Máotái in the eyes of foreign Presidents

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It’s like the beating heart of China, a tradition, part of its lifestyle, a gift that comes from heaven.

Old as the nation, máotái jiǔ has witnessed nearly all episodes of China history, from time immemorial until now.

Beyond the political changes, disorders, tears and weeping, guìzhōu máotái remained the reliable anchorage point to revitalize the faith in friendship. Among other virtues, it has played a big part in China’s international relations.

The national liquor (guó jiǔ) that stuck so well to the country’s skin sometimes suggests a somewhat misunderstanding among the foreigners. Here, the question : why the máotái is so relevant ?

- Yes it is ! answered Zhōu Ēnlái to the French President, Georges Pompidou, during a Beijing welcoming gala in 1973. In this very tiny and small glass, you will taste a subtle balance of strength and smoothness, the salt of the earth. That is why we must drink it in a one big gulp.

As the president Pompidou showed some difficulties in doing so, Zhōu Ēnlái added with a smiling face.

-  Sure the alcohol level is high but it serves as a resounding reminder of the road with have gone over the centuries.

The same year, the Mexican President Luis Echeverría Álvarez was invited in China a year after the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. During a well-earned dinner, the same scene with a slightly different angle.

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Yet again, the foreign President had a hard time drinking.

- I usually drink tequila or mezcal, he apologized.

- Take your time ! Drink slowly, suggested Zhōu Ēnlái. I guess that you will enjoy at the end. As the tequila for the Mexican, máotái is part of the Chinese soul.

A few years later, in 1986, the Mexican President at that time, Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado, alerted of the Chinese drinking habits by the former president, drank the liquor at one mouthful in front of the enchanted eyes of Lǐ Xiānniàn (李先念), the once president of China.

The glass on the table, The Mexican president coughed quite a bit.

- Next time, take all your time, and drink slowly. It takes time to train oneself to the Chinese millinery culture.

And then again, the next decade, in 1993, the newly Mexican president, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, warned by both predecessors, took another stand.

To ease the drinking, he recited at the same time the well-known poem of Lǐ Bái, Jìng yè sī.

Of course, he had a very poor Chinese accent, almost incomprehensible, but when he came to the last verse dī tóu sī gù xiāng (低頭思故鄉), President Jiāng Zémín congratulated him. Then he drank the máotái all of a sudden.

- Poetry and alcohol are some of the brightest resources of the Chinese culture, said the Chinese President.

Some tells the story of another Mexican president who boasted himself at an official luncheon, assuming that he was a very successful heavy drinker. Then comes a fish on the table with its head pointing on him. According to an old Hunan province tradition, in that case, the person must drink three cups of máotái instantly. No talks. As it is. The Mexican president asked for forgiveness.

- I actually haven’t been feeling that well lately, he said failing back on the defensive.

That’s when his elegant wife observed with a maliciously smile.

- Darling if you don’t drink that beverage, you will never be a “real man”, as Sir Charlie Chaplin used to say.

- Don’t worry about it ! exclaimed the Chinese official Make yourself comfortable ! Do as best you can ! But, all the same, dive into the real world of Chinese legends and fall under the spell of eternal tales.

François de la Chevalerie jùn mǎ 俊 马

The death of the business card !

It is like a ritual scene, the unbeatable gateway to the Guanxi, the norm for the average active people.

The head tipped slightly downward, the smile blended with seriousness; the hands clasp a piece of glossy paper or, worse, made of plastic.

Here, it comes, the sacrosanct business card !

Many times, the movement is dishearteningly sluggish and short on enthusiasm. No compassion. But it is obviously a practical gesture, full of pragmatism, the way to do it.

When the operation is completed, we breathe, of course! Job done!

Instantly, the cards swipe into one jacket breast pocket or in a towel holder. A while after, back to the office or at home, they fall into a solid wood housing in a somewhat crowded conditions. Others are deposited in laminated pouch as prison cells. If the worst comes to the worst, because some are originating by what we believe as disgusting or awkward people, they will directly torn up and thrown away. Sometimes, the garbage is too small to welcome the failed ones.

The stored ones, according to an arbitrary choice, are classified under different names: “high ranked executive”, “middle position”, “consultant” and so on.

Business card weekly race

One of my friends has invented a game, what he called the “Business card weekly race”. We must respond to a very easy question: “who is the winner of the larger stock of business card?” My friend always wins in spite of the appearances because his job, I would say, is not at the top. He mentions that he travels around the world, four meetings a day. It’s by hundreds of thousands of cards that at the end of the year cram together in his office drawer.

For another friend, this is absolutely not a game-like but something very serious. “The cards I got are my treasure trove! This is a pool of competencies essential to my long-term career. It’s worth millions of yuans!” he said abusively.

And what about myself?

Each New Year, I meticulously root out the cards from their sheltered boxes.

My intention is to send my greetings to all those who have crossed my path over and over the years. In a nutshell, my greetings, more of the same, a copy-paste. Here, it comes:

“I am happy to address to you my best wishes for a joyful feast and a life of peace and serenity.”

I further state that “I will be happy to sit down with you to work out what your options we could collaborate”.

On the offensive, I choose the mailbox angle and take aim.

I’m laughably proud of myself. I think pretentiously that I am making well with all that potential.

Unfortunately, the upshot is as logical as it is unpleasant.

Undelivered mail messages represent the vast majority of the answer. Because of this, each year, I tear up and scrap so many cards. I have to acknowledge that I have always a deep feeling of guilt. May be, one of them could have become my best friend? One, even more precious, could have given to me a wonderful love story? Why should I close the door to the fate? Simply because those sacrosanct business cards are useless!

For the remainder, only a few answered to me, and almost all negatively to my request of collaboration. No more that usual formulas of courtesy and expression of common civilities.

I find it curious, a bit strange to receive so little good answers, one in a hundred.

What went wrong?

My nephew, a computer ace, brought me the explanation:

“The business card is and old fashioned and archaic material. At the long run, it is going to disappear. Thanks to advanced new technologies, a mutual facial electronic recognition will replace it. No need anymore to carry your cards in your pocket. No need to obstruct your hands. In the future, the way to build your network is the one as follows. Look the person in the eyes, stand tall, shake hands firmly, keep smiling, and try turning yourself into a responsive listener by him with more feedback. As you do so, he will immediately recognize you, recording everything that comes out. Among endless interlocutors, parameter setting will define the ones that truly merit his attention. At every meeting, a transmitter code changes according to a complex algorithm, synchronized with data awaited by his interlocutor. Instead of thousand of contacts, as before, only will remain a bunch of good fellows, I mean, potential friends, very good friends, one in a hundred, as always, as ever.”

François de la Chevalerie (jùn mǎ 俊 马)

 

De Gaulle et Led Zeppelin

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A dix ans, j’avais deux amours.

Longtemps ils me tinrent chaudement enlacés.

Au hasard d’une parade, le Général posa son regard sur moi. J’en fis ma potion magique. Quelque temps après, je me laissais envahir par une merveilleuse ballade dans les cieux entonnée par un groupe de rock anglais.

Mes héros, de Gaulle et Led Zeppelin, entraient dans ma vie.

J’aimais leur force, leur énergie, leur engagement par delà de tout. Chacun, à sa manière, chahutait le convenu. Leurs voix survolaient pareillement les ondes molles, de tièdes mélodies.

Led Zeppelin, clinquant de couleurs, à demi vêtus ; de Gaulle dans ses pantalons flottants, par trop habillé ; l’envers et l’endroit d’un monde exigeant cinglant vers l’avenir.

Je commençais mes journées, réveillé par la charge tonitruante de Black Dog. Suivait la verve du Général. J’étais alors prêt au combat !

En milieu de journée, je relisais les Mémoires de guerre sous les coups de rif de Jimmy Page.

La nuit venant, je feuilletais les Mémoires d’espoir, la tête bercée par Stairway to Heaven.

Ils s’emmêlaient tellement l’un à l’autre qu’il m’arrivait de participer à une commémoration officielle les oreilles collées à un baladeur où la grosse caisse de John Bonham répondait aux cors de la garde Républicaine. Lors d’un concert, derrière l’époustouflant Rock and Roll des Led surgissait en invité impromptu le discours du 18 juin.

Ensemble, ils structuraient ma vie, mon bien être.

-

Les années filant, une lézarde apparut.

De Gaulle décrochait.

Les excursions à Colombey, les relectures des Mémoires ne suffisaient plus pour entretenir mes rêves. Sous les coups de butoirs des opportunismes, des trahisons et des renoncements, le lien se relâchait. Des ombres dans le décor, la pâle réalité de la France, si peu l’esprit de l’engagement.

Alors que le Général quittait la scène, les anglais tenaient toujours bon.

Chaque fois que des artistes reprenaient leurs morceaux, ils s’y prêtaient avec respect et fidélité. Le ton juste. Tel Immigrant Song, l’histoire des Vikings quittant la Scandinavie à la recherche de nouvelles terres.

Le Général est bien mort, je l’ai épuisé.

Led Zeppelin, je n’en ai toujours pas fait mon deuil.

D’ailleurs ce soir, je me laisserais une nouvelle fois surprendre par The Song Remains the Same, l’éternel recommencement.

François de la Chevalerie

Is the Shanghai woman bad fame true ?

_

Has the Shanghai woman a strong personality ?

A slight understanding of a widespread rumor

Since I arrived in China many years ago, I’ve often heard a strange music that sometimes hurt my ears.

According to so many voices from all over China, the Shanghai woman is unique, a one-of-a-kind.

That diplomatic words conceal a much more complex reality.

So far, I have heard a variety of views on her, all sorts of things, not always complacent. Here, just a few: she would be temperamental, heavy-handed, dominant and capricious. Probably, the most controversial, is that she would treat her husband as a slave, otherwise as her own puppy.

