Chapter 38 Section 8 Tao Xingzhi and Xu Beihong visit India

During this period, many Chinese scholars visited India, and only two of them are introduced here. Mr. Tao Xingzhi, a famous educator and social activist in my country, has visited India twice.The first time was in July 1936, in only four or five days, he wrote five poems: "Two Hundred Thousand People Go to Prison Together", "The Peasant of Ahisha", "The Unapproachable Man" , "The Three Indian Sisters" and "The Indian Usurer".In the poem, he reflects the tragic situation of the Indian people, especially the Indian untouchables and women with infinite sympathy, and exposes the dark reality of Indian society. In August 1938, he visited India again. Arrived in Madras on August 8, arrived in Kolkata in October, and visited Congress Party Chairman Subhas Chandra Bose, and went to International University to visit Tagore on the 11th.He talked with Tagore for an hour and listened to Bengali music together. On the 12th, Bao Si held a welcome meeting and a tea party for Tao Xingzhi. Representatives of students, workers and peasants spoke at the meeting, and Tao Xingzhi made a speech.His speech was published in the Madras Post on August 13th. On August 14, Tao Xingzhi called on Mahatma Gandhi.This day was Gandhi's "Day of Silence", and he did not receive guests.But when he learned that a Chinese scholar from afar was visiting, he made an exception and agreed to meet, and "talked" with Tao Xingzhi with a pen.Tao Xingzhi introduced his National Salvation Congress and his experience in civilian education, and invited Gandhi to visit China.Gandhi said: "I will visit your great country one day. Nothing will make me happier than this." Gandhi answered some questions raised by Tao Xingzhi and asked him to write an article on mass education in China .After Tao Xingzhi returned to Hong Kong, he wrote an article in English entitled "China's Mass Education Movement" and sent it to Gandhi.This article was published in Gandhi’s Harijan magazine three times between October and November. Gandhi wrote a note: “When Dr. Tao Xingzhi visited me not long ago, I invited him to write an article to introduce the A remarkable mass education campaign. Now, he has sent the following instructive article. This article must be useful to us Indians."

When Tagore visited China in 1924, Mr. Xu Beihong was already a well-known painter in China, but because he was far away in France, the two did not meet each other. In August and September of 1938, Xu Beihong received an invitation from the poet Tagore. In October, he took a batch of works from Chongqing to Hong Kong. In January 1939, he went to Singapore. He held art exhibitions in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and other places. After a year, he arrived in India in about winter, and held an exhibition of modern Chinese paintings at the International University of India in December.In this year, he created oil painting "Indian Cow" and sketch "Indian Portrait" in India.

In January 1940, Xu Beihong made portraits of Tagore many times, and painted horses as gifts to Tagore. On February 17, when Mahatma Gandhi arrived at the International University, Xu Beihong drew two sketches of Gandhi at the welcome meeting, and met Mr. Gandhi through the introduction of Tagore.In the same month, an exhibition of works was held in Calcutta. In April, went to Darjeeling, and returned to International University in August. Farewell to Tagore in November.This year, he made 7 oil paintings, 24 traditional Chinese paintings and 14 sketches in India, which was an unprecedentedly productive year for him.

Among the paintings he made in India, several are particularly famous.One of the portraits he painted for Tagore is still hanging on the wall of Tagore's former residence; the horse he painted for Tagore, with the inscription "Crying and Thinking of Fighting, Standing Back to the Heaven", has also been hung there.One of his masterpieces, "Horses", was completed in May 1940. The inscription he drew for this is: "In the past, there was a madman who wrote a poem: 'When you get it, you worry about it. Mo Zhijia. 'When I was sad, I went to Darjeeling in the Himalayas. Hubei was victorious, and it was full of pride." It not only expressed his anti-Japanese and patriotic feelings, but also showed that he had a better understanding of horses after he arrived in India, and his horse paintings became more mature. . "The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain" is another representative work of his. He began to create it in 1937 and completed it in India.In this work, he used Indians as models.There are five people on the screen who are Chinese, and most of the rest are Indian.His explanation for this is: "Art only seeks to express a meaning, no matter what country people are from, they are ordinary people."

He made many friends in India.He once discussed art and appreciated paintings with the great Indian painter Abangning Tagore, and had a deep friendship.He also had a deep relationship with Nandalar Bose, the then dean of the School of Fine Arts of International University and a famous Indian painter. The two had worked together for two days to select the paintings of the poet Tagore one by one, and got more than 300 fine works , more than 70 of the most refined ones are planned to be published by the International University, and Tagore is satisfied with this.