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Editor's note: Beijing Xishan Mountain area in Haidian district shares a deep history with France, wherethere are many related historical relics, such as the Villa of Bussiere and a hot spring sanatorium as well as stories that demonstrate the friendship between the two countries. Agroup of French scholars, together with Chinese professionals who had returned from France, worked in the area to draw on the experience of the more industrialized Western nation to help the local population enrich themselves. They made great improvements in fields like education, autonomy in rural areas and the construction of social infrastructures.
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Andre d'Hormon Born in 1881, Andre d'Hormon was a great French literary scholar who spent most of his life in China. Even when he returned to his motherland in 1954, he continued to make contributions to the study of Chinese culture. Though he kept a low profile throughout his life, his legendary experiences now have attracted increasing attention of researchers from both countries. In 1906, d'Hormon started his career in China as a French teacher of the royal family in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). After 1920, he began working on a project to construct new villages in the Xishan Mountain area and launched a work-study program encouraging Chinese students to receive higher education in France. He was also one of the founding members of the Sino-French University in 1920. A large number of young Chinese benefited from the program. Some later became leaders in the country, including Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. D'Hormon made remarkable accomplishments in the study of the Chinese language and translated a lot of classic Chinese dramas and other literary works.
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Jean Jerome Augustin Bussiere Another famous figure, Jean Jerome Augustin Bussiere was known as France's version of Norman Bethune. Bethune, a household name in the country, was a volunteer Canadian doctor who helped Chinese patients in the 1930s. Born in 1872, Bussiere came to China at the age of 40 working as a doctor in the French embassy and then opened a clinic of his own in Beijing. He once served as a school doctor at Yenching University, the predecessor of Peking University. He also participated in d'Hormon's new village construction project and was selected to be the chief executive director of the Sino-French University. Bussiere was the center of attention at social gatherings of French people living in Beijing. Most of the events took place at the drawing room of his house located in the Xishan Mountain area, where he spent most of his time. Locals nearby often sought his help because of his excellent medical skills. His residence, the Villa of Bussiere, was also an important stop for members of the Chinese Communist Party to exchange intelligence during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). |
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Saint-John Perse The third representative is the French poet Saint-John Perse. In 2005, the then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao talked about Perse when he delivered a speech at Ecole Polytechnique, a science and engineering university in Paris, saying Perse finished a long poem called Anabase in a Taoist temple in the Xishan Mountain area. The poem, set against a backdrop of Chinese temple fairs, won Perse a Nobel Prize in 1960. Perse decided to work in China as a diplomat in 1916 because he loved Chinese culture. He also gave himself the Chinese name Lei Xiai. By touring China's northeastern and northwestern areas with Bussiere, he expanded his knowledge of the country.
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Li Shizeng
The last one is Li Shizeng, one of the celebrated Chinese who studied in France. Born in a wealthy and noble family, Li was the son of a teacher of the Guangxu emperor (1871-1908). When he returned from France, he devoted his life to shaking off China's poverty and backwardness by utilizing the advanced theories he learned in France. As a participant in the work-study program, he and his peers helped to promote the movement to accumulate many high-quality human resources. As a Chinese social activist and the initiator of the Work and Study Movement in France , he proposed a Sino-French institute in France's third-largest city Lyon in 1919 with Paul Joubin, the dean of the University of Lyon. |
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Explore historic sites in Haidian district | ||||||||
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This year is the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France. As an important part of the China-France Culture Year, the government of Dongsheng town in Beijing's Haidian district held an event to explore historic sites on March 24, attracting folk experts and journalists. Among various historic sites in Haidian, the villa of Dr Jean Bussiere is a highlight. Dr Bussiere (1872-1960), who came to China in 1912, once served in the French legation in China. Apart from his medical skills, Dr Bussiere also made great contributions to the establishment of the former Sino-French University Shanghai branch. Spending several decades in Beijing, he gained a good reputation among local villagers.
Hu Baoshan, who is in his 80s, is the son of Hu Yushu, who studied in France when he was young and was a good friend of Dr Bussiere. He recalled with gratitude that Dr Bussiere treated his broken leg when he was a child. The delegation also visited Beijing No 47 Middle School, a 91-year-old school established by Li Shizeng, the first Chinese to study in France. The school is the former Affiliated Hot Spring Middle School of Sino-French University. Zhang Wenda, a folk expert who graduated from the middle school, presented an old photograph album. On visiting a small forest with large stones on the campus, Zhang said that those stones and forests were set up by graduates of the school, and that has become a tradition of the school over many years.
Saint-Jone Perse (1887-1975), a French poet who won the Nobel Literature Prize in 1960 for his masterpiece Anabase, also had a deep connection with China. It’s said that he finished a big part of his works in a temple in Western Hills in Haidian district, but unfortunately, the temple was destroyed many years ago.
However, there is a well-preserved pavilion. According to Zhang, the poet liked the pavilion very much when he lived there, and Zhang showed a photo of the poet in front of the pavilion. More research is needed in the history of the Western Hills area of Haidian district and its well-known French inhabitants. But the historic sites can serve as a friendship link connecting China and France.
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Culture links enrich friendship
French arts festival kicks off in Beijing French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann, French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, and Chinese composer Chen Qigang answered questions from Chinese journalists on the relationship between the two countries. At the press conference, Ambassador Bermann spoke about French President Francois Hollande's upcoming trip to China. She said he will be the first leader from a European Union country to visit China since the country's new leadership was established. She emphasized that his visit would reaffirm the importance of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and France, and added that the French president will make a special visit to one of China's top universities. Video:
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ChiFra art exhibition held in Beijing Nearly 200 oil paintings, printmaking pieces and sculptures from 40 Chinese and French artists are on display at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, Jan 24, 2014.
Getting back to the essence of art Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian, Sanyu (Chang Yu) and Wu Guanzhong, are the names that not only represent the development of Chinese oil painting spanning over a century, but also bear witness to a splendid era of the Sino-French artistic exchanges.
French film week underway in Beijing As an integral part of the 2013 Croisement festival, French film week kicked off on April 16 in Beijing. French Film League president Jean-Paul Salomé, along with two actors from the film "Camille Redouble," Samir Guesmi and Julia Faure, and Marion Laine, the diector of "A Coeur Ouvert," attended the opening ceremony for the cinema celebration.
After two centuries standing at the Louvre, Diana de Gabies leaves France for the first time and greets viewers at a Chinese museum, as a warm-up to celebrate the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries five decades ago.
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Rock 'n' roll diplomacy for Beijing's Carsick Cars Carsick Cars, one of Beijing's most successful indie bands, performed alongside luminaries such as Lang Lang and Wu Muye to mark 50 years of Sino-French diplomatic relations between China and France.
Sino-French relations grow more intimate China has tested some new diplomatic concepts with France, such as strategic partnership, culture year, youth exchanges, and then expanded them to other countries, said the French Ambassador to China, Herve Ladsous.
Another reality for French rocker Matthieu Chedid, the French rock singer-songwriter, who is better known by his stage name -M-, had too much emotion to deal with during his first tour in China in 2010. He saw the Great Wall, experienced three unforgettable shows and had his first collaboration with a Chinese musician, Shanghai-based Cha Cha.
Dreamer who turned into a blessed fool Li, 99, who with his wife translated into French The Dream of the Red Chamber, one of China's greatest classical novels, attended the Sino-French Institute in Lyon after leaving his home in Beijing and boarding a ship to France in 1937.
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Upcoming cultural activities in 2014 Sino-French cultural relics exhibition Documentary: Villa of Bussiere A friendship-themed musical drama
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