the two cultures together. This fusion of East and West symbolizes the forum's goal of promoting mutual understanding and cooperation between China and the United States. Overall, the artwork is a powerful representation of the forum's theme, using the medium of Chinese painting to bridge cultural divides and foster friendship between nations.

Third Prize: Yufei Ji (Poetry)

Shanghai World Foreign Language Academy

Class of 2025

Shanghai, China

Artistic Statement: This poem expresses the confusion and doubt that I have encountered in the study and creation of literature. In this rapidly developing and chaotic era, it has become a "useless" thing to weigh one's words and concentrate on writing. Living in this era, I often face the gap between the romantic dreams created by literature and reality . Perhaps such a mood will be shared by all people who love literature, and when we are stuck in life, the dream that literature gives us is always the last place of peace of mind. Through this poem, I hope to communicate with everyone who loves literature and art the difficulties we encounter in the process of creation and how the strength of love keeps us going forward. May we all travel together in the dream of literature and art, keep creating, keep loving.