Shanxi Provincial Education Association invited Rabindranath Tagore well in advance.The people of Taiyuan are awaiting your memorable visit and long to see your personality as well as to hear your exalted ideas and accept your challenge to international brother hood of mankind , both East and West alike, " -
Since 1911, the Governor General Yen Hsi-Shan of of the province Shansi was renowned as a good ruler.Keeping the social system as it was in ancient times of Confucious, he wanted to establish modern civilisation. He held the same idea as Rabindranath did regarding big industry and Cities.
Rabindranath met him on 22nd May in the morning. The details of their discussion was published in Viswabharati quarterly , Oct 1924 titled " Conversation betwen Rabindranath Tagore and Governor Yen. of Shansi, China.". This was also published in Talks in China.1999. Kalidas Nag also wrote nicely their conversation. Elmhirst earmarked a plot of land in Santiniketan for cooperative farming by the volunteers of China and India as an honour to Rabindranath Tagore. Though this proposal was never came to be true.
In the afternoon at about 3 PM Rabindranath read the essay " City and Village" in the Confucious Hall, established for self development of the local people.. In this essay Rabindranath pointed out that he is not against the progressive action but his against the attempt of selling one's soul in the name of progressive action; ;
" then I choose to remain primitive in my material possessions, hoping to achieve my civilisation in the realm of the spirit" he also wrote, " Cities there must be in man's civilization, just as in higher organisms there must be organised centres of life such as brain, heart and stomach...but a tumor round which the blood is congested, is the enemy of the whole body upon which it feels as it swells."
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