Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s1.t1: Peiping Lecture Association
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s1.t1
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Peiping Lecture Association
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Peiping Lecture Association, was a Chinese organisation for Sino-foreign culture exchanges, which was established in Beijing on September 5, 1920.
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The idea of the Peiping Lecture Association was initiated by Cai Yuanpei, Zhang Yuanji and Wang Daxie, etc., and its purpose was to invite prominent scholars from across the world to give lectures in China, ‘introducing the doctrine of modern noble essence to China so as to strengthen and carry forward its national ideology’. The association invited John Dewey, Bertrand Russell, Hans Driesch and Rabindranath Tagore and many other scholars to China, which enriched China’s social thought at that time and promoted the cultural exchanges between China and India.
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In 1924, the association invited Tagore to visit China and give lectures, which enabled him to meet Liang Qichao, Jiang Baili, Xu Zhimo, Zheng Zhenduo, Qi Baishi and many other Chinese people from the intellectual world, from the academic community and the literature and art circle. On May 8, 1924, the association held a grand meeting for celebrating the birthday of Tagore at Beijing Xiehe Great Hall. At the gathering, Liang Qichao gave Tagore a Chinese name Zhu Zhendan to represent the long standing India-China cultural relations. Xu Zhimo, Lin Huiyin, Zhang Xinhai, et al performed the poetic drama *Chitra* in English. According to the information provided by Lv Jieyu in *The Morning Glory in the Spring of May Fourth Movement—On the Contribution of Peiping Lecture Association to Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchanges*, Peiping Lecture Association was dissolved soon after the visit of Tagore due to the organisational slackness and the lack of funds.
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(Wang Lingnan)