Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t10.13

v2.c10.s2.t10.13

Bing Xin and her husband Wu Wenzao after living in Japan for a short period (1946-1951) returned to China after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and Bing Xin again became preoccupied with writing, translating Indian and other foreign literary works and attending social activities. From November 27, 1953 to January 2, 1954, she went to India with a delegation of China-India Friendship Association and visited many cities, villages as well as scenic and historical sites, including New Delhi, Bombay (present-day Mumbai), Madras (present-day Chennai), Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) and Visva-Bharati University (founded by Tagore). During the visit, she met with Mulk Raj Anand and other famous writers. Anand presented her with his ‘*Fairy Tales of India*’, and asked her to translate them for the young reader of China. Back to China, she wrote ‘My Trip to India’ and published this essay on the *New Observation* (Issue 11 and 12, 1954) under the Chinese Writers Association. On April 2, 1955, she went to India to attend a conference of Asian countries and returned to China on April 22. Soon after, she wrote the essay *India Revisited*. In ‘My Trip to India’, Bing Xin narrated how she was treated in India, how she was deeply impressed and praised the deep traditional friendship between the Chinese and Indians. After seeing India’s sceneries, buildings, sculptures, music, dances and arts, she had a visual understanding of the backdrop of rich cultural and artistic soil for Tagore’s literary production, and obviously, this would have helped her future understanding and translation of Tagore’s works.