Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Rabindranath Tagore in China - Peking (contd -2)-1924

About fifty specially learned and dignified renowned persons greeted Rabindranath in Throne hall on 25th April,1924 and met with him in a tea party.Once in this Hall the King of China met the foreign ambassador in this hall. The President of Peking Lecturer Associaion Liang Qichaoin a long speech describing the old relations between the two countries India and China, he said; " The coming of Rabindranath Tagore will, I hope, mark the beginning of an important period of History.If  we can avail of this occasion to renew the intimate relationship which we had with India  and to establish a really constructive scheme of cooperation, then our welcome to Rabindranath Tagore will have real significance."
(Liang Qichao was a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher, and reformist during the late Qing Dynasty and early Chinese Republic who inspired Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements.)
His speech was written earlier and was added as an introduction to
 " Talks In China"
In reply to the welcome address Rabindranath said, " For many centuries many scholarly persons from  our country me to China. But he has come here as a representative of the culture of the past and present of his country. In this changing situation the intermixing of the  cultures of two countries." Kalidas Nag wrote, " In reply to the welcome address Rabindranath replied with proper politeness, "I have come here to bind ties of the two countries with love - let the two oldest countries unite in spiritual bondness. I have come here  as a representative of our country to invite you - now my dream has been fulfilled."
On 26th April, Rabindranath was greeted in the flower gardenof Lailak of a old Budhist temple. He addressed the young Budhist here. This was described by Kalidas Nag in an essay titled " Rabindranath Tagore's Viswabharati Mission;
"The poet and his party were welcomed by the priests of Fa-yuan-ssu, one of thge oldest temples of Peking. Here under the little trees tagore addressed the priests and the members of the youngbMen's Budhist Association. The temple bell sounded its rich music and the poet also in his wonderfully musical voice expatiated on the deathless doctrine of"   maitri - universal love , like a budhist saint of yore. "
The lecture was printed in " Talks in China [1924] under the title At a Budhist Temple , Peking."
While attending the lunch offered by Anglo-American Association, he said mentioning the name of a person present in the lunch;
" Whenheheard me talk of the mission of co-operationand conciliation which I had in my heart, this man said that China was the one place where I would find good soil for the seed of ideals I had come to sow."