Imaginary Journeys Into Eternal China

We will join at the dawn (1) Chinese and European practitioners of tai chi (2) to express altogether the harmony of Life and welcome the rising Sun
And will enjoy the nascent lighting day as a newborn

We will read ‘Water Margin’ (3) to grasp the deep sense of the ‘thirty six heavenly bodies and earthly seventy-two stars’ (4)

We would like to meet with the distinguished Ming, and share their wisdom and their wellbeing as well (5)

With humility, I will follow the ‘walker bird’ (6) all along his itinerary full of wisdom and loyalty and her young granddaughter (7) spirited at the heart of his quest for modernity

We will come to learn from master classes of famous Gardeners Li Yu and Ji Cheng (8) and we will benefit from their inspiring teaching to build the splendor of Gardens of our common Future

We will follow the Silk Road (9) to keep alive and everlasting our memory of so many fructuous cultural exchanges between China which reach our European scene around sheltered in the ‘sweety’ shadow of magnaneries and through the perennial beauty of so many shared botanical species

We will compose inspiring romantic poems I recite to the visitors of the ‘five gardens on three mountains’ (10) and provide them with promising seeds of Joy as we can feel happy when listening Poets of the Lake district

We will cross the Sea of ​​Happiness (11) in search of treasure tranquility and peace to further share and share again with every human being living on our old Planet

We will explore with relish acoustic and visual effects of Ba Yin Jian in the Garden of Ji Chang in Wuxi (12) and will play in the sunrays shining on the 9000 lakes of the Polish ‘Mazurie’

We will go getting in the lunar calendar (13) bond of Man and Nature granted in turn to the Seasons

We will let my mind wander in bamboo plantations (14), hibiscus (15) and camelias (16), where the Sages are born and live immortal and we would like to meditate with them the sacred Words of the Buddha and the Holy Saints

We will congratulate Jia Sinie for promoting agricultural research (17), thus paying tribute to his outstanding experiments and achievements and will deepen our current understanding of the on-going initiative ‘Geoglam’ (18) being implemented by China and international partners at global level

We will certainly, on the ‘Bund’, enjoy a ‘Tsingtao’ (19) to feel both innovative creative ferment of China and dizzy paths of its radiation

In the company of ‘Pao’ and ‘Zhongkui’ (20), we will learn their unique composition of exquisite culinary flavors provided by Lu or Jing Xiang (21) with a view to providing everyone with tasty meals combined with appropriate nutritional equilibrium

And finally we will have the ritual commensal meal to celebrate the strength of our friendship(22)

Armand Beuf

Explanatory notes added to my imaginary dialogues:

(1) & (2) I feel the dawn is the nascent day when Life comes out for a new cycle ; Practicing Taïchi with other people creates collective harmony and supplies energy to entire group and to each practitioner taking exercise in a lively manner

(3) & (4) ‘Water Margin’ full of characters is one of the most famous popular writings in China

(5) Famous Chinese dynasty