Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, began
a series of memorial events on Saturday marking the 200th
anniversary of the birth of the great French writer, Victor Hugo.
Zhongshan University held a memorial ceremony for Hugo on Saturday
morning, attended by Pierre Morel, French ambassador to China, and
Marie Hugo, great-granddaughter of Victor Hugo.
An
exhibition, titled "the art and life of Victor Hugo", was held in
Guangdong Art Gallery on Saturday afternoon, in which biographical
details of Hugo translated into Chinese were on display.
A
recital of poems by Victor Hugo will be held on Sunday. Students
majoring in French Literature from two local universities will
recite two of Hugo's poems depicting China in both Chinese and
French.
A
movie adapted from the works of Victor Hugo is also expected to be
shown at local colleges and universities in the near future.
Victor Hugo was widely respected by Chinese people, not only for
his immortal masterpieces such as "Les Miserables" and "Notre Dame
De Paris" but for his integrity and love of China and Chinese
art.
After the Anglo-French Allied Forces burned down Yuanmingyuan in
1860, China's then biggest imperial palace, Victor Hugo was the
only renowned writer in the Western world to bravely step forward
and protest against the barbarous act.
( April 28, 2002)