From 1904 to 1906, Lu Xun came to sendai Medical Science College (one of the predecessors of Tohoku University) to study, and formed a deep teacher-student friendship with Yankuro Fujino, a professor of anatomy at the school. Later, Lu Xun wrote this experience into an article entitled "Mr. Fujino", which was included in the Chinese Chinese textbook, which became a window for many Chinese students to understand Japan and sowed the seeds for the cause of Sino-Japanese folk friendship.
This year marks the 140th anniversary of Lu Xun's birth, in order to commemorate Lu Xun's outstanding contributions to China-Japan people-to-people exchanges, review his far-reaching impact on the history of exchanges between the two countries over the past century, and look forward to the development direction of China-Japan people-to-people exchanges, on the morning of October 30, the Chinese Consulate General in Niigata, Lu Xun Cultural Foundation, and China International Education Television co-hosted an online exchange meeting. People's China Magazine, Miyagi Prefecture, Sendai City, Tohoku University, Soka Gakkai, Miyagi Japan-China Friendship Association, Sendai Lu Xun Eminence Association, JCFA Miyagi, Sendai Lu Xun Research Association, Beijing Language and Culture University Lu Xun and the Institute of World Cultures jointly supported the event.
At the exchange meeting, Ambassador kong Xuanyou to Japan and Miyagi Governor Murai Kahiro sent video speeches, and Consul General Sun Dagang in Niigata and Wang Kaige, executive deputy director of China International Education Television, delivered speeches on behalf of the organizers. Zhou Lingfei, President of Lu Xun Cultural Foundation and Lu Xun's eldest grandson, Wang Zhongyi, Editor-in-Chief of People's China Magazine, Masahiro Yamaguchi, Vice President of Tohoku University in Japan, and Atsushi Che Tian, Chairman of the Sendai Lu Xun Research Association, delivered speeches as guests. About 200 representatives from all walks of life in China and Japan attended, including more than 100 young students.
Ambassador Kong said in his video speech that the story of Mr. Lu Xun and Professor Yanjiuro Fujino is a vivid epitome of the mutual learning and friendly exchanges between the Chinese and Japanese peoples for more than 2,000 years, and is a precious wealth that we all have, which is worth passing on from generation to generation and carrying forward. Next year, China and Japan will usher in an important node for the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations. In the face of the century-old changes in the world, Sino-Japanese relations are also standing at a new crossroads and facing new opportunities and challenges. Not long ago, President Xi Jinping spoke with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and the leaders of the two countries pointed out the goals and directions for the development of China-Japan relations. It is hoped that the two sides will never forget their original intentions, adhere to the correct direction, expand mutual benefit and win-win results, manage contradictions and differences, implement the political consensus of leaders with practical actions, and jointly open up new prospects for the development of bilateral relations.
Governor Murai introduced to Northeastern University's "Lu Xun Ladder Classroom," which will be officially opened next spring, and is an important place related to Lu Xun in Miyagi Prefecture, such as the Memorial Park, which was rebuilt from the former site of Lu Xun's boarding house. At the end of his speech, he looked forward to more Chinese friends coming to visit after the end of the epidemic, and hoped that the friendly exchanges between Japan and China would continue to advance.
