Bapu’s literature flies from Gujarat to Guangdong

Recently, Zhu Xiaodan, Governor of Guangdong Province, was visiting Gujarat to explore bi-lateral trade relations. He had little idea of a unique association being harboured between his province and the land of Mahatma Gandhi.

In a first for China, a researcher from the School of International Studies, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Huang Yinghong along with his team will launch a Chinese version of one of the representative collection of Gandhian literature, The Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi .

First published in India by Navjivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, the collection is considered as one of the most inclusive pieces of Gandhian literature, which gives an insight into Gandhiji’s life, the philosophy behind his life, and his work. “During my Ph.D. thesis on Gandhiji's Satyagraha theory, I found not many original works of Gandhiji available in China. The only work, most available to common Chinese people, is the autobiography, which has been translated into Chinese in many versions. Also many biographies are written by Chinese or Western authors. But all these are far from enough to understand the original and generous thoughts and deeds of Gandhiji,” Huang told BusinessLine .

Five volumes The translation of the five-volume collection started in 2008 with Huang collaborating with team of Gandhian scholar Prof Shang Quanyu of South China Normal University, two university teachers, a social worker and some university students. The translated version would give Chinese readers an insight into Gandhiji's thoughts on Indian Homerule, Discourses on Gita, Paraphrase of John Ruskin’s Unto This Last. It is aimed at bringing a compact and complete view of Gandhism to the Chinese readers. The five volumes also include the autobiography, Satyagraha in South Africa, Selected letters and the Voice of Truth.

Huang received support from Indian Gandhian scholars and organisations including Navajivan Trust, which offered him the copyright for translation and publication.

The Chinese version of The Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi will be released around the beginning of the 2016 by the Yunnan People’s Publishing House.

Next, Huang will work on the project of Chinese Perception on Mahatma Gandhi. “For this, we have selected 42 most representative articles on Gandhiji from Chinese journals since 1920s till date,” said Huang.

Chinese intellectuals such as Liang Suming, Fei Xiaotong, Yin Haiguang contributed their articles on the Mahatma in different period. “New project will showcase the rich debates, changing perceptions as well as Gandhiji’s influences in different eras of the Chinese history. It will help people know the historic image of Gandhiji in China and his relevance in present China,” he added.

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