Chapter 36 Section 6 The turmoil of Tagore's visit to China

Robin Rabindranath Tagore is the most familiar and beloved Indian friend of the Chinese people since modern times.As early as 1881, when he was 20 years old, he was very concerned about China's issues. He once wrote an article that strongly condemned the British to sell opium in China, called "The Trade of Death in China", saying: "This kind of trade and the accumulation of wealth It can only be called trade in a polite tone. It is simply robbery." In 1916, he stopped in Singapore on his way to Japan, met Chinese dock workers, and saw from them "the greatness of the whole of China." strength".He wrote: "Once such a huge power of China can operate on the road of modernization, that is to say, master modern science, there is no power in the world that can stop its progress." Deep feelings, often talk about China in various books and articles.As for China, his works have been introduced since 1915 and have continued to this day, with a great influence on Chinese literature. From April 12th to May 30th, 1924, he visited Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Jinan, Beijing, Taiyuan, Hankou and other places in China, which aroused great attention from the Chinese political, ideological and literary circles, and published a large number of articles in newspapers and periodicals. news and comments.Wherever he went, he gave a speech.In the speech, it must be said that China and India are friendly.He said: "I don't know why, but coming to China is like going back to my hometown!" "I can say that India feels very close relatives with China. China and India are very old and very close brothers. "I want to continue the unfinished business of the previous masters from India who came to China." "We will never forget the relationship established in the ancient times."

After the "July 7th Incident" in 1937, Tagore's original expectations for Japan were shattered. On September 21, he replied to Cai Yuanpei and said: "My people and I completely sympathize with your country." On October 11, he Published articles in newspapers condemning Japan's bombing of Chinese cities and supporting India's boycott of Japanese goods. On January 9, 1938, the Indian people held a Day of Support to China. In June, Tagore published the "Letter to the Chinese People"; in September, he wrote two stern letters to denounce the Japanese militarists, saying: "China cannot be conquered, her civilization has endless potential, she Desperately loyal to their country, the people are united as never before and are creating a new century for that country."

Tagore has done many things for Sino-Indian cultural exchanges.Here we will focus on his visit to China and his influence on the Chinese literary world. Tagore started writing in the 1880s and entered the golden age in the early 20th century. In 1912, the poet self-translated into English caused a sensation in Europe, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.In response to this, the literary circles of our country responded immediately. In 1913, "Oriental Magazine", Volume 10, No. 4, published Qian Zhixiu's article "Taiger's Outlook on Life", which was the first introduction of Tagore's life and thoughts in my country. article. In 1915, Chen Duxiu translated and introduced four of Tagore's poems in the second issue of Volume 1 of "Youth Magazine" edited by him. This is the earliest translation of Tagore's works in my country. In 1917, three novels translated by Tianfeng and Wuwo were serialized in Issues 6-9 of Volume 3 of "Women's Magazine". In 1918, two Tagore poems translated by Liu Bannong were published in the third issue of the fifth volume of "New Youth". After 1920, Tagore's poems, novels, plays, essays, letters, speeches, autobiography, etc. were translated and introduced in large numbers.At that time, there were more than 30 magazines that published Tagore's works.The main translators are: Zheng Zhenduo, Zhao Jingshen, Shi Zhecun, Liu Dabai, Ye Shaojun, Shen Zemin, Shen Yanbing, Xu Dishan, Xu Zhimo, Qu Shiying, etc.From 1920 to 1925, almost all of Tagore's major works were translated into Chinese.Some important works even have more than five translations.There are also many articles and comments about Tagore's life and thoughts written by Chinese critics.

The reason why the "Tagore craze" appeared in the Chinese ideological and literary circles at that time was mainly determined by the outside world and China's national conditions, and the direct reason was his visit to China in 1924.Before he came to China, he had visited Europe and Japan, and had the idea of ​​visiting China. In 1923, he first sent En Houzhi to China to make contact, and was warmly invited by the Chinese academic circles.Therefore, the "Novel Monthly" of that year published "Tagore Special Issue" (Part 1, Part 2) in September and October, which published some of his works, and published more than 10 welcome and introductory articles.His articles include "Welcome to Tagore", "Biography of Tagore", "Four Books on Tagore Studies" by Zheng Zhenduo, "Tagore's Coming to China", "The Definite Date of Tagore's Coming to China" by Xu Zhimo, "Tagore's Thoughts and Their The Appearance of Poetry", "Give Me Strength" by Zhou Yueran, "Tagore's Family Vehicle" by Deyi, "Tagore as a Musician" by Fan Zhongyun, "Introduction to Important Works of Tagore" by Xu Tiaofu, etc. On April 8, 1924, Tagore arrived in Hong Kong by boat, and Sun Yat-sen sent an envoy to bring him a welcome letter. On the 12th, the ship arrived in Shanghai and was welcomed by groups such as the Literature Research Association, as well as several social celebrities such as Zheng Zhenduo, Qu Shiying, and Xu Zhimo. "Novel Monthly" specially publishes "Welcome to Tagore Temporary Supplement".He stayed in China for nearly 50 days, visited seven cities, and met many people, including Puyi, Liang Qichao, Hu Shi, Shen Junru, Mei Lanfang, Wang Daxie, Xiong Xiling, Fan Yuanlian, Zhang Fengchun, Yang Bingchen, Liang Shuming, Lin Changmin, Zhang Xiangwen, Liang Sicheng Wait.Tagore left China for Japan on May 30.

Tagore's visit to China this time caused a controversy in the Chinese intellectual circles.At that time, China was in a war between warlords, and imperialism took the opportunity to expand its power in China; Sun Yat-sen reorganized the Kuomintang in the south, proposed "three major policies", and prepared for the Northern Expedition; Tagore didn't understand this, and his speech did not highlight patriotism and democracy. Coupled with the use of some people, it caused controversy; some progressive figures at that time (such as Chen Duxiu, Qu Qiubai, Yun Daiying, Xiao Chunv, Shen Yanbing, etc.) mainly disagreed with Tagore's advocacy of Eastern spiritual civilization and opposition to Western material civilization, so they questioned and criticized .But in general, Tagore's visit to my country has had a profound impact on our country's literary circles.He had varying degrees of influence on modern Chinese writers, such as Guo Moruo, Xie Bingxin, Zheng Zhenduo, Wang Tongzhao, Xu Zhimo and others.

After Tagore's enthusiasm in the 1920s, there were still translations of Tagore's works in the 1930s and 1940s, some were retranslations, some were new translations, and some were reprints.In the 1950s, due to the close relationship between China and India, the trend of translating Tagore's works rose again; in the reform and opening up in the 1980s, Chinese people set off a wave of research on Tagore.These are things for later.