Home> News

    Chinese scholar and his work in French

    By Zhang Zixuan in Beijing and Xie Chuanjiao in Qingdao ( China Daily )

    Updated: 2013-08-11

      Print Mail Large Medium  Small 0

    This April, 69-year-old Li Zhi-qing received a letter from the French ambassador to China. Sylvie Bermann warmly praising Li's promotion of the French language and French literature.

    She also told Li that he will soon be awarded the Commander Medallion of the Order of Academic Palms. It's the highest level of the third-grade order of Chivalry of France for academics and others who have made major contributions to French national education and culture.

    Chinese scholar and his work in French

    Li Zhiqing received his first medallion in 1996 from the them French ambassador Pierre Morel. Provided to China Daily

    This is Li's third medallion after receiving the lower-level knight and officer medals.

    "It's a great honor for me; the more exciting part is being recognized for doing my favorite thing," Li says.

    Li was the born in an intellectual family in Shanghai. His father was a chemist who once studied in the US.

    Li says his lifetime passion of French was originally inspired by Fu Lei (1908-1966), the renowned Chinese writer and French-language translator.

    In childhood, Li recalls, his parents' house was always crowded with Shanghai's intellectuals and scholars, and Fu was often one of them.

    To taste the original flavor of French literature, he entered the Shanghai International Studies University's French department in 1962.

    "French education was not well-developed in China until 1964, when China and France established the diplomatic relations," Li says.

    Then came the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), and for more than a decade, he worked at a farm and then a factory.

    But Li kept on reading to keep his hand in. His French skills survived thanks to reading the French version of Selected Works of Chairman Mao Zedong.

    In 1978 Li met the then Party secretary of Shandong University, Sun Hanqing, who invited Li to teach at the school and help with its nascent French education. Ever since then, Li has been an evangelist for the French language.

    In 1979, Li finally had a fleeting glimpse of France after studying French for 17 years. His first visit was only a short stay in Paris, a stopover on a business trip to Africa.

    "I was like a bumpkin with all my money sewn up in my suit pocket," Li chuckles.

    In the following years Li lobbied Shandong University to launch its own French department. In 1994 his dream came true.

    There were only a few French workers in Shandong province that constructed an electricity-generating station in Zouxian county, Li recalls. He hosted a French club in one classroom of his campus and invited these French workers to meet with students once every two weeks.

    The French workers screened some French movies that were not commonly found in China at that time, and then discussed the films. They also brought French books.

    Soon after, a French elevator manufacturer came to the provincial capital Jinan and provided internship opportunities to Li's students. Li also helped 10 of his students to study in France with the support of Rotary International and Lions Clubs International, two worldwide service-club organizations.

    In 2000 Li helped the Ocean University of Qingdao (now the Ocean University of China) to establish a French department. That year there were 22 French-major freshmen.

    Fang Liwei, one of that first batch and now the deputy director of the French department, says the strict teacher would list at least 50 books for the newbies. Li also required them to read French newspapers such as Le Monde and Le Figaro every week.

    Meanwhile Li participated in writing several textbooks, and initiated the founding of the Qingdao branch of the French Alliance. He also campaigned to make Qingdao a sister city of Nantes and Brest.

    Today he hardly seems retired. He comes to school regularly, and flies frequently between China and France.

    "I wish I could die during teaching, just like an actor dying on stage," says Li. "To me it's the biggest happiness."

    Hu Qing in Qingdao contributed to the story.

    中文无码制服丝袜人妻av| 国产精品无码免费播放| 精品无码国产污污污免费网站国产| 新版天堂资源中文8在线| 日韩亚洲AV无码一区二区不卡| 日韩视频中文字幕精品偷拍| 精品亚洲成α人无码成α在线观看| 久久精品亚洲AV久久久无码| 中文字幕无码日韩专区| 办公室丝袜激情无码播放| 伊人久久精品无码二区麻豆| 亚洲一区精品中文字幕| 亚洲v国产v天堂a无码久久| 精品深夜AV无码一区二区| 99精品人妻无码专区在线视频区| 亚洲中文久久精品无码| 久久久久无码中| 6080YYY午夜理论片中无码| 亚洲av无码一区二区三区不卡| 久久中文字幕视频、最近更新| 色婷婷综合久久久久中文一区二区 | 亚洲国产精品无码久久九九| 无码AV中文一区二区三区| 免费看又黄又无码的网站| 欧美一级一区二区中文字幕| 久久99中文字幕久久| 欧美中文字幕在线视频| 日韩电影免费在线观看中文字幕| 中文字幕极速在线观看| 亚洲精品无码激情AV| 免费无码黄十八禁网站在线观看 | 日韩精品无码一本二本三本| 国产亚洲大尺度无码无码专线| 亚洲国产综合精品中文字幕| 婷婷中文娱乐网开心| 最近中文字幕mv免费高清在线 | 中文无码精品一区二区三区| 中文字幕在线免费观看| 欧美日韩中文字幕在线看 | 无码少妇一区二区性色AV| 无码日韩精品一区二区三区免费|