These epithets provide an apparently evidence of her basic nature, she has a strong personality. At the end, she looks as a fascinating figure but heavily criticized.

Looking for the truth

As I traveled all over China, I became increasingly aware to figure out what has prompted this torrent of indelicate remarks, some quite a bit offensive.

Regardless of the place, every time I asked the same question.

- What do you think of the shanghai woman?

Nothing more. Rather neutral, isn’t it? Generally, it took between one to five seconds to my counterparts to express their thoughtful views about the topic. Looking for any clue, I listen to them with great attention and indeed with great respect.

Always, the same remarks, the ones I mentioned above. Sometimes the mere reference to her creates a feeling of fear.

-

Beyond the rumor

It is easier to simply latch on to a rumor rather than dig beneath the surface. I am not the kind of man to be carried away by much of a collective hysteria.

On a search of the truth, it is essential to take a much more moderate and less dramatic approach to the issue. I want to hear from both parties, sit down and try to understand. Therefore, I have to stop beating about the bush and, at last, raise the real question: who is she?

I ended up going to Shanghai

At first, I took as a guinea pig my friends wives.

Some got married since long with their “Shanghai sweetheart” as they mentioned her through a soft voice, their eyes sparkling with love.

I must confess that most are lovely, elegant, well dressed and commonly educated.

Most of the couples I met have beautiful children, Eurasians or Chinese.

Apparently, my friends built exemplary families as can be dreamed.

As my friends entertained me, their wives were smiling carefully, serving tea and biscuits.

I bear witness to what I have seen, my friends feel very comfortable.

My conclusion: the Shanghai women are kind-hearted, tender, loving and family-oriented. Frankly, there’s nothing to add: well done!

Behind the curtains

Behind the smoked-glass façade of their tawdry apartments, beneath the persona of the « angel of the house » is she a really nice one?

« Things are not always as they seem » once said the Phaedrus, the Roman fabulist.

I acknowledge that I must not trust appearances that are often misleading.

Without waiting, I intruded myself into my friend’s intimacy, not in a gentle way. I trapped them into their kitchen, the place of all the truths, good and bad. With a commanding voice, I asked them a once indelicate question: “Are you happy with your life?”

- Stay mute! said the first.

- Mind your own business! protested vehemently another one.

- I have always avoided talking about my private life! exclaimed the latest.

Few agreed to talk about the issue. Few accepted to share their inner feelings. I thought that their attitude could be summarized in a single word: hypocrisy. Now I was at the point where I should not handle them with kid gloves. Needless to say, I pushed further my question, this time, a tough one: “Did you hear about the shanghai women devastating reputation?”

- Is there any? asked one.

- Girly starlets gossip! I will not engage in that kind of thing, told another one

- I am surprised by the arrogance and contempt of your question, stated this one. If you are unlucky, that’s your problem! Don’t forget this: rumors don’t care what’s true.

- I have heard about some approximations, pointed out a long time a Shanghai native. As far as I experienced in my private life, these rumors seem to be absolutely unfounded. Look my wife! Knowing all that stuff, do you think I married her?

I told to myself: If they were really unfortunate in their wedding, they would have confessed something. Still nothing!

-

Knocking on Shanghai women door

Since I was confused, I ventured to talk to her directly somewhere on streets. I settled down in a Starbucks a day long, waiting for my prey. After several hours, I got one, an angel face in her early thirties. She was wearing a long black gothic dress, the feet with high heels.

- Is it true that the reputation of the shanghai woman is controversial? I asked her.

- This is an awkward misleading question! she answered abruptly.

She at once moved away.

The second one was a really gorgeous woman like a channel model, a slender silhouette perfectly in line with her beauty.

Same question.

- Is that sexual harassment? Are you aware that you have harmed me saying this? She said looking at me in fury.

Then she went away.

I trembled and I was ashamed.

I thought that I really want to keep going my interviews but of course I don’t want to go to jail. Is it worth the risk? So I softened my interview.

Less than an hour after, a woman sat down in front of me. She had a highly noble appearance with a lot of charm and expression. She took out of her cloth bag an impressive-looking book. I squinted at its title: “The Universe in a Nutshell”, a Stephen Hawking’s classic on theoretical physics.

- I went through it in my academic years, I mentioned to her directly.

She smiled and said.

- Last year, I read “A Brief History of Time”. I loved so much! Great thoughts, not the average ones! When I find a book I like, I seek out others by the author to see what else they have to offer.

- I sometimes tell myself that I am proud and grateful to live in the same planet that Stephen Hawking, I answered. Despite his debilitating disease, he has a clear and unobstructed view of our destiny.

- How do you behave so that your personal destiny merges with the destiny of the Universe? She asked me.

- One thing I’m certain is that the human being comes to earth with a fixed purpose and he cannot escape his destiny, I answered.

- Hum! Are you really sure of that? Let me recite to you this Stephen Hawking quote; “I have noticed that even those who assert that everything is predestined and that we can change nothing about it still look both ways before they cross the street”

Then she started reading the book handling at the right hand a cappuccino.

-

I remained silent a while.

While she was on her way to leave the coffee bar, I restarted speaking.

- Could I ask a question for a little bit clarification?

- Sounds good if you say it kindly, with a broad smile on her face.

- I will try my best! I don’t want to be rude but I heard something about the shanghai women. She has the reputation to be a difficult person.

- Yes, definitely she is! she replied, with a twinkle in her eye.

- Finally! I’ve got the right answer, the one I expected so much. I feel better now.

- Really?

- I interviewed a bunch of friends. They all said that their wives were loving, full of kindness and concern for their family. Hum! They all lied. Unscrupulous mates!

- You are obviously wrong! They are right! she interrupted me turning the pages of the book. Look! Stephen Hawking once said. “If you understand how the universe operates, you control it in a way”. Exactly the same for a shanghai woman. This is purely a physics law, the life basic determinants! Think quietly and calmly about this! When will you come to the maturity necessary of thinking, call me!

I did it a couple of weeks later.

Then a story that goes like this: “News told, rumors heard, truth implied, facts buried.”

François de la Chevalerie

Foreigners in China are often « illiterate »

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It is a difficult and grisly issue for many.

At times, the topic is rarely tackled, sometimes treated as a taboo subject.

This is partly understandable on the grounds of its anthropological significance.

As things stand, apart a few exceptions of specialists of china, native-born resident and talented students, most of the foreigners living in china are illiterate, myself included.

Of course, some are fluent in Chinese, others gabble some words but at the very end, just a bunch of them are able “to read and write easily the mandarin”. According to this generally accepted definition, “Illiterate”, they are! A somewhat bulky epithet that many deny or fail to acknowledge.

Regardless of whether they agree, this is a very tough situation.

According to a more cruel interpretation, an illiterate turns out to be “someone having little or no formal education”.

A less appreciative acknowledgement suggests that the illiterate are marked by a sense of inferiority to an expected local standard. if this argument was pushed to its logical consequence, the illiterates are ignorant, considered as marginalized people, low educated.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the « ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society ».

Of course, few foreigners will recognize themselves in such category.

This situation is not unique to China. This is also the case in most of the Asian countries.

Having the privilege to live in china, many feel “incorrectly” to be part of the world’s elite. In a way, they are! In many companies, the expatriates are often considered as the lucky ones. In an extremely competitive labor market, not everyone has the opportunity to stay a while in China.

Although most of them are illiterate individuals, they don’t blame themselves for such failure. Rather, they view themselves as successful. Tough, they should be humble. As Confucius said: “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance”.

It is the ultimate paradox that the wealthiest ones are often the less gifted.

These latter are mostly working for multi-national corporations with well-paying jobs, living in luxury apartments. As they stay usually in china for a short period, three to five years, highly stressed and under daily pressure, they don’t have the time to make the effort. Realizing the enormity of the task, most made a rather feeble attempt to learn the language.

Position of dependence

Thus, they live in a position of dependence at the mercy of translators. Everyday life, for every little thing, they require help or guidance.

Can they access to the Chinese culture and its inner thoughts?

Can they understand the local way of thinking?

Unable to read and write the mandarin, they are inevitably excluding themselves from the community, the mysteries hidden beneath the appearances.

The situation is becoming increasingly intolerable particularly when they live within a western married couple or even alone.

Others will find through a relationship with a local mate a suitable solution to deal with the problem. Normally those ones will have the tools to begin developing a better understanding of the mandarin. This is indeed generally the case, although not always. Some, due to a lack of courage or by ease of living, will remain illiterate. As elderly people, they still cling to their wives or girl friends to survive.

Of a course, this distortion can be redressed by a passionate love. But, at the long run, this imbalance will increasingly squeeze the average couple. Over time, perceptions related to empathy decline. How long the state of grace will last? At the end, they will lock themselves up in their dreams before the sunsets.

What can be done to change things for the better?

This may be a good time to re-examine the reading and writing pedagogy by concentrating on needs of adults persons with learning disabilities and very little spare time.

Regardless of the solution, it would be useful to stimulate this debate and to highlight the need for change.

François de la Chevalerie

China Stock exchange volatility, a great opportunity !

Stock fall down

As evidenced by the today stock exchange volatility, the Chinese economy is experiencing a slowdown.

From my point of view, there is nothing to worry about.

This situation represents a great opportunity as well as an outstanding challenge for many Chinese young entrepreneurs and for well-established companies ready to rejuvenate their activity.

Obviously, the priority for solving the current crisis and preventing its recurrence is to the restore investor confidence.

How can we turn a troublesome situation into a successful strategy?

First of all, it is vital to clarify that financial solutions will have a limited effect to make the economy once again highly operational.

Instead of random financial solutions, it is far better to focus on the real economy and accordingly to launch business initiatives tailored for the future generations.

Today, the stakes are multiple, among them, the environment issue.

