The University of International Business and Economics recently organized a competition on Chinese ancient poems to improve students' understanding of Chinese traditional culture and celebrated World Reading Day, which falls on April 23.

About 1,300 students participated in the preliminary poetry contest in late March and four teams, consisting of 12 students, entered the final, which was Thursday.

The final contained a four-part quiz that tested participants' knowledge of Chinese ancient poems, and other forms of Chinese literature.

University Vice President Zhao Zhongxiu said he was glad that the competition attracted attention from so many students on campus and raised their interest and awareness in traditional Chinese culture.

Qi Xiaoming, an associate professor of Chinese literature at the university who served as one of the judges for the final, said a distinct characteristic of Chinese ancient poems is that they usually contain many profound connotations beneath the literal meaning.

"In that sense, to fully understand a Chinese ancient poem requires students to recite and understand the literal meaning in the very beginning of learning. Then, as the students grow older and combine what the poem talks about with their own lives, they will see more," he said.

The popularity of a TV program on China Central Television, Chinese Poetry Conference, which has been broadcast for two seasons, has inspired an increasing number of education institutions like UIBE to hold a similar event of their own.

The purpose of the TV program is to appreciate the beauty of Chinese ancient poetry and to learn from the wisdom of the great minds of ancient China.