Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t20.23

v2.c10.s2.t20.23

In 1924, on the invitation of Liang Qichao, Tagore visited China. In the entourage there were also other people like Kshiti Mohan Sen, Professor of Sanskrit at Visva-Bharati University, Nandalal Bose, the Principal of Kala Bhavana, Leonard K. Elmhirst – the Director of the Institute for Rural Reconstruction at Sriniketan, and Dr Kalidasa Nag from Calcutta University. Tagore and this group of five left Calcutta for China on March 21, 1924. Having heard about their visit, Sun Yat-sen came in advance to meet Tagore at Guangzhou. However, due to political instability in the south at that time, and also because Tagore was reluctant to postpone his Beijing visit, they did not proceed to Guangzhou. However, Tagore and his entourage stayed in Hong Kong for a while. Meanwhile, Sun Yat-sen sent a personal representative to see the poet, wished Tagore and his group a very meaningful trip in China starting from Beijing. He himself wanted to go to Beijing for a day and meet the poet. It was regretful that Sun Yat-sen died of liver cancer in the following year, thus the two great people from China and India did not get an opportunity to meet up.