In recent years, global warming and the combat against pollution have altered the hierarchy of priorities. 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21, backed this concern. This goes hand in hand with the Chinese government orientation that has issued a series of policies to support the development of the environmental protection industry and the industry of energy conservation and environmental protection.

Mandatory measures

In China as well as in many countries, the public expectation is an immense one as is shown by the increasingly aspirations for a better life, far away from any healthy risk mainly linked with the pollution impact and the food chain somewhat contaminated.

However, there is a mismatch between this concern and the public action to be taken.

The general objective of restructuring the economy is not that simple for the following reasons.

- Environmental projects are unprofitable at the short run.

- Their implementation is often complex and complicated.

- Because of this, environmental project costs are sometimes beyond control. Therefore, the company’s margins are often squeezed.

As a result, a greater awareness of environmental problems can be a heavy burden sometimes. A huge task lies before the authorities and how speed up the process of changing mindsets can be.

Let’s take the example of the construction industry that shows signals of a slowdown compared to previous decades.

Until now large scale construction-oriented, this sector may turn into building major renovations and Eco-Building integrating the latest high tech environmental equipments.

From this perspective, the “building construction business model” has to be redefined in order to boost and to stimulate the economy.

Mandatory measures, the only way.

The setting up of compulsory rules and their compliance are the basic prerequisite in determining the success of such orientation.

Through the world, people everywhere are mostly the same in their difficulty to assimilate the change and to pay for it.

Unless legally binding measures are taken obliging the managers of property, public or private sectors, to enhance there habitat, nothing will happen. The law should be implacable, a relentless fight against those who neglect to do so. The law must be enforced.

As it has happened in some western countries, only mandatory measures including fine for unachieved quotas or goals gave rise to a real move.

Thanks to that, since the 1990s, building construction companies in Europe that innovate have been much more successful in comparison to the traditional ones.

This is an example of what might happen in China.

Based on this approach, all spheres of activity are forced to complete their obligations with no exception.

It is good for the real economy.

Thanks to that, for the companies that are developing products able to mitigate negative environmental impacts, the market will go up, bring them a major source of earnings in the future.

Likewise, energy efficiency improvement in buildings points the way towards a substantial turnover for the companies proposing concrete solutions.

At the same time, such provisions help to decrease the Chinese dependence on fossil fuels as well as to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases.

As a reminder, residential energy consumption (REC) in China is the second largest energy use category (12%) although it lags behind the industry by far.

This general orientation constitutes an interesting perspective for the owners of real estate. Thanks to the environmental work undertaken in their building, the equity of those ones will further consolidate in the decades to come. At the end, it boosts morale and encourages the consumption.

The setting up of constraining environmental measures has the potential to help the revitalization of the economy.

François de la Chevalerie

The question of the employment in China

Tianjin

A jùn mǎ tale 俊 马 故事 (François de la Chevalerie)

At the university of Tianjin (天津大学), during a session of the Committee of the future, the topic once debated was the question of the employment, a difficult topic to deal with.

The Chairman of the committee, Professor Liu, asked me to give a trustworthy overview verbal account of the situation in France.

I said that I do not claim to have any real in-depth knowledge, just a bunch of ideas, suggested mostly by readings. By far, I am not an expert of the question. I have my own view on this, nothing more.

However, I remembered the excellent work of a long time friend, Professor Guillermo Farfan Mendoza, an outstanding social sciences professor at the University of Mexico, the UNAM, where he feeds currently his students with the late-breaking stories on the topic.

Guillermo Farfan

Late nineties, he published a university comprehensive report upon the division of work in many ways ahead of his time.

In a context of economic crisis, even more of technological breakthrough, how can we guarantee a decent well-paid job for everyone. ?

- Obliviously, the question is not that simple, Guillermo Farfan said. So many governments have failed to control the situation!

Then he added: “However, enhanced Work-Sharing Flexibility is helping to preserve jobs that otherwise might have been lost”.

At that time, I have transmitted his document to a representative of the Socialist Party.

It has been reported to me that Dominique Strauss Kahn, by then the French Ministry of Economy, read it conscientiously.

DSK

- I’d take it ! he stated after lecturing the document

Then comes the law mandating a 35-hour work weeks. This approach worked. The unemployment rate decreases significantly.

After my speech, then a very vigorous social debate was thus being conducted on the question in China. Here are some of the highlights :

- In China, said a scholar student, the unemployment rate would be in the order of 4%. Apparently everything sounds good. In reality, false jobs, unproductive or inadequate ones represent a substantial share, more than 30 %. If a work position doesn’t insert itself in a productivity chain, it is fictive, unreal.

- You consider the issue to each individual’s personal but that’s not the point in an organized society, interrupts the professor Liu. State liability and responsibility is that everyone has a role to play. Even the unskills workers, the lowest jobs, everyone must be involved in the process. The government purpose is simple not to leave anyone out !

Tianjin students

- The government actions should aim to give everyone an opportunity, suggested professor Zhang. In this ideal society, I think everyone is complementary, each person does his or her job, .

- In addition to that, nobody is irreplaceable, said the Professor Liu. Convinced of the significance of this concept, no job should be overestimated. No job should be underestimated. Therefore, work-sharing is the main duty of all government!

- But there is a mismatch, exclaimed a student. In a country where a company named Alibaba accounts for some 18 % of the retail market with a work force of only 20 000 people, the question is posed with great acuity. That’s eliminated millions of locals job. How that’s be possible?

- It’s clearly a disruption, acknowledged the Professor Liu.

Then he looked at me and asked me.

- What do you think about the issue, Junma?

- The engine of unbridled capitalism, I stated, with its unfair system of thought, has reached the end of road and is unable to move. Sometimes, the ‘invisible hand’ of capitalism became the hand of a thief.

 

Aurélie Châtelain, morte pour la France !

Aurélie Chatelain

Victime du terrorisme, assassinée au hasard des chemins, la mémoire d’Aurélie a été célébrée à Tianjin en Chine du nord.

Son sourire rayonnant et son courage suscitent l’admiration des chinois.

Drapée dans la peau d’une héroïne tragique, Aurélie symbolise la France dans l’empire du Milieu.

Ci-après, « la minute » d’une soirée consacrée à la France et au cours de laquelle son souvenir s’est naturellement imposé.

J’en ai retranscrit le contenu.

————————

A Tianjin, à l’université de Nankai (Nánkāi Dàxué 南开大学), chaque mois se réunit le comité des Savoirs, une association dont le but est de parfaire nos connaissances sur des thèmes divers.

Sous la conduite des vieux professeurs Sun Wei et Ju Zhenping, l’on s’entretient le temps d’une soirée d’un sujet. Le mois dernier, les plaines du centre de la Chine, entre le Huáng Hé et le Chángjiāng, berceau d’une civilisation cinq fois millénaire. Parfois l’on s’évade vers des horizons lointains, la découverte du Désert du Taklamakan ou de la vallée aux neufs villages fortifiés (Jiuzhaigou). L’on commente aussi des sujets scientifiques comme cette idée que l’univers serait relié à un autre univers répondant à des lois physiques méconnus.

Dans l’assistance, à parts égales, femmes et hommes. Plutôt d’âge mûr. Dans les rangs, des étudiants et une poignée d’étrangers.

Parler de la France

Université de Tianjin

Ce soir là, à la demande du Professeur Sun Wei, je m’étais offert à parler de la France.

J’avais préparé un exposé académique. Une cascade de tableaux ; des cartes assaillies de couleurs ; une chronologie chevauchant les siècles.

Bientôt les regards se portent sur moi. Je prends place sur l’estrade, les mains encombrées de documents. Je cherche un repère. Alors que des sourires m’encouragent à parler, une sorte de paralysie me surprend. Aucun mot ne glisse de mes lèvres.

Je reprends mon souffle, toujours rien.

Je force mon énergie, le vide.

Qu’ai-je à dire de la France ? Comment saurais-je la dépeindre ? Ai-je seulement le jugement pertinent ? Déjà je crains les poncifs, le convenu.

De guerre lasse, je pose mes mains sur le pupitre. Je glisse alors hâtivement sous le projecteur une image.

Sur un pan de mur, apparaît doucement une jeune femme. Les yeux pétillants de joie, joues et lèvres enlacés, le tout porté par un sourire radieux.

Ce sourire, Aurélie Châtelain, originaire de Caudry dans le nord de la France.

Aò hēi lì (奥黑莉), ai-je aussitôt repris en chinois.

Puisse-t-elle par leur seule force de son visage évoquer la France !

Dans la salle, les regards convergent sur elle.

Beaucoup cherchent, scrutent. Certains plissent des yeux.

D’abord un silence recueilli. Bientôt des murmures.

Un jeune homme s’avance.

- J’ai vécu deux années en France, commente Li Yazhe, le jour de mon départ, je voulais garder en mémoire une image de ce pays que j’ai aimé, que j‘aime toujours. Je ne savais que choisir, entre Versailles et Fontainebleau ; Napoléon et Louis XIV ; des vignobles du bordelais à la Montagne Saint Victoire. Aucune image ne s’imposait. Le départ s’annonçant, j’ai posé ma tête dans mes mains. Je me donnais une minute, pas une de plus. Lorsque je la relevais, j’étais toujours dans le brouillard. Comme je balayais du regard la salle d’attente, mes yeux s’arrêtèrent sur un écran de télévision. Je vois alors une femme resplendissant de vie. Jeune et souriante, tel un soleil. Tel un message. « Ne l’oublie pas ce pays, mon ami ! » ai-je cru entendre.

