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At the beginning of
2006, I went on another job-related visit to Paris. It was good to land again in the
famous old city in the heart of Europe. My
previous trip to France
had been in 2001, when I represented the CSSE (Canadian Society for the Study
of Education) at the EERA (European Educational Research Association)
conference. This unique opportunity was due to the great efforts of the CSSE
Presidents Dr. Alice Collins and Dr. Donald Fisher in Canadian and international
higher education.
While editing photos
for my new book (a comparative study on the educational systems of Japan and China), I found a photo that was taken
with the EERA President Dr. Sverker Lindblad at
the conference. I also found a photo taken with the previous Canadian Prime
Minister, The Hon. Paul Martin on the eve of
his trip to China.
Even after Mr. Paul Martin stepped down from his position of Liberal Party
leader, he remains a strong supporter of Canadian multiculturalism and
internationalism, which also motivated me to accept the challenge of my
present academic/administrative role at the School
of International Studies (formerly
Foreign Languages Institute) of Nanchang
University. The
internationalist view also helped me to succeed in my teaching and
educational research work in the social contexts of Japan and China.
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2005-
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Professor &
Associate Dean, Foreign Expert
School of International Studies, Nanchang University
Nanchang,
Jiangxi, China
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Nánchāng 南昌 means
“Prosperity of the South”. Nanchang City is the capital of Jiāngxī 江西 Province.
The name of the province in English “River-West” signifies the rich water
resources in Southern China. The Gàn 贛/赣 River provides the
region with fertile soil and plentiful fresh water supporting prolific grain
and fish production. Thus, shops are filled with ducks, geese, various types
of fresh water fish and shell fish. There are about four million people in Nanchang. The city area
covers 7,400 square kilometres. Nanchang
has a sub-tropical monsoon climate.
Close to Nanchang,
Mount Lu (Lúshān 廬山/庐山) abounds in historic and cultural
relics. The great historian Sīmǎ Qiān 司馬遷/司马迁of the Hàn 漢/汉Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), once climbed Mount Lu and recorded it in his Dynastic
History, the Shǐjì 史記/史记 “Records of the
Grand Historian”. The most famous of
the four great academies in Táng 唐 and Sòng 宋 China, the Báilùdòng Shūyuàn 白鹿洞書院/白鹿洞书院 “White Deer Cave Academy” was
founded on Mount Lu in 940 CE, and enjoys high prestige in the Chinese and
Japanese history of education through the educator and philosopher Zhū
Xī 朱熹
(1130 – 1200 CE).
The city's industry consists of iron and steel factories, electronics
manufacturing, industrial machine manufacturing, auto manufacturing, chemical
plants, power plants and textile mills. Nanchang
is a city which mixes modern historical revolutionary sites with a rich
literary and cultural heritage. For people outside Nanchang, the city is known as a heroic
city, or as "the place where the Chinese military flag was raised
(jūnqí shēngqǐ de dìfang 軍旗升起的地方/军旗升起的地方)."
The Communist-led August-1st Nanchang Uprising led to the birth of the
Chinese "Red Army" in 1927. This military force was later known as
the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China
which helped found the People's Republic of China
in 1949 after the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) had retreated to Taiwan.
Therefore, in Nanchang,
one finds many places that use the name Bayi with means "August
1st" to emphasize the city’s significance in modern Chinese history. The
landmarks of Nanchang City include Bayi Square (Bāyī Guǎngchǎng
八一廣場/八一广场),
Bayi Bridge (Bāyī Dàqiáo 八一大橋/八一大桥),
and the Tengwang Pagoda (Téng Wáng Gé 藤王閣/藤王阁).
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