Economic and political change was on the mind of people who voted to choose the Chinese character that best summed up 2024.
"Hope" (望) received 7,723 votes and became the most-voted word to represent the year that just ended.
The Gendo Asian Art Foundation, organizer of the contest, announced the winner on Feb. 1 at the Canadian Shaolin Zen Wu Cultural Centre in Richmond.
The foundation adopted the tradition of choosing a Chinese character of the year from the Japanese Kanji (Chinese character) Proficiency Society.
When a character is selected in Japan, it is usually written by the abbot of Kiyomizu-dera Temple and is displayed for one year.
Nearly 20,000 votes were received between Jan. 13 and Jan. 31 across multiple platforms, including WeChat and through the organization's website.
Along with their votes, a record 1,300 messages were submitted with deeper insights into "public sentiment" of what "hope" meant to them.
Each voter was allowed to choose up to three words from a pre-selected list of 12 Chinese characters or recommend up to three characters that were not on the list.
Initially, "poverty" (穷) was the leading word as many Canadians were facing financial strain due to inflation and housing affordability challenges.
Just after Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned as the leader of the Liberal Party, the Chinese character "hope" gained more votes, explained Gendo Asian Art Foundation in a media statement.
“While economic concerns remain, the election of ‘望’ (hope) as the Chinese Character of the Year signals that Canadians are looking toward the future with resilience and anticipation for positive change,” said Chak Au, chair of the Gendo Asian Art Foundation’s selection committee. (Au, who is a Richmond city councillor, is seeking the Conservative nomination for Richmond Centre-Marpole.)
“This character embodies both the challenges we’ve faced and the aspirations we hold for the coming year.”
Arthur Wong, executive director of the Gendo Asian Art Foundation, said the selection process of a Chinese character is more than just "choosing a word." Rather it is about "creating a space for reflection and discussion."
"Through this annual tradition, we see how language can encapsulate the emotions and priorities of a diverse society," said Wong.
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