Consul General Sun Dagang delivered a speech at the exchange meeting on behalf of the organizers, in which he introduced: "The Number of Chinese students studying at Northeastern University has grown from Lu Xun alone in those years to thousands of people today. Sino-Japanese friendship has been passed on from generation to generation, and there will be successors. To build Sino-Japanese relations that meet the requirements of the new era, it is necessary for all walks of life in China and Japan to move in the same direction and work together. It is hoped that the participants will draw strength from Lu Xun and his works, strengthen their faith in friendship, and push Sino-Japanese relations to set sail for the next 50 years and move steadily and far. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="17" > "When I was a child, my grandmother often met japanese friends."</h1>
In his speech, Zhou Lingfei recalled his family's interaction with Japanese friends: "I remember when I was a child, my grandmother often met with Japanese friends, so there were many kinds of exquisite Japanese ornaments and small gifts at home. When China and Japan signed the Joint Declaration in September 1972, I saw Japanese television broadcast trucks near the Minzu Hotel in Beijing, and my father told me that the technical department of the Central Broadcasting Bureau, where he worked, was providing technical support for Broadcasting by Japanese counterparts. I actually came face-to-face with the Japanese in 1978, when I met dozens of gentlemen and ladies in straight suits, ties, and kimonos, and through translation, I learned that they were all hometown people from my grandfather's Japanese teacher, Mr. Yankuro Fujino. ”
Since then, Zhou Lingfei has been to Japan many times, and he shared with the audience his feelings about actively participating in non-governmental exchanges with Japan over the years: "Fingers crossed, I have 'known' Japan and Mr. Fujino for 50 years, and in the past 50 years, I have visited Sendai six times and visited Awara more than ten times. Since my grandfather, four generations of our family have left clear footprints in Sendai, Awara, and a lifetime of indelible memories. Both my father and I know that this friendship should be engraved in the heart and cherished. Now that our family has a fifth generation, they will continue this friendship forever. ”
As Ambassador Kong said in his speech, the story of Lu Xun and Fujino Yanjiulang is the epitome of the friendly exchanges between China and Japan. Through Zhou Lingfei's contacts with Japanese friends, we have also seen that no matter how the political relations between the two countries change, the friendship forged between the people is always like a trickle that nourishes the heart.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="44" > look to the future to foster long-lasting friendships</h1>
Vice President Masahiro Yamaguchi was deeply touched by the friendship bond between the two countries that was woven since Lu Xun began to study abroad and continued to expand with the expansion of Sino-Japanese exchanges, and he sent a message to Chinese students who are now studying at Northeastern University: "The teacher-student friendship between Lu Xun and Fujino Yankuro has continued through time and space to this day. This tells us that the friendship between people does not change depending on the quality of national relations. It is hoped that Chinese students will contribute to the development of Sino-Japanese relations in the coming decades. At the end of his speech, Masahiro Yamaguchi encouraged the students to cultivate long-term friendships in the future, modeled on the friendship between Lu Xun and Fujino Yankuro, regardless of the temporary political environment.
Not only with his mentor Fujino Yankuro, Lu Xun insisted on promoting Sino-Japanese people-to-people exchanges and cultural exchanges throughout his life, and made friends with more than 160 Japanese friends who love peace, respect China, and make progress in their thinking. In the exchange meeting, the editor-in-chief of Wang Zhongyi deeply analyzed the background of the writing of the article "Mr. Fujino" with the theme of "Farewell and Handshake", discussed Lu Xun's state of mind for communication with Japan, and reviewed his interaction experience with Fujino Yankuro, Uchiyama Anderson. In his speech, Wang Zhongyi looked forward to it: "The personal friendship between China and Japan pioneered by Mr. Lu Xun is still continuing in the new era, bringing hope to the future, which will inspire us to firmly promote people-to-people friendship, carry out people-to-people exchanges, and promote China-Japan relations into a new realm." ”
As a member of the Sendai Lu Xun Research Association, Chairman Che Tian Dun has a special understanding of lu Xun's role in Sino-Japanese people-to-people friendship. As early as the 1930s, the Sendai area initiated research on Lu Xun's works and biographies, and gradually formed an association that combined research and promotion of folk friendship. Atsushi Chetian said that our wish to initiate the research is to let the "history of transnational exchanges" written by Lu Xun and Mr. Fujino, classmates of Sendai Medical College, and Sendai people pass on to future generations.
At the end of the exchange meeting, Executive Deputy Director Wang Kaige made a concluding speech. He said: In the thousand-year history of cultural exchanges between China and Japan, countless historical sages have written a chapter of singing and weeping for the friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. May all circles in China and Japan take the opportunity of commemorating Mr. Lu Xun to make unremitting efforts to increase the intensity and density of Sino-Japanese cultural cooperation and strengthen the breadth and depth of people-to-people exchanges between China and Japan.
Text: Wang Chaoyang
Photo: Chinese Consulate General in Niigata, Wang Chaoyang