-

- Ce jour là, je me trouvais au Musée du Louvre. J’accompagnais un groupe de touristes du District de Jixiang, poursuit Jing Liu. Alors que nous nous approchions de la Joconde, un bip a retenti sur mon Smartphone. Un ami venait de m’adresser la photo d’Aurélie, l’accompagnant d’un commentaire : « Cela s’est passé en France ! »

Devant le spectacle de la Madone, un touriste m’interroge : « Les françaises font-elles autant la moue aujourd’hui ? » Je luttais contre cette supposition. Rien n’y faisait. Il se lamentait que la Joconde fusse à ce point peu avenante. C’est alors que me vint l’idée de lui opposer le visage d’Aurélie. Le groupe se rassemble autour de moi. Plus aucun des Tianjinois n’a alors cherché à surprendre le sourire introuvable de la Joconde. Ils n’en avaient que pour Aurélie. “ Ce regard est limpide et lumineux, je le comprends ! “ commente l’un d’eux.

Plus tard, déjeunant, avec ces derniers, ils me demandent de parler d’elle. Une foison de question. Ils voulaient tout savoir jusqu’à ses amours et, plus haut dans le ciel, ses rêves. Je cherchais mes mots. Fallait-il seulement dire la vérité ? Je n’ai pas voulu froisser leur bonheur. Je parlais d’une française comme je me l’imagine, comme ils se l’imaginent désormais. Dans le district de Jixiang à Tianjin, la voix de la France, c’est désormais Aurélie.

Université de Tianjin

- Parler d’Aurélie, c’est ce que j’ai fait à l’université de Caen, le soir même du drame, prolonge Yang Ying. Du fait de mon ancienneté au Département du Génie Côtier, mon directeur de Thèse m’a demandé de parler de la France à trois étudiants qui le matin même venaient d’arriver des profondeurs de la Chine. Je les abreuvais de conseils. Ils m’écoutaient avec un infini respect, l’oreille bien tendu. Au bout d’une heure, je laissais le champ libre à leurs questions. « Il semble, dit le premier, qu’une femme se soit endormie au petit matin. Lorsque j’ai appris cette nouvelle, je me suis demandé ce que le destin pouvait lui reprocher ». « Moi aussi, reprend un autre, Je ne peux admettre que l’on en vienne à mourir à l’aube ». « Comment se peut-il qu’une femme si jeune puisse être si tôt emportée ? » conclut le dernier.

- Ce matin là, nous étions en costume, cravate bien serrée !  poursuit Wu Guo Jun, cadre austère dans une grande entreprise. Autour de notre líng dào (chef), un homme peu affable, notre délégation comptait dix membres. Notre objectif, prendre d’assaut une entreprise française, l’avaler si vous voulez. Depuis de longs mois, nous avions examiné cette proposition par le menu jusqu’à la moindre écriture. Finalement, nous avons décidé de mettre sur la table une somme bien replète. Voilà le grand jour ! Dans un immeuble Parisien, nous suivons notre chef. Son visage est tendu. Il brûle d’impatience. Le contrat est là devant nous. Les français se font attendre. Peut être s’émeuvent-ils d’un addendum de dernière minute ? Les minutes se prolongent. Dans l’attente, notre attention se porte sur un journal placé un peu plus loin. Dessus apparaît une femme souriante. Glisse un sourire sur le visage du líng dào. Nous respirons enfin. Surgit la délégation française. Par je ne sais quelle chimie une sorte de fraternité chaleureuse s’est immédiatement installée dans la salle. Le contrat est signé. Chacun se congratule. « Ah cette chère française ! Elle nous portera chance ! » s’exclame notre chef.

Aurélie Chatelain

- Elle est morte à 32 ans. Lâchement assassinée ! lance brutalement Wang Peiliang, une jeune femme à la tenue stricte.

Silence glacé dans la salle. L’émotion est à son comble.

Ce que certains imaginaient être seulement un sourire est aussi une larme.

Ce que d’aucuns vivaient comme une lumière est encore un chagrin.

- Aux premières heures du matin, poursuit Wang Peiliang, je cours dans les parcs. Je m’étire. Je chahute mon corps. Je lui donne l’énergie dont il a besoin. Je suis heureuse. Je le serais encore plus si les femmes du monde entier partageaient un plaisir égal sans rien craindre de la vie.

De nouveau un silence.

- Lorsque je m’aventure à Pékin le long du lac Houhai, ajoute-t-elle, je pense à Aurélie. N’avait-elle pour première passion, celle de danser ? Chaque matin en son souvenir, je danse pour elle devant la maison de Sòng Qìnglíng, Mother of China, l’épouse du père fondateur de la Chine moderne, Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen). Un tour sur moi même, une valse en sa mémoire !

- Chaque soir, nous sommes trente à danser, prolonge Ye Xianbing, une retraitée de la Mairie. Devant le Musée de Tianjin, un souffle nous porte, le souvenir des êtres aimés trop tôt disparus. Leur ombre nous éclaire. Ils sont là parmi nous, mènent la cadence. Nous suivons leurs pas. Ainsi nous rendons hommage aux mille pairs de Chine comme autant à des étrangers aimés, comme à Aurélie.

- Le destin (mìng yùn 命运) ne lui a pas prêté la longévité (cháng shòu 长寿) qu’elle aurait méritée, commente le vieux professeur Ju Zhenping. La mort l’a trouvée à un âge où l’on aime infiniment la vie. Voilà l’infortune des héros, mourir avant l’âge ! Cependant, nous connaissons ce proverbe, le moment donné par le hasard vaut mieux que le moment choisi.

- Oui, nous savons qu’elle a défait le démon, l’ennemi du genre humain, poursuit Sun Wei. Ce matin là, dans la peau du diable, il sévissait. Il voulait semer la mort, tuer à bout portant, se draper de sang. En portant toute seule l’assaut, Aurélie a eu raison de sa misérable colère. En bousculant son sordide programme, elle a sauvé des vies ! Elle a donné sa vie pour les autres. Aurélie est morte pour la France !

- Peut-être avait-elle pour mission de protéger ce pays ? suggère Wang Peiliang.

- Peut-être a-t-elle toujours pour mission de le protéger des peines à venir ? reprend le professeur Ju Zhenping. Depuis la constellation du Centaure, voguant d’étoile en étoile, elle se tient aux aguets, prête à l’ouvrage. Lorsque la France s’en ira vers des lendemains funestes, elle diffusera des ondes bienveillantes, une idée du bonheur qu’elle portait inlassablement sur son visage. Une idée de la vie. Du haut du ciel, son sourire veille.

- Longtemps nous autres chinois avions pour seul héros français dài gāo lè (戴高乐), remarque le professeur Sun Wei. C’est le nom que nous donnons au Général de Gaulle. Ainsi traduit, le « très grand homme ». Lorsque la mort l’a emporté, il a pris place aux côtés des grands de Chine, Kǒng Fūzǐ (孔夫子), Lǎozǐ  (老子), l’empereur Kangxi (康熙), Sun Zhongshan (孫逸仙), Zhōu Ēnlái  (周恩来), Dèng Xiǎopíng (鄧小平), d’autres frères d’arme. Tel qu’il fut, il célébrait l’idée du devoir, le sens de la Nation. Telle qu’elle fut, Aò hēi lì racontait la France d’aujourd’hui, portant loin ses couleurs. Désormais selon nos traditions, dans chaque maison chinoise, depuis Taiyuan en passant par Xi’an et jusqu’à Chengde, ces héros français se maintiendront dans nos meubles. Comme nos ancêtres, comme Aurélie à jamais présent.

- Son visage angélique méritait d’éblouir la vie plus longtemps ! reprend Wang Peiliang.

- Nous autres Tianjinois, lui sommes infiniment reconnaissants de nous avoir fait comprendre la part d’humanité et d’universalité de la France, affirme le professeur Ju Zhenping, la voix saisie par l’émotion. Aurélie, tu seras toujours des nôtres, comme ta petite fille, comme tous les membres de ta famille.

Sur ces mots, la soirée s’est conclue.

Sous le regard bienveillant des professeurs Sun Wei et Ju Zhenping, dans la nuit noire de Tianjin, tout au souvenir d’Aurélie, chacun s’en alla avec une certaine idée de la France.

Le récit de François de la Chevalerie (jùn mǎ 俊 马 故事)

PS 

The dream came true in Ürümqi

Urumqi

A jùn mǎ tale 俊 马 故事 (François de la Chevalerie)

A couple of years ago, I went up to Ürümqi for a seminar upon the sediment issue in China, a somewhat complicated topic aiming at a limited circle of people, mostly experienced scientists and young postgraduates.

Ending the days – as I always do through all my traveling in China – I walked across the Xinjiang’s capital at random with little or no apparent destination.

Take a close look to the people in the streets is an exciting show, the best way to grasp the soul of a city. For such purpose, my only weapons were my prying eyes, my shoes and an endless patience.

On that confident basis, I have begun my journey in Ürümqi, a Mongolian language word which means « beautiful pasture ».

This time, my persistence paid off.

During this night walk, I had a recurring thought in my mind.

For decades, Ürümqi has been a welcoming place for numerous ethnic groups, the grounds of different culture, such as the Han, the Uyghur, the Kazakhs, the Hui.

Ethnies in China

Through newspapers and television, I’ve heard that the region is prone to civil unrest. Therefore, a question arises in my mind : How will this complex mixture work in the long run?

However, I choose not to fall into the trap of preconceived ideas. I’d like to get beyond that. My intention was to go to the source, knock at the door of the Ürümqi man’s street, I mean, try to sneak up on him !

After a long route march, I stopped in a public square. I sat on a bench. In front of me, on another one, three half-asleep young people in their early thirties were dressed with sportswear.

Amidst two men, a woman.

I have to acknowledge – that makes me feel ashamed to say – that I observed them with a particular degree of intrusiveness.

According to their facial features, they appeared to belong to various ethnic groups.

The men, a Uyghur and a Kazakh.

The woman, a Han.

Urumqi Yamalik mountain

The two mean laid back their head on the woman shoulder. In her’s hands, loose-leaf sheets.

