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Cecilia Lindqvist, ambassador" of Chinese culture (2) |
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16:37, November 08, 2007 |
From Qin to farewell to dear teacher
In 1994, three years before she could formally retire from teaching, professor Lindqvist left her teaching job to focus on writing the book Qin. She already started in the 1960s, but the teaching work made her unable to concentrate on it. She once made some radio programs about Guqin, and her publishing house Bonniers personnel telephoned her and said she might write a book about the instrument.
Then she immediately began to concentrate on writing the Qin book, it took her 13 years to complete. During these 13 years, she almost went to China every year and met her teacher Wang Di.
" We were almost at the same age. She was some years older. I had a long experience in music in the west, and she had the excellent knowledge of the Chinese music. So we had very much to talk about and I became very close friends with her and her family. Except five years when Wang Di and her family were growing vegetables in Tianjin, I didn't meet her. But we met again in 1979. She has been very kind to me. When I began to write this book about Guqin, there were so many questions because so much of the materials were written in classic Chinese. There were so many difficult passages there. I didn't really understand it. But she could help me and explain it. And she was doing the research all the time and publishing articles concerning Guqin. She sent them to me or when I came to China, I got them. So I got answers from her."
Talking about her dear teacher Wang Di, Lindqvist has a moving story.
"It was a very strange thing. It was autumn of 2003. I have been writing to her and she didn't answer and I felt she maybe have a tour in Taiwan, US or Japan because she was often invited to play abroad. When I came to Beijing, I immediately called her, her husband answered. Then he began to cry and he said he couldn't talk any more. He hanged up the phone. Five minutes later, Wang Di's elder daughter Deng Ying phoned me and said her mother had been in hospital for four months, she didn't drink or eat or anything. She was dying. I was afraid if I could ask to meet her. I asked, but Deng Ying said no, she doesn't want to see anybody. Nobody knows that she is here in hospital.
So I sat down and cried. But five minutes later, the telephone rang. It was Deng Ying again. She said, please you can come tomorrow.
So the next day I was sitting there together with her for two hours and she had all the equipment around her body. She asked me if I have any questions and I asked some questions. Then we cried and talked about our youth, it was terribly upsetting. We were quite ready in our faces with tears. And after two hours, she was so tired, so I had to go. And her last question was, have you had everything you need now for your book? And I said yes. And five days later, she died. I remember I said at last that I can't come back until August and she said let's see each other again. But we both knew that was impossible. "
The Qin book was published in 2006 and sold about 30 thousand copies. At first 7000 copies were printed and they were sold out within a week. So they printed again and it is still selling well. It was rewarded with August Prize last year.
At the same time the Kingdom of Characters also sold very well not only in Chinese mainland, but also in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Holland, Russia, USA, England and Germany. It was rewarded with August Prize for the best book of the year in 1989. Lindqvist won two August Prizes for her two books. This is rare in the Swedish history.
From Chinese culture and science to sustainable development
Professor Lindqvist said that what has been studied and collected about China are mostly porcelains, ivory and paintings.
"When it comes to natural science, China has been in so many years, so far ahead of our west. Think of the boat, more than 2000 years ahead of Sweden the Chinese knew how to make this compartment. And when they travel to Africa with the boat, they were excellent boats. We must learn from that such as house building, how to grow different kinds of vegetables and crops and so on. Chinese agriculture is much more advanced than in the west. I am absolutely sure that China will come back to its own history because there were so many things such as textile production and the building of old houses, so many things that we don't know but we could learn from. It is still vital and ought to be because the books are there and the knowledge are there. And we should study it more thoroughly.
Now China try to catch up with the west, but China should not forget the great achievements this country has achieved during thousands of years. So far ahead of us. Sometimes I feel very sorry China now is so much concentrated on what's going on in the west. And I sincerely hope the conscience of your greatness will come."
Lindqvist said that Chinese history will contribute to both the present and the future.
"Many solutions can be found in natural science. For example, many people live in Zhongyuan or central China all these years, and they have been able to get enough food because they used the manure of the animals and the people as fertilizers. They have always taken care of the earth. Nowadays people just throw out chemicals and that hurts the earth, they grow very much but there is no taste in vegetables and the earth gets worn out."
From Guqin music to folk art paper cutting
Lindqvist: I planned to organize more Guqin concerts in Sweden. During the summer, the concerts performed by Deng Hong and Chen Shasha were a success and more people want to attend it. Then we can even open concerts in Beijing so that people in Beijing can have a good experience of appreciating the performance of Guqin. Otherwise, I feel it might be a waste of the music if no one does that.
Nowadays a lot of Chinese students want to study western music, they want to have huge instruments and hundreds of them play together. But few people play Guqin. That's a dangerous thing. It's understandable that China opened so much that they want to show that they can play everything as good as the west, but they almost forget their own heritage. I think that trend might change, like Peking opera.
As long as the old teachers and artists are alive, it is possible to revive it. We have to be very careful to rescue this.
Then I have another project about China too, that's about paper cutting. I like to make a book out of this subject. I have been to Ansai which is near Yan'an in northwest China several times to meet women experts in paper cutting. I have collected a box of 4000 paper cutting. These women made their home very beautiful. I will try to make exhibitions about it too. But now I must work faster not for another 15 years.
I am a Swedish but my heart is Chinese.
"The experiences in China absolutely changed me". said professor Lindqvist,
"Sometimes I was angry about myself that I was not very concentrated on one thing. I have done a lot of things, but now I realized that I can put all these experiences into my book. So I am very happy now and it is my harvest period. Sometimes I am tired, but I am not disappointing. I have been highly rewarded by the public by reading my books. There have been very good reviews they have ever done. They have been very kind to me. So I feel very happy. I only feel time maybe is a bit shorter because I am 75 now and I must keep fit. I swim here every morning to keep myself fit."
About her teaching experience, Professor Lindqvist said,
"I always try to get them interested in things which is important in life. During the concert, a man with beard came over to me and said ‘you may not remember, but you were my teacher and I remember that the first story you told us was Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. And then I thought I would become a teacher in the future. And I became a teacher."
I feel it is important to get them interested and concern about what is important in life. When it comes to history, music or art, whatever it is, embark their enthusiasm about it and they will find out their own way."
[1] [2]
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