◆ People's Daily Overseas Edition Japanese monthly reporter Wu Xiaole
Lu Xun, a name that makes Chinese and Japanese feel warm when mentioned. On October 30, 2021, in order to commemorate the 140th anniversary of Lu Xun's birth, further enhance mutual understanding and exchanges between the Chinese and Japanese peoples, and inherit Sino-Japanese friendship with the "heart", the Chinese Consulate General in Niigata, the Lu Xun Cultural Foundation, and the China International Education Television (CECTV) jointly held a Sino-Japanese online exchange meeting to commemorate the 140th anniversary of Lu Xun's birth. Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou and Japanese Governor Miyagi Kahiro Murai sent video messages. Sun Dagang, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Niigata, and Wang Kaige, Executive Vice President of China International Education Television, delivered speeches on behalf of the organizers. Zhou Lingfei, president of the Lu Xun Cultural Foundation and grandson of Lu Xun, Wang Zhongyi, editor-in-chief of People's China Magazine, Masahiro Yamaguchi, vice president of Tohoku University in Japan, and Che Tian Dun, chairman of the Sendai Lu Xun Research Association, delivered speeches as guests. About 200 representatives from various circles in China and Japan attended the meeting. One of the highlights was the attendance of about 100 young students.
Ambassador Kong Xuanyou said in his video speech that Mr. Lu Xun is a great Chinese writer, thinker and revolutionary. For more than a hundred years, his thoughts and personality have influenced generations of Chinese, and today it is still the spiritual nourishment for us to overcome difficulties and forge ahead. As we all know, Mr. Lu Xun studied in Japan like many benevolent people in China in his youth, exploring the road to rejuvenating China. The story of him and Professor Yankuro Fujino is also 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 said that Mr. Lu Xun, a famous Chinese literary hero, studied in Miyagi Prefecture and we are deeply proud. Mr. Lu Xun has left many footprints in Sendai City, such as the "Lu Xun Ladder Classroom" of Northeastern University and so on. In addition, the memorial park, which was converted from its former homestay site, will also be officially opened next spring. I look forward to more friends coming to visit after the end of the new crown epidemic, and hope that the friendly exchanges between Japan and China will continue to advance.
Consul General Sun Dagang said in a speech on behalf of the organizers that from 1904 to 1906, Mr. Lu Xun came to sendai Medical College, the predecessor of Northeastern University, located in the consular district of the Chinese Consulate General in Niigata today. During this time, he and Mr. Fujino formed a deep teacher-student friendship. Mr. Lu Xun insisted on treating Japanese militarists and the Japanese people separately, and promoted Sino-Japanese people-to-people exchanges and cultural exchanges for a long time. Today, more than a hundred years later, sendai and other places are still active in many non-governmental organizations that inherit the spirit of Lu Xun and promote Sino-Japanese friendship. The number of Chinese students studying at Northeastern University has grown from Lu Xun alone 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.
Executive Vice President Wang Kaige said that in the history of china-Japan thousand-year cultural exchanges, countless historical sages have written a chapter of song and tears 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.
President Zhou Lingfei made a speech based on his personal growth experience, saying that this year is the 140th anniversary of the birth of his grandfather Mr. Lu Xun and the 100th anniversary of the publication of Lu Xun's two famous works "Hometown" and "A Q Zheng Biography", which can be described as "Lu Xun Year". Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of Diplomatic Relations between China and Japan, which can be described as the "Year of China and Japan." Over the past 120 years, the encounter between Lu Xun and Mr. Fujino has become a symbol and symbol of friendship between the Chinese and Japanese peoples. As a latecomer, we should practice what we preach and carry forward the tradition of friendship.
With the theme of "Farewell and Handshake", the editor-in-chief of Wang Zhongyi deeply analyzed the background of the writing of "Mr. Fujino" and reviewed the interaction experience of Mr. Lu Xun with Fujino Yanjiuro, Uchiyama Anderson. He said that the personal friendship between China and Japan, pioneered by Mr. Lu Xun, is still continuing in the new era, bringing hope to the future, and 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.
Vice President Masahiro Yamaguchi took the study experiences of Mr. Lu Xun, Mr. Su Buqing and others at Northeastern University as the starting point, reviewed the history of the school's acceptance of Chinese students and the cooperation in education and teaching with Chinese universities. He said that he would continue to cherish the Japan-China friendship ties left by Lu Xun and Mr. Fujino, strive to create a good learning environment for Chinese students, encourage Japanese students to study in China, and cultivate a new generation of friendly forces for the two countries.
Chairman Atsushi Cheda outlined the overall situation and historical evolution of Lu Xun's research in the Sendai area since the 1930s, and focused on introducing academic research results such as the famous "slide incident" during Mr. Lu Xun's study in Sendai, and looking forward to the prospects of Lu Xun's research in Japan.
After the speech, the four keynote speakers answered questions from the participants on Mr. Lu Xun's outstanding achievements in various fields and Mr. Lu Xun's special significance to Northeastern University.