Suddenly, driven by an unknown force, they began to read the texts. They seemed to recite whole passages by heart as they were going to pass school exams. In between their lecture, more than once, they laughed.

It was a really contagious laughter. Around them, the people were smiling as I did, happily. With this wonderful picture in mind, I made my way back to the hotel.

The very next day, I returned to the conference. The topic of the day: how the young generation will perceive the issue of the sediment treatment and valorization?

What a curious idea?

I questioned a colleague. He told me that the Conference organizers would like to encourage vocations in a sector mostly neglected by young researchers.

Much to my surprise, I’ve seen once again the three young people that I met the day before.

They stood on the platform. On this occasion, they were wearing proper conference uniforms, tie andsuit. This time, they kept a severe face.

The speaker introduced their name one by one.

My intuition was right.

Sediment

Their names resound in my memories such as a song. They were wearing the china country’s ethnic diversity with dignity and pride. Their beauty, their remarkable osmosis and global strength impressed me.

Then they took the floor.

“Our ambition, they said with one voice, is that the Huang He (黃河), the China mother river, may become navigable in all its parts someday in the fifty years to come. We have therefore decided to give our lives to make it possible. We are convinced that all ethnic groups and peoples living nearby the river share the same dream, our dream”.

The following, their presentation was well built, packed with interesting ideas. A number of well-argued and well-considered  research avenues were explored.

By throwing out the sediment, in the horizon of 2050, the Huang He could become a navigable waterway in all its parts.

Beside technical aspect, their message was vital, life-changing and life-giving.

The public listened to them carefully and with a deep interest.

One hour later, the audience applauded wholeheartedly which is something unusual in this type of meeting. A standing ovation greatly merited.

I have been myself also overwhelmed by this contagious enthusiasm. I warmly welcomed their inspiring speech.

At the end, the three young people were yelling, laughing, hugging and pounding each other on the back.

I felt like it was just holding the future in front of me.

This day in Ürümqi

This day, China.

Francois de la Chevalerie (Junma)

Des scientifiques au chevet de la « Symphonie du destin » de Li Chevalier

La Symphonie du Destin

Peinture et astronomie

Le récit de jùn mǎ 俊 马 故事 (François de la Chevalerie)

 

Voici quelques temps, au club d’astronomie de Tianjin, à l’issue d’un débat chahuté sur la théorie des cordes, surgit une joute oratoire entre chimistes et physiciens. Question redoutable jamais résolue : Comment les connaissances de chacun s’interpénètrent-elles pour comprendre un univers par trop méconnu ? Les physiciens soutiennent qu’ils ont l’avantage, les chimistes réclament leur place.

Bataille d’opinion, chacun plaide pour sa cause.

I hear the water dreaming

C’est alors que le professeur Zhang, le Directeur du Club, se tourne vers moi pour me demander mon opinion. Fait-il aveu de naïveté en pensant qu’un étranger puisse départager deux clans irrémédiablement hostiles ?

- Peut être pourrions nous nous reporter à l’œuvre d’un artiste ? dis-je en bottant en touche.

- Avez un nom en tête. ? Il serait heureux d’assagir le débat ! proclame le Professeur Zhang.

Pris au dépourvu, je me souviens alors d’un peintre que j’avais rencontré voici plusieurs années à Pékin et dont la patte m’avait favorablement surpris.

Son nom, Li Chevalier, une femme de belle tenue tout en longueur, sourire florissant au visage, les yeux gourmands. D’ailleurs, lorsque je l’ai croisée, elle balayait du regard le paysage, attrapant tout au passage jusqu’à la moindre nuance. C’est ainsi qu’elle me saisit au vol.

D’emblée, elle s’étonna que nos noms fussent si proches.

- Sommes nous seulement du même monde ? demandait l’empereur de Chine, Ming Wanli de la dynastie Ming, à Matteo Ricci (Lì Mǎdòu 利玛窦) lors de leur première rencontre en 1601.

Le jésuite italien dessina alors des mappemondes, au centre la Chine ; à l’ouest, l’Europe.

- Sommes nous d’une même famille ? poursuivait Xú Guāngqǐ (徐光启), l’astronome traducteur d’Euclide, au même Matteo Ricci dont il devint le meilleur ami.

- Bien que l’homme soit effrontément seul, il appartient à un corps solidaire que l’on nomme la fratrie universelle, suggère l’écrivain Gao Xingjian, dans Yī gè rén de Shèngjīng (一個人的聖經).

Ce sont les questions inlassablement que je me pose à chaque rencontre.

Tout à ces réflexions, je vante l’œuvre de Li Chevalier dont je suis le travail depuis plusieurs années.

Waiting

- Sachons bousculer notre orgueil de scientifique ! s’exclame le professeur Zhang. Laissons nos regards prendre à témoin un tableau de Li Chevalier. Peut être pourrions nous alors mieux comprendre ce qui nous distingue, ce qui nous unit et ce qui va bien au delà de l’entendement ?

Je présentais alors une image extraite du tableau « la symphonie du destin ».

Sous un paysage parsemé d’arbres volants, des flocons de neige virevoltent dans une atmosphère sombre.

- Plutôt que des arbres volants, ne s’agirait-il pas d’hommes volants ? Interroge Madame Zhou, chimiste de son état. Nullement est-il établi que des êtres extraterrestres aient des formes convenues. D’ailleurs, j’ai fait ma thèse sur les réactions chimiques des arbres face à des insectes défoliateurs, amateurs de sève. Je peux vous dire que les arbres sont doués d’intelligence. Ils refoulent autrui bien mieux qu’on le pense mais delà à dire qu’ils volent ?

Ondes

- Ces arbres ne semblent pas retenus par des racines. Qu’ils puissent survoler la terre en la frôlant à peine m’interpelle, renchérit le professeur Wang Zhe. Rien dans la physique ne le permet, du moins, de ce que j’en sais !

- Serait-ce un monde qui s’éteint? questionne le doctorant Li Hou. Juste avant son terme, voilà un dernier sursaut de vie, des flocons venus du ciel ! Tel un espoir…

- Si donc il s’agit du paysage d’une autre planète, je suis bouleversé, remarque Liu Wei, physicien. Je m’attendais à un florilège de fleurs, des lumières, un vent doux de l’ouest. Non, les planètes lointaines, ce peuvent être des ombres, une seule teinte.

- Quelle audace tout de même ! N’a-t-on jamais dit que l’univers s’apparente à une symphonie ? Mouvements joints ou disjoints selon des proportions insaisissables, échauffement, bouffée d’agonie puis le calme plat, ce peut être cela aussi l’univers.

- Ne soyons pas dupe, poursuit le professeur Zhang, cet artiste nous emmène bien loin, par delà le connu. Nous pensons regarder l’essentiel mais en fait nous ne voyons rien. Nous sommes prisonniers par les images que nous impose notre expérience terrienne. Nullement avons nous assez d’imagination pour nous en défaire. Pourtant, dit-il en levant légèrement la voix, ce tableau se lit tel un message.

Suite

Minute de silence.

Toute la tablée de scientifiques dévisage plus encore « la symphonie du destin ». Une vingtaine de personnes s’agglutine, les yeux rivés sur l’image.

- Cette fois je ne perdrais pas un millimètre carré de cette œuvre, prévient Madame Zhou.

Viennent des commentaires, des suppositions, des débuts de polémique. Un débat s’enlise jusqu’au moment où le professeur Zhang intervient.

- Laissons à l’artiste ses secrets. Ce serait lui faire injure que d’imposer notre regard à son univers dont elle seule mesure la complexité. Peut être en sait-elle davantage que nous autres sur les matières qui composent l’univers ? Laissons Li Chevalier la liberté de goûter à ses rêves comme elle l’entend. Rendons lui plutôt grâce de nous avoir libérés un instant de notre misérable orgueil, celui de croire tout comprendre, de croire tout savoir.

Effondrement des Bourses chinoises

Tandis que les européens s’émeuvent du feuilleton étourdissant de la dette grecque 320 Milliards €, en Chine, en trois semaines de temps, les épargnants ont perdu 3 Trillions €, soit dix fois plus.
Dans un pays où presque rien n’est gratuit l’école comme la santé, l’on s’attend à un bel été.

Are the Chinese women romantic ?

Sun Jing, Xuchang

Yesterday in Guangzhou, I attended a meeting of the Foreign Male Committee on Chinese women (FMCCW). The issue of the day that’s debated: Are the Chinese women romantic?

Are the Chinese women romantic?

A jùn mǎ 俊 马 tale 故事 (François de la Chevalerie)

In the city of Guǎngzhōu (广州), there is a secret institution, the so-called : Foreign Male Committee on Chinese Women (FMCCW).

It’s unofficial but it is a highly recognized institution. Far away from China, I heard mention of that even in my Mom’s birth city, Bruxelles, Belgium capital.

However, nobody knows exactly when it was founded.

No one, in the outside world, knows who is the founder name but he is surely a far-sighted one because this institution has survived for a long period of time.

Some trace its origin in the late nineteen’s century, the first meeting eventually took place in the Shamian dao (沙面岛) when the territory was divided in two concessions given to France and the United Kingdom.

The Committee meetings, which are held at regular intervals, bring together western men, expat or entrepreneurs; mostly westerners but also form the Arabian Peninsula and Africa.

The average age is forty.

Apparently, Chinese male are welcome but this night none in the ranks.

No woman can be accepted at these meetings.

Discrimination is the rule.

Private meetings are held in a closed venue or private home that is only accessible to persons invited or summoned to attend.

Selina, Chongqing

The objectives of the Foreign Male Committee on Chinese Women are twofold: brings happiness and delight to the Chinese women heart and a more overtly political goal influence them to further open China to the outside world.

I’m not a member of this Committee but I really wanted to hear the opinions of this people, and so I asked if I could come and sit for the time of a session.

