Presentation of a Book on Chinese Nationality and Culture

The book in digital format Conozca huáxià a través de sellos y elementos postales, written by Professor Juan Hernández Machado, will be presented on Tuesday, March 21, at 10:00 a.m. in the reading room of the José Martí National Library.

The cultural institution, along with the Philatelic Circle of Cerro municipality, is responsible for making this book available to the public. It will be available free of charge in PDF format, so it is recommended that those attending bring a storage device such as a flash drive or similar.

This book presents the reader with very interesting aspects of the People’s Republic of China, its history and culture from a philatelic point of view.

Huáxià is a historical concept representative of Chinese nationality and civilization, which has been considered since ancient times. Originally, it referred to the Zhongyuan ethnic groups, which are the origin of the Han cultural group and have influenced many East Asian cultures.

According to the Zuo Zhuan, considered the first narrative book on the history of the Asian giant, «xià» means «greatness», while «huá» is used in reference to «beauty of dress», so the term can be interpreted as «well-dressed».

The author, Juan Hernández Machado, is the winner of the 2012 National Philatelic Award and has a long and fruitful career as a philatelist, recognized by numerous awards, in addition to developing a systematic educational work with elementary school children in Cerro municipality.

Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez