"At that moment,
I decided to travel all over China. ”
Author: Zheng Aotian
"Brotherhood between China and Thailand lasts for thousands of years. Picking flowers and gifts, the home country is more enchanting. This is a famous passage from the poem "Peach Blossom Picking (also known as "Reading Meng Haoran's Poems").
Princess Sirindhorn, who is a "China expert", is visiting China for the 50th time. From Beijing to Guangdong, her schedule was packed. For decades, she has been fluent in Chinese and has set off a Chinese in Thailand and continues to write a new chapter in Thai-Chinese friendship.
Draw the poetry of Li Bai
"My mother once told me, Chinese read to learn and learn more, Chinese can understand more, and the truth is just as my mother said." Princess Sirindhorn recalls her initial "bond" with Chinese.
Princess Sirindhorn was born in 1955 at Ritsch Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, the second daughter of King Rama IX of Thailand. Her father, King Rama IX, reigned for more than 70 years, the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history, and was revered by the Thais as "Phu Mei Phong the Great".
Princess Sirindhorn was a 3-year-old reader and loves reading, especially literature. At the age of 12, she began to write poetry and prose, and won the first place in the country in the unified examination that year. In 1972, she was admitted to Chulalongkorn University, a prestigious university, with the fourth highest score in the country, where she studied language and literature.
Princess Sirindhorn was a linguistic genius, fluent in English, French, Khmer, etc., and studied ancient Sanskrit and Pali at university. When she graduated in 1977, she won the gold medal for the first place in the department's examination for four consecutive years.
Princess Sirindhorn during her studies at Chulalongkorn University.
In 1975, China and Thailand established diplomatic relations. In 1980, with the support of her mother Sirikit, Princess Sirindhorn, who had wanted to learn German, decided to study Chinese. At this time, Princess Sirindhorn was 26 years old and had many state responsibilities. But she still insists on attending school at least one morning a week Chinese. Once, she returned from a trip to Switzerland and returned to Bangkok at 5 a.m. After a short break, she still went to class on time for Chinese at 9 a.m.
"Chinese can lead man to the territory of one of the most knowledgeable nations on earth, and the more he learns, the more he experiences its breadth and depth." In the process of learning Chinese, Princess Sirindhorn said this. She also gave herself the nickname "Xiaoyu" Chinese.
Her level of Chinese is getting higher and higher. One winter, when she visited Harbin, the translator translated the ice sculpture lantern into colored lantern, and she immediately noticed the error and discussed the nuances with the translator.
Because Chinese, she fell in love with ancient Chinese poetry and painting, "Chinese painting is poetry without words, and Chinese poetry is invisible painting." Her Chinese teacher, Wang Ye, recalled that when learning ancient Chinese poetry, Princess Sirindhorn used to draw pictures with a pencil in class.
In 1994, Princess Sirindhorn painted with a brush at the Palace Museum.
Princess Sirindhorn liked "Spring Dawn" and thought it "reads as if it were early in the morning, and everything is pleasant." "A Thai folk orchestra once asked her to give lyrics for the classical piece "Peach Blossom Picking", and Princess Sirindhorn took out her own translation of "Spring Dawn", and wrote the last three as the lyrics of "Peach Blossom Picking". "Peach Blossom Picking" has thus become a reserved repertoire in Thai-Chinese exchange activities. She also has musical talent and can play Chinese folk instruments such as erhu and guzheng.
Princess Sirindhorn said that the poetry of each nation is the essence of the thoughts, feelings and wisdom of this nation, and it is also an international language with a common heart. Since 1982, she has translated more than 100 ancient Chinese poems, and in 1998, a collection of 34 poems was published under the title "Zhuyu Poems". This is the first translation of classical Chinese poetry published in Thailand.
Princess Sirindhorn's "Jade Poems".
In 2000, Princess Sirindhorn studied Chinese at Peking University and received an honorary doctorate. In 2005, on the occasion of her 50th birthday, Peking University established the "Princess Sirindhorn Science and Culture Exchange Center" as a base for exchanges and cooperation between the university and Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. Seeing her two alma maters cooperating, she said happily: "The cooperation between the two universities will definitely have a bright development prospect. ”
"Know each other far and near, win thousands of miles as neighbors"
Over the decades, Princess Sirindhorn has introduced the beauty of China to Thailand and has left many touching stories in China.
On September 29, 2019, President Xi Jinping presented Princess Sirindhorn with the Order of Friendship. At the ceremony, Princess Sirindhorn quoted Zhang Jiuling's poem "Knowing each other far and near, winning thousands of miles as neighbors" to describe the deep friendship between the people of Thailand and China.
In 1981, Princess Sirindhorn visited China for the first time and was the first member of the Thai royal family to visit China. She recalled: "When I first set foot in the land of dragons, I was attracted by her vast and profound culture, moved by her beautiful mountains and rivers, I wanted to know her past and future, I wanted to know her whole style. That's when I decided to travel all over China. In just eight days, she visited Beijing, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and Hong Kong. Shortly after returning to China, she published her travelogue "Visiting the Land of the Dragon".
Princess Sirindhorn's travelogue "Visiting the Land of the Dragon".
In 1990, Princess Sirindhorn visited China for the second time, visiting Gansu and Xinjiang in addition to Beijing to explore the Silk Road. In 1992, she visited China for the third time. From 1994 to 2019, he visited China every year. The coronavirus pandemic has temporarily interrupted this tradition. In 2022, she participated in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics and continued her visit to China.
Princess Sirindhorn wrote many stories about her visit to China. From "Snowflakes in the Clouds", which describes the northeast, to "Sirindhorn Princess Tianlu Travel", which records her trip to Tibet, to "Return to Greater China", which tells about Hong Kong's return. With keen observation and elegant writing, she recorded the development and changes in China in her eyes.
After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, Princess Sirindhorn wrote a personal letter to mourn the victims. She first donated generously in her personal name and urgently donated a batch of million-dollar relief materials to the earthquake-stricken areas through the Thai Red Cross. On April 4 of the following year, she came to Beichuan to mourn the victims at the scene of the disaster. After learning that the Xianxianlu Primary School in Mianyang City, located in the disaster area, was damaged, she immediately decided to donate 11 million yuan to help rebuild the school.
A year later, the new school building of Pioneer Road Primary School was completed. In order to remember the friendship of Princess Sirindhorn, the school was renamed as Princess Sirindhorn Primary School on Pioneer Road in Mianyang. Princess Sirindhorn, who was invited to attend the completion ceremony, said in Chinese: "Last year [here] was still in ruins, but today I see solid and beautiful school buildings, enthusiastic and dedicated teachers and innocent and lovely children. I am very relieved. ”
In 2011, Princess Sirindhorn came to the school for the second time to present books to students and announced that the school would become a sister school with her alma mater, Giralda School.
In 2018, on the 10th anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake, Princess Sirindhorn returned to the school. In order to make her feel at home, the whole school made a Thai flower pavilion together. Princess Sirindhorn said in Chinese: "Confucius said, 'Learn as you learn, don't say anything,' I hope you love learning, love life, and keep improving." ”
In 2009, Princess Sirindhorn inscribed the Princess Sirindhorn Primary School on Pioneer Road.
At the scene, Chinese and Thai students also sang the Thai song "Beautiful Princess" in unison, which showed the Thai people's love for Princess Sirindhorn.
"Princess Tianfo" is also a technology fan
In Thailand, Princess Sirindhorn is honored as "Princess of the Heavenly Buddha".
In 2015, Princess Sirindhorn celebrated her 60th birthday. A Thai writer wrote in the article "Why We Love Princess Celestial Buddha": "Her life (Princess Sirindhorn) seems to have come from a children's pillow story: a fairytale princess who does not like red tape and often goes with the flow. Thais are very lucky to have such a princess as her. ”
In Thailand, one can find roads, schools, flowers, birds named after Princess Sirindhorn. In 2016, Thai and Japanese paleontologists even named a newly discovered dinosaur "Sirindosaurus" in honor of her years of supporting paleontological research.
Sirindhorn smiles.
Over the years, Princess Sirindhorn was known for being close to the people. When she was young, she often accompanied her father on inspections of various places. As a member of the royal family, she rarely spent time in the palace, but spent most of her time condolences, visiting and understanding the people's feelings. From the metro in the capital Bangkok, to the quiet country roads, Princess Sirindhorn can be seen.
Princess Sirindhorn (second from right) who interacts with the Thai people with her father, King Rama IX (first from right).
When she goes out, Princess Sirindhorn often chooses to travel light, but there are three things she must bring: a notebook to record people's feelings, a digital camera, and a simple purple backpack.
・Princess Sirindhorn wearing a purple backpack.
In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed or left more than 8,000 people dead or missing in Thailand, including Prince Jensen, nephew of Princess Sirindhorn. Phuket, a tourist destination, has become the hardest hit area.
In the face of such a natural disaster, Princess Sirindhorn endured her grief and went to the headquarters of the Thai Red Cross Society as soon as possible to organize all walks of life to provide relief materials and medical services to the affected areas. She also rushed to the disaster area to comfort the people. Encouraged by her, the Thai people actively donated blood and materials to the victims.
Some Thai media said that every Thai can tell their favorite "princess story". Once, when Princess Sirindhorn's motorcade encountered ambulances, she immediately pulled over to clear the road for ambulances.
Another time, Princess Sirindhorn inspected the school and encountered a girl walking in the rain. The princess quickly took the girl by her side and escorted her all the way to the school building.
Princess Sirindhorn walked to the school building in the rain with her arms around the girl.
At the same time, Princess Sirindhorn is also the vice president of the Thai Red Cross Society and has participated in the improvement of Thailand's medical and social assistance system. She also established orphanages and special education centers for orphans and disabled children in Thailand, opening a window into the future.
After learning of China's major achievements in poverty reduction, Princess Sirindhorn also made poverty alleviation research the focus of her visit to China, visiting Guizhou and Shanxi in 2017 and Shanxi in 2018 to learn about China's poverty alleviation policies.
Princess Sirindhorn is also a "tech junkie". During this visit to China, she went to the Jiangmen Neutrino Laboratory in Guangdong on June 3. She got on the rail car and went down to the experimental hall 700 meters underground with great interest, and visited for two hours, holding a purple notebook and asking questions as she looked.
On June 3, Princess Sirindhorn (notebook holder in the center) visited the Jiangmen Neutrino Laboratory. (Source: Jiangmen Daily)
In this laboratory, there is a magnetic shielding system being installed, which is completed by Chinese and Thai researchers. Princess Sirindhorn listened carefully to the live explanation. The person who explained the quality testing equipment of liquid flash to her was Tai Muyang, a Thai doctor from the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Princess Sirindhorn happily started a family affair with this "fellow countryman".
Princess Sirindhorn said, "Neutrino is so small, but you can see a big world", and happily inscribed the four Chinese characters "see the big with the small".
"Friendship is as deep as the sea, and the future is thousands of miles away; Yi Ziyan red day, spring garden competition more coquettish. This is a song from "Peach Blossom Picking", and it is also a portrayal of Princess Sirindhorn's wish to promote friendship between Thailand and China.
Director system: Lv Hong
Producer: Zhang Jiankui
Editor-in-chief: Xu Chenjing
Editor: Ling Yun
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