Because since long I fail to see the logic of the Chinese woman I beg my friend, Augustus, to let me go there.

- It’s like a Masonic institution, he advised. Because you are unfamiliar with our discussions, be quiet and polite!

The topic of the day that’s debated is this one: Are the Chinese women romantic?

- What a question is that? asks straightforwardly Jimmy, a Dallas native with a white beard. Are we going to lose our mind in bar room platitudes, in banalities? We are here to see how the Chinese woman can help the revival of China. That’s a good task! Let us not beat about the bush!

Lena, Beijing

- Never! says unconsciously Alvaro, a Spanish man from Valencia in his early forty years. We do not intend to influence the Chinese women! We are aiming only to understand their views. Since long I’ve been deeply touched and have learned a great deal from the many mixed relationship stories I have heard.

- For let us say it dramatically, Roberto, a Brazilian from Belo Horizonte. Around us they are recurring examples of tumultuous, stormy or disruptive relationships concerning mixed marriages. Many have experienced a cultural shock from which they have not yet recovered. I become desperate.

- Is the Chinese woman romantic? wonders Paulo, an handsome Italian from Bergamo with a singsong accent. It is like trying to give an explanation to the undetermined smile of Lisa Gherardini, the wife Francesco del Giocondo. There have been a lot of studies on them, and there are still a lot of questions. Is Mona Lisa (英语) smiling? We will never know! Is the Chinese woman romantic? We will never know! At the end, why questioning? Let them keep their secret!

- Bullshit! Being romantic is life-threatening, a debilitating disease in human beings, carries away and all wound up, Jimmy.

- Don’t get angry! weights Augustus. Here, firstly, we must define the word. We have two possibilities: the first one translation for romantic is làng màn (浪漫). But làng màn means at a same time a much more dangerous behavior, libertine. I should say libertine individualism, what is not acceptable as being of outstanding universal value. The second solution is fēng liú (风流). In this case, we are taking any unreasonable risk because that suggests, according to one’s choice, a lot of words: remarkable, elegant, gifted and so. Another translation of fēng liú is this one: liberated from social bondage. Don’t take that angle! It is political! We will not do here! So, in Chinese, we don’t know what really means being romantic.

Cici, Beijing

- In other words, and in all sincerity, this is neither one thing nor the other, states Jimmy. As far as I know, làng màn reflects the French men behavior. French men and debauchery, isn’t it redundant?

I suddenly spoke.

- I particularly welcome this talk and I believe that the efforts of Augustus made to draw a distinction between the two definitions of romantic were extremely worthwhile.

- Who is this guy? asks Jimmy abruptly.

- Half French, half Belgium, answers Augustus.

- The devil, your mean! shouts Jimmy.

- If so, the devil never says anything completely false! I reply. If you don’t mind, I would like to be able to add my voice to this choir of different tonalities. A friend of mine said to me. If you like to comprehend the romantic underground force of the Chinese woman, dive into the Lín Huīyīn (林徽) and Xú Zhìmó (徐志摩) story. In his obsessive search for true love, Xú Zhìmó who was a well-known Chinese poet, fell in love with the subtle and creative Lín Huīyīn. Despite she was a married woman; he created in his mind an illegitimate couple, breaking the laws, cradling the sky. But she had never fallen in love with him. So the Chinese woman isn’t just a dream in each one soul? Unreachable? Inaccessible? That’s the definition of being romantic!

- We can work to reduce the cultural gaps between, concludes Augustus. The awareness of Chinese history is one of the preconditions for avoiding the misunderstanding in mixed couple in the future. Remember! Ignorance of the Chinese culture does not make you immune from them.

The untold story of a chinese married woman

She.

A jùn mǎ tale

俊 马 故事

In the course of the life of a married woman, Love is ever won forever.

In China much more than elsewhere, many marriages are driven and instigated by parental conformism. Among various considerations, the financial means of the future husband rank at the top mainly his ability to purchase a new home. Age plays also a significant role. The thirties years barrier acts as an alert, a major emergency.

From here, many women bury themselves into the couple to satisfy a short shortsighted strategy, the making of a comfortable life.

They are in danger of having a rude awakening.

But the picture behind is much more complex.

I would like to take the time to share my own personal testimony by investigating the full spectrum of a married woman worries and sometimes troublesome situation.

She

This is story of Nancy Yeung

Nancy is not born with a golden key around their neck. She came from the average Beijing middle class family rooted in the Xicheng District (西城区). No Brother. No sister. Unfortunately, fate knocked early at her door. At age 3, her father died of an unknown reason or, at least, by herself. However, according to family sources, two years before the Nancy birth, her dad knew that his life would soon be over. That is when he made up his mind to bring to life a child that will carry his blood after his death. As one of his friends remembers: “For him, it was as a duty nobly discharged. Because he has completed its mission on Earth, he could now die. Perhaps, he had seen salvation in Nancy eyes.” Thanks to the shining presence of the amazing little girl, his last few weeks were characterized by a sense of joy and inner illumination. The last time he saw her, the very cute Nancy was bubbling in her bath, with a crown on her head. Then, she whispered into his ear, her voice full of emotion: “I love you, Dad”. In turn, he approached her, muttering: “The only advice I can give to you. Never fear! Try not to be superficial in all your relations, your life commitments!” She remained silent as if she had understood, only three years old.

Despite this painful episode, her mother made sure that Nancy life would be full of happiness, promoting in a daily basis the best mental health and wellbeing. From her, Nancy inherited a charming and captivating smile. That is why she has the extreme ability to smile through the storm, under any circumstances.

Thanks to the enlightening love of her mom, she holds three sizeable natural resources: Self-affirmation, self-confidence and self-esteem.

However, this smile covers up the crushing sadness of her father absence that is very hard to live with. Crippled by this obsession, having reached adulthood, in her spare times, Nancy is willing to help people from orphanages and schools in deprived areas.

- Let me quote the greatest Mahatma Gandhi (粵語) she told them, “Where there is love there is life”.

She presumed that a loving heart is the beginning of all things, all knowledge, the way forward.

Obviously, the children need this encouragement. Because Nancy gives love to them, she is on every lip of the abandoned children.

This is Nancy, a heart of gold, a generous soul, “Mother Nancy”.

-

She received a good education by attending the university of Beijing. She received a Master’s degree in international business. She learned English, praising the genius of some American writers as well as outstanding moviemaker, the best of them, Charlie Chaplin. She read more than once “The Good Earth”, written with genius by Pearl Buck also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu (賽珍珠).

It is at this time that she aspired to a diplomatic career. This revelation came to her by viewing photos of the stunning Zhōu Ēnlái at the Geneva Conference in 1954. Each night, before bed, she looked at the map of the world. Then, she moved her finger over. She fixed her gaze upon a country. Mozambique, Africa. Salvador, South America. Estonia, Europe. New Zealand, Oceania. She felt that she could bring peace, security and stability to the world. She thought that she could alleviate the misery, hunger and devastation caused by years of violent conflict in so many the countries. “My duty, my dream! Give happiness to the voiceless, to the poorest, to the most vulnerable!”

In the twists that life can sometimes take, she ended as a talented businesswoman. Nevertheless, she never forgot her personal oath. In Mozambique, where she carries on its business, she enjoys sharing her time with Makonde and Tonga, women or children. « I am happy that I am part of their family”, she said with deep sincerity. Mia Couto, a Mozambican writer, author of the amazing novel “Every man is a race” once wrote: “Nancy incarnates the beauty, sensuality and fantasy of the Chinese woman, the very essence of untouched beauty as nature intended”.

-

Unlike the average businessman, likely possessed by his Dad advice, Nancy sought to understand the meaning of its action. She realized that she was engaged in the spreading of the Chinese soft power as the President Xi Jinping has encouraged through his call to the Chinese dream (zhōngguó mèng 中国梦). Before each stay in far distant land, she liked to close herself in a library. Therefore, she learned a lot about the African continent, its history, its culture, its habits and, mostly, its inhabitants dream. At each meeting she had with her Mozambicans counterparts, she begun with this surprisingly introduction: Mozambique is derived from Musa Al Big or Mossa Al Bique or Mussa Ben Mbiki, an Arab trader. She pursued remembering the President Samora Machel, the father of the nation.

For many Chinese companies involved in this country, she acts as a « mediator » which task is to prevent any uncomfortable situation with the local people. “She is candid and open, very straight from the heart. We respect her and trust her tremendously”, said one of its partners.

On the edge of a celestial business tour in Africa, she discovered the beauty of humanity, which she shared with the inhabitants of Earth.

A Shadow on the Writing Board

Each history has its secrecies, its mysteries and its questions that one will perhaps never solve. Incidentally, something strange in her life, some confusion resonates on her name. In this tale, I gave her the patronymic of Nancy Yeung but that’s untrue. It would thus appear that her registered one is Jing Yang. However, she later changed it to Zi Yang, arguing that she did so due to her mom’s requirement. What were the reasons behind the scenes? One may speculate the shadow of her Dad unsettling death here reemerges. Three names is a very heavy weight to be carried by for just one person. The shrouds of secrecy serve to perpetuate Nancy life mystery.

-

Wedding time

At 28, a friend alerted her about her age.

- This is an insurmountable barrier. Do you realize that? She asked. Marriage is a central milestone in the lives of most people. Don’t wait!

At that time alone, Nancy sniffed instantly a life of failure in the middle of nowhere.

She feared the eye catcher, some putting them down about her celibacy.

Already, she suffocated, trembling, difficulty in breathing.

Once, her mom taught her that a solution for every problem is found in nature. As Nancy mind is perfectly clear and decisiveness, she enrolled immediately in the search of a husband.

- I like to feel the sensation of conquering the sky, although, in the final analysis, it always wins the victory over us.

Nothing very spontaneous.

