The Canadian kid crossed the ocean to learn XiChinese
On a cold winter day in 1965, the newborn cry of a baby could be heard in an ordinary hospital in Ottawa. This cry came from a little baby boy named Dashan, whose blue eyes and pale blonde hair shone in the sun.
In such a cold environment, his body is warm, because he was born with a yearning for the mysterious culture of the East.
This yearning of Dashan comes from his grandfather, who was loved by the local people as a doctor who practiced medicine in Henan Province as a doctor during the years when the Chinese people bravely resisted the Japanese invaders.
Legend has it that the common people even affectionately called him "Dr. Rao". His grandfather's dusty figure and dedication in a foreign country have left an indelible mark on Dashan's heart, making this Canadian boy's dream since childhood to see the customs of mysterious China.
Later, Dashan was admitted to the University of Toronto, resolutely chose the Department of East Asian Studies, began to systematically study Xi Chinese language, and developed a strong interest in Chinese culture. After a few years, he finally got the opportunity to realize his dream - he was recommended to study Xi at Peking University.
On a spring morning in 1989, Dashan set foot on the land of the Far East and began his exciting and apprehensive life at Peking University.
Peking University Life opens the road to China
In the spring of 1989, a mountain in a light blue shirt appeared on the campus of Peking University, and his fresh face was full of joy and anticipation like a new life.
After coming to Peking University, Dashan was enthusiastic and cheerful, actively communicated with his classmates, and quickly integrated into the group and made a large group of friends. In addition to listening carefully and taking notes in class, he is always busy helping his classmates after class. When a classmate was sick and had no one to take care of him, he ran to the ward twice a day; Even to celebrate his friend's mother's birthday, he carefully prepared a bouquet of flowers.
Dashan's life at Peking University is very fulfilling, and he is full of vitality every day. However, he also experienced some interesting things that made him more deeply aware of the breadth and profundity of Chinese.
I still remember one time, he wanted to express "sending flowers", but because the words did not reach the meaning, he said "sending wreaths", which attracted laughter from his classmates. He also laughed at himself for practicing Chinese well.
Seeing the spring, summer, autumn and winter in Beijing fly by in laughter and laughter, Dashan has grown from a restrained foreign student at the beginning to a fluent Chinese Chinese.
He was not only deeply immersed in Chinese life, but also found an incomparably broad golden road to Chinese culture.
Worship Jiang Kun as a teacher and embark on the road of cross talk
After graduating, he did not stop learning Xi, but was impressed by the superb cross talk art of the famous Jiang Kun in the observation of a TV program, and started his own process of learning Xi cross talk.Chinese
Dashan was originally good at words, and soon mastered many skills in cross talk performances. But he knew in his heart that in order to truly become a qualified traditional artist, he must be taught by a virtuous person in order to carry forward this ancient art.
So, Dashan began a year-long "siege", and finally said that Jiang Kun was moved to accept him as a "foreign apprentice".
On a cold winter day in 1991, an extraordinary apprenticeship ceremony was being held in an antique courtyard house in Beijing. Jiang Kun's tall figure stood in the warm light, his expression was serene, and his face was a little serious.
Kneeling opposite him was a young man with short blond hair, who was reverently bowing three times and nine times to the Chinese cross talk master.
After the apprenticeship ceremony, the big mountain jumped with joy. Under Jiang Kun's careful guidance, he studied hard and practiced hard, and finally had the opportunity to perform on the same stage with Jiang Kun in the 1990 Spring Festival Gala just a year later.
The collision of two generations and two cultures on the stage set off waves of applause and laughter, and Dashan really entered people's field of vision and opened his own dazzling cross talk road.
Harvesting love in China is spreading
In 1990, a band from the United States was invited to perform in Northeast China, and Dashan accompanied him as an interpreter. In addition to his work as a translator, he met a local girl named Gan Lin, who was delicate and gentle, but shy and shy.
At first, Gan Lin was a little shy to communicate with the mountain. In a coincidence, Gan Lin witnesses an argument between the band members and gets into trouble. The shrewd mountain immediately stepped forward to mediate and resolve the dispute.
Gan Lin was impressed by the mountain and thanked him from the bottom of his heart. took the opportunity to invite her to dinner, and the two finally had the opportunity to go on their first date.
In the ensuing conversation, Dashan's humorous conversation quickly dispelled Ganlin's shyness and made her feel like a spring breeze. The distance that was originally unfamiliar was also shortened in laughter.
In this way, the two hearts met in a foreign country and collided with sparks. Three years later, they were married in Canada. Today, Dashan has a cheerful and lively son and a cute daughter of Pippi, and the family of four is happy.
Ten years of searching for roots and finally seeing results, doing our best for China
Part of the reason why Dashan came to China to study Xi was to look for his grandfather's footprints during the Anti-Japanese War. However, the 10-year-long road to finding his roots has been bumpy and difficult, with no progress.
It wasn't until 2001 that a female reporter contacted Dashan after seeing the newspaper and instructed him to go to Shangqiu, Henan Province to look for him.
Holding on to the last glimmer of hope, Dashan rushed to Shangqiu non-stop. In this ancient city, he took old photos and compared them one by one, and finally found the place where his grandfather worked in an old hospital called "Guide House".
After careful comparison, he was moved to tears. At this moment, his dream of China was fulfilled.
After finding his grandfather's footprints, Dashan seems to have rediscovered the coordinates of his life. Since then, he has devoted himself even more to China, the land where he grew up.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he did not hesitate to choose to serve as a special envoy of the Canadian Olympic Committee; At the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, he was the General Representative of the Canada Pavilion; After taking a back seat, he also created the popular cross talk program "Dashan Kan Dashan".
Today, Dashan has long been a Chinese cultural celebrity who is deeply loved by the Chinese people.
He used his own story to interpret the true meaning of "those who are virtuous and share food with the country". With sweat, with the gold in the wheat field, with a sincere heart, he guarded the Chinese dream in his heart.
Truth: The reason for leaving China
In the past two years, Dashan has gradually faded out of public view and rarely appears in the evening program. It is rumored that he could not bear the competition of traffic stars, and was "defeated" by the new generation of Internet celebrities and had to withdraw from the stage.
However, the truth of the matter is far from that.
At the beginning of 2020, the new crown epidemic spread around the world. Dashan, who was originally running at both ends, was also forced to stay in Canada and could not return to China. The outside world misunderstood that he was out of breath, but he didn't care about these words.
just seize the time to spend time with his wife and children, and carefully teach his children to learn XiChinese.
After the epidemic situation improved, the 57-year-old Dashan is still active in public welfare undertakings. In October 2019, he was invited to participate in the 12th Chinese Quyi Festival held in Paris, and performed a stand-up comedy in fluent Mandarin.
With his actions, he declares that his love for Chinese culture has never changed. We are also looking forward to the reunion of the golden wheat field and the cross talk of the mountains.