In her path, she met a lonesome man, ten years older. Knocked down by a broken marriage, suffering from the gout, the main illness of the Kings of France, he wasn’t in good spirits. Aged thirty-eight, his life was plagued by ill health and a previous unhappy romance. Here comes the holy Nancy. Because she has a generous heart, she felt able to save him from a gloomy life, a moody horizon. In fact, this guy exemplified her wish to help someone.

- It is natural to feel depressed at times, she said. Nothing is preordained! With me your morale will run high.

She asked him to marry her the same day.

As fleeing from a rain of bullets, in an outburst, she said abruptly: “We will do it perfectly!”

While he was somewhat reluctant to support this project wondering whether it was appropriate to do it so quickly, Nancy exclaimed, the face radiant with joy: « This is what I want, this is what I seek, this is what I desire with all my heart!

Slip a smile on her face. Mouth half open, she continued her heavily offensive. She raced towards him, kissing his neck, his cheeks and forehead. At the very end, she whispered a carnal and definite, I love you.

She believed that marriage is an exclusive, permanent union between a man and a woman, a loving partnership open to the possibility of an everlasting happiness. 

-

Dealing with despair

The path between heaven and hell is a narrow one. A family is a risky venture, because the greater the love, the greater the loss. That’s the trade-off. In a short time, her marriage turned into its own hell when her husband started to lock himself into a deafening silence, his chosen dark and lonely prison. For obscure reasons, he didn’t want to see anybody. For unknown reasons, he was unable to speak anymore. Removing himself from the world, his life was malignly regulated down to prosaic habits: eat, work and sleep.His heart is hardened like the soil of the roadside and he cannot accept happiness.

However, his only one enjoyment was the reading of his bedside book, “One Man’s Bible” (gè rén de Shèngjīng 一个人的圣经, Yī) from Gāo Xíngjiàn. He mostly spends his nights flipping through the pages. On its part, Nancy bedside book is LIFE.

In the course of time, an iron Curtain has fallen into her couple.

What are those demonic and uncontrollable forces that plunged her life into ruin? She hasn’t the answer.

She prayed ten thousands times in so many churches, so diverse temples to rehabilitate and to reshape her couple, everywhere, anytime, whenever, the weather cloudy, rainy or sunny.

More than that, she attended psychology teachings at the university to learn how to recover her faith in love. But, her husband refused to come there, as it was encouraging to do so. He pointed out that he has nothing to do with that. He said that he doesn’t need any support. He was adamant and affirmative that he would follow his own way.

The time went on.

She was still sharing his life, but she was desperately lonely.

Then she recalled the word of her mother at her wedding party, quoting Socrates: “My advice to you is get married: if you find a good husband you’ll be happy; if not, you’ll become a philosopher”.

Behind the curtain, was her husband her real husband or just an actor playing an undetermined role for her undeclared dramatic life purpose?

Here relies the crucial point of Nancy life. Because of her father early death, she tried to repair this absence, taking care of abandoned child’s, marrying a lonely man, doing all her best to maintain afloat her couple. She has an earnest and genuine heart but life is a somewhat complex material.

-

Fleeing the disorder

Reaching thirty years old, she intended to go away from her Beijing home in a way to escape a deep feeling of depression.

Due to her social activities, she meets a lot of men of all backgrounds and professions, natives and foreigners. Nancy has fixed guiding principles that she never distanced herself apart. She treated every man with a good sense of friendship and all at once imposing to herself a responsible behavior, always self-discipline, never cross the lines. Most of her relations have been for more than ten years.

The danger lies in the unknown.

On March 2013, Nancy met at a party in Beijing a foreigner, nothing exceptional.

-

A few days after, he invited her to a dinner that took place nearby the Drum Tower (Gǔlóu 鼓楼).

During the meal, they had a long conversation in a warm atmosphere, in good faith. They focused their attention on various topics, laughed often. However, they did not address their personal life. At that time, the man didn’t have any precise information about Nancy universe, as for instance, the fact that she was married. After dinner, at midnight, they walked a while nearby the Gōng Wáng Fǔ in Houhai. Suddenly, as a strange and mysterious force encouraged them, they began running. Was it a sign of fate?

The day after, the man flew back to Germany where he was currently working.

During four months, they exchanged letters, discussing a wide range of topics, mainly literature, philosophy and movies. Through portraits of historical figures, they started being very friendly.

By the end of July, she told him that she was planning a tour trip to Europe.

“Why we don’t spend sometimes together?” he asked.

-

She responded favorably.

As a consequence, he invited her to join him in France where he was settled at that time.

When he came at her hotel where she was waiting for him, he felt a little disoriented to learn that her name wasn’t the same that the one she introduced herself at the first time.

This same evening, the conversation went on her private life. She acknowledged without difficulty that she was married.

This consideration hasn’t change the nice welcoming she received.

In Paris, they spent together a fabulous week long, walking trough the streets, visiting museum, and each night, dancing until dawn nearby the Seine River.

All was going on very well until an incident occurred at the Versailles castle garden. Suddenly, between colorful trees, she described her husband as a simple man with who she has no more dialogue.

Then a glacial silence. From her heart escapes a sigh when painful memories emerge from her lips.

She couldn’t breath anymore.

Her face showed how crushed and hurt she was.

Then she started crying over and over.

“I am still sharing his life, but I am desperately lonely” she admitted.

He sat down beside her and took her hand, a natural gesture, nothing premeditated.

-

Then, in the magical place of Versailles, under the approving and benevolent gaze of Louis XIV, a love story was born between them, sweetly.

The next morning, she flew to Lisboa.

“During your stay in Paris, wrote the man days later, just holding you in my arms offers me the comfort that creates an exceptionally meaningful connection with you.

Those days, I was so joyful with you, having fun, smiling, laughing, kidding each other, clowning around, cajoling, cavorting, teasing, arguing and even crying

I am wondering if your smile is always bright, radiant and exuberant.

I am asking myself if you heart still brings your “natural” happiness that can spread all around you and give strength to others, the unhealthy little boys and girls as for me.

I question whether your private life gives an appropriate answer to your dream, your long-time dream, the one rooted deep inside your mind.”

He never received any message from her. Not even a word. Not even a whisper.

During nearly two years, she trapped herself in a strictly wall of silence.

Sometimes, in a moment of sadness, the man expressed his complete incomprehension of such behavior.

“Do you fear that something might happen if your today life is not preserved? Is this the question? As you may know, we fear the thing we want the most. Accordingly, the fear is your substance, the worst part of you. Hidden behind your charming smile, your negligent behavior is disputable as well as your dishonest attitude with your husband. Nothing worthwhile in this relation. A poor sense of friendship, senseless in all ways…”

In another message, he sought to understand her.

“Since so many months I am sad to observe that you didn’t reply to my messages. If the reason is to preserve your marriage, according to this assessment, I deeply support you. I think that you are doing well in breaking any ties with me. I interpret your silence as an extreme effort to give all your Love to your husband. It is an honorable posture”.

No response.

She remained intentionally enclosed in total isolation.

Then the time elapsed.

Little by little, Nancy became a bad dream in the man’s mind as a story that had never existed, as she had never crossed his life.

Nancy Yeung

Nancy return

Two years later, as part of a grouped consignment to all his business contacts in China, the man sent to her his Wechat code.

“How are you, Junma?” she asked.

As he did for all his partners, he welcomed warmly her message by adding the following remark: “What a strange kind of woman!”

She agreed to meet him.

Being in Beijing on May, they spent a day together in the hútong (胡同), strolling from Gulou to the Lama Temple.

It was a sunny day. The joy of being together could be seen on their happy mood. The best part was the look of pride on the man’s face when he saw thoroughly Nancy, again and again.

However, this positive picture is marred by a sad moment. By the evening, she expressed her unhappiness, telling that even if she were still married, she would never have a baby with her husband.

This comment brought tears to her eyes.

The day after, the man sent to her a message mentioning that his feelings were reemerging as they were two years ago, the same symptoms of love. Instead of welcoming warmly this revelation, she pointed out that he was “too emotional, too sensitive”.

Completely indifferent to this warning, he declared his love to her.

“I’m sorry, she exclaimed, I know I’m sounding rude by cutting you off, but I would like to say that you are an idiot (shén jīng bìng 神经病)”.

He replied.

“I have reviewed in detail the translation of this word. This one caught my attention: “disease or dysfunction of one or more peripheral nerves, typically causing numbness or weakness”.

-

I am disoriented to realize that this is your appreciation of me. Why do I deserve such critic? Please tell me? If there are any, my only fault was to express my sincere Love as it stands, truthfully, genuine, thoughtful and caring.”

The she said with a walling voice : « But you, a foreigner without any special emotion to this country in order to a special aim with money. »

With this sentence, I mean, she is all over the map !

The chapter is closed.

As she did during two years, Nancy disappeared once again completely speechless.

She vanished into thin air.

Since then not even a sign, just the sound of the birds in the trees.

“I think that I am just a rubbish box to pour when she didn’t feel well, nothing more” the man concluded, the soul melancholic and painful.

Her answer, her motto : Proud, Indifferent. Be frustrated, Calm (Déyì dànrán shīyì tǎnrán 得意淡然~失意坦然).

Hope and Love in Qingyuan (清远)

Qingyuan

A jùn mǎ 俊 马 tale 故事 (François de la Chevalerie)

Surrounded by mountainous areas, Qingyuan (清) is located on the Běi Jiāng river (北江) in the middle of the Guangdong province, not that far from her nurturing mother, Guangzhou.

Here I come for the first time on January 2011, welcomed by the Liu Wei family, a happy one, deeply rooted in the Chinese culture and, at the same time, under modern influence.

Staying in Qingyuan was the definite step to what I have achieved so far in China.

Qingyuan stretches out over a countryside that is like a long deep breath.

Between earth and water, it is made up of a succession of different landscapes: cultivated fields, towns, forest, wetlands, old caves, all the way through to the mountains.

Whispering with the local accent, between the twittering of birds, heartbeats and noises, Qingyuan sound like a poetic slogan.

Qingyuan

A once civilized city

According to environmental standards, Qingyuan is the civilized city of the Guangdong province because of its protected and one-time nature, because of the people.

In recent years, Qingyuan has undertaken the huge project to give back to the Běi Jiāng promenade a greener and more cleaner aspect, providing a better view of the river and reasserting both the visual and physical interconnections between the old and new parts of the city.

Here, there is no stream more closely bound up with the life of a people, nothing more important than the Běi Jiāng (北江). The breeze has made small ripples on the river.

Listen to the people

As Augustine of Hippo encouraged me to do, my longtime dream is to walk spiritually with the people. That is what I did during my time there. Open to all meetings – in the street, in people’s homes or at the market, wherever my city-dwelling feet take me.

Old woman

The old woman, the living memory of the city

Once, I strolled along the seashore by a sunny afternoon, I met an extremely old woman, the face wrinkled and withered like parchment. She was sitting under a tree at the edge of a river, staring into space. She was apparently watching time pass by.

- I am the oldest woman of Qingyuan ever. Nobody could compete with my age. Nobody except my ancestors mind! I guess you can say I am legally blind now. Not that much. I can’t see anything. Are you tall or short, I can’t say for sure? I see only the shadows. It’s enough to get the message. That is what I learned from the people who died since long. I was born a long time ago at a period where none modern building of this city has been built. At that time, migrating birds stopped off each year on the way to Hunan. At that time, I was burdened in collecting water and firewood, cooking, and cleaning.

Tears were running freely down her wrinkled face. Now in the evening of her life the weight of Time was showing in his white hair, lined face, and feeble step.

- How to deal with that sudden shift? She asked.

A man on the bridge

A man on the bridge

Then I took the path that goes across the bridge between the old Town and the new one. Beautiful scenery I’ve taken feast my eyes.

A man was coming from the other side. He was walking along with a quick and resolute step. A look of sadness came over his face. Then he stopped in front of me. He asked me abruptly where I came from. Then he stood and started talking about his life.

- When she left me, from my very distant hometown in Henan to this city, I kept on walking and walking night and day. At that time, my soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. But I was fortunate. On the road, I met an old man who said to me: « However much you run, you will not be able to put the fire out”. Then, I stopped in Qingyuan. Thanks to him, I patiently reconstructed my life. I became a very different person at that point.

Saved from the water

Saved from the water

On November 11, 2007, Li Hong, a native from Fosham in his early thirties, rescued two children from the cold waters of the Běi Jiāng (北江).

By a sunny afternoon, he was strolling nearby the shores. Suddenly, he heard screams that of the innocence.

Two young boys were drowning in front of the seemingly hopeless and desperate face of their parents. The current was very strong. Without questioning himself, he threw himself into the waters. He devoted all his strength to the rescue operation. Thanks to him, the young boys have been able to reach the shore.

Unfortunately, when he emerged, he succumbed straight away to a heart attack. His last words: « I have done my duty!.

“It is an incredible act of courage that makes sense in our today too material and selfish world, remembers with emotion one the young boy. Sometimes, I am asking myself. What is the real purpose of our existence? For me, the answer is given by Li Hong.”

Yao

The teacher

As I learned since ever, Education saves and improves the lives of girls and boys.

By far, I met an elegant woman with a tender face, a teacher named Yao, in her late thirties. Native of the city, she looked quiet, a peaceful heart, a charming smile.

Sometimes with a degree of naivety, I tried to court her. I was puzzled about what must have been going on in the caves of her mind. Already moved, I was delighted to converse with her about the sense of life.

Unfortunately, with my poor Chinese, my pseudo-intellectual trivia, my somewhat man’s arrogance, instantly I’ve bored her to death.

The moral of this story is, of course, that to conquer a woman heart, as everywhere in the world, is to be silent, low-profile and patient.

Alien

An Alien in Qingyuan

Qingyuan has its alien.

Please don’t ask me to describe his physical appearance. During my journey in this city, I haven’t seen him. I guess I will never expect to see him, face to face. That’s my unfortunate fate; I am a human being without any contact with far distant lands.

- Uncover the horrific truth: Cut through the harrowing mystery to stop the alien onslaught” that what a man told me once there.

- But who are they? I haven’t the slight idea, an alien individual is beyond my imagination.

Then the man said:

- Please be reassured, you are not the only one going through these emotions. The extraterrestrial is disguised as a bird, just a bird.

Sony Chan, la chinoise la plus populaire de France ?

Sony Chan

A jùn mǎ tale 俊 马 故事 (François de la Chevalerie)

 

De passage à Paris, j’ai été convié à un repas. Le sujet du jour : la Chine.

Sollicité pour prendre la parole, je rapporte méthodiquement les nouvelles du front : une économie en voie d’essoufflement, une pollution toujours autant prégnante et un Président autoritaire qui, faute de visibilité, encourage la jeunesse à jouer au football. Je poursuis sur les femmes, un sujet sans fin et à l’impossible conclusion. Je me lamente du viscéral ennui qui entame la vie des couples chinois. A partir du moment où l’argent domine tout, le naufrage est inévitable. « Tout cela n’est guère réjouissant » dis-je pour finir.

- Mais tu n’y es pas du tout !

Il me tend un smartphone. Sur l’écran, une jeune femme aux cheveux longs, les yeux perçants de Sòng Měilíng (宋美齡), le front dégagé de Zhou Xuan (周璇), les joues de Dèng Lìjūn (邓丽君), un zeste d’Audrey Hepburn.

- Sony Chan, tu connais ?

En matière des vedettes de commande, de postiches fabriqués par la CCTV, ma candeur n’a pas de seuil.

- Nullement de ce genre, tranche un ami, Sony Chan, c’est ce que la Chine produit de mieux.

Sony Chan

- Qui aurait pu imaginer que le chinois le plus populaire de France fut une femme ? poursuit un autre. Plus jamais engoncé dans un traditionalisme éculé, voilà que l’empire du milieu s’offre un visage inattendu : un homme drapé dans la peau d’une femme ; Une femme aux origines masculines ; un homme comme une femme. Quel vent de jouvence !

Sourires approbateurs dans l’assemblée. Tous se réjouissent d’une telle percée. 

Cependant, certains moquent ma crasse ignorance, celle courante des expatriés embastillés dans leur tour d’ivoire, sourds aux clameurs de la rue.

Une comédienne glamour et de bonne humeur

Du coup, la nuit venue, je suis parti à la recherche de Sony Chan dans les entrelacs des réseaux sociaux.

Je le vois.

Je la vois toutes les coutures.

Je m’amuse de ses chroniques à la télévision, à la radio. Sous l’ombre de la tour Eiffel, la comédienne lâche des jugements pertinents. Sans jamais se départir d’une bonne humeur, elle allume gentiment la France. Elle pointe de pâles réalités, traque les maux. Elle s’y prête en mettant en avant une personnalité chaleureuse et avenante.

Elle joue de ses rires, d’une gestuelle hardie.

Sony Chan est une personne aimable et bien disposée (hǎo shēng hǎo qì 好声好气).

Autant qu’elle s’en réclame, elle réinvente le glamour. Un genre qui paraît désuet mais qui sous sa grâce retrouve, entre fraicheur et générosité, une nouvelle vigueur.

Un ton qui tranche avec une scène de comiques aux saynètes plutôt grasses, souvent empâtées de réalisme social.

Paradoxalement, Sony Chan est beaucoup plus engagée que ses pairs.

Liberté

Ce goût à la liberté

Alors qu’elle pourrait se fondre dans son nouveau pays, la France où elle est installée depuis 1997, elle tire de ses origines chinoises une exigence, ne jamais faiblir devant l’arbitraire, porter la voix autant que nécessaire.

Le mot est lancé.

« Je suis triste de voir la dégradation de ma ville natale, au niveau politique et social » se lamente-t-elle.

Originaire de Hong Kong, Sony s’inquiète des entorses croissantes à la démocratie sous la pression de Pékin, des tracasseries qui jour après jour détruisent les libertés.

Cette même liberté (zì yóu 自由) qu’elle s’est donnée pour sa sexualité, elle entend la faire prospérer à Hong Kong à la barbe des censeurs.

Liberté en chinois

Ce courage qu’elle a à s’afficher comme bon lui semble, elle l’affirme autant à Victoria Peak (太平山頂) ou sur le front de mer de Tsim Sha Tsui.

Nullement craint-elle encore le gōng ān bù[1] qui invite les overseas chinese (Hǎiwài Huárén 海外華人) à ne pas se répandre.

Contrairement à beaucoup de ses concitoyens, plutôt pusillanimes, qui glissent honteusement dans le fossé (liū gōuzi 溜溝子), elle plaide pour une Chine moins encombrée de totalitarisme et avec plus d’Etat de Droit.

“On doit surtout écouter son cœur, soupire-t-elle. Le regard des autres fait partie de la liberté de chacun. On a le droit de m’aimer ou pas, mais on ne peut pas m’empêcher de vivre”

« L’oiseau préfère sa liberté à une cage dorée », pourrait-elle aussi rapporter.

Belle lumière de ce temps, voguant vers son destin, nul n’empêchera Sony d’avancer à grands pas (gāo gē měng jìn 高歌猛进), à vivre selon ses valeurs en France, à Hongkong.

Tel est le sens d’une vie, ce diction chinois : plutôt mourir de façon glorieuse que de mener une vie vulgaire (nìng wéi yù suì, bù wéi wǎ quán 宁为玉碎，不为瓦全).

—————

Sony Chan – Son spectacle au théâtre Les Feux de la Rampe.

 

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[1] Le Ministère de la sécurité publique de la République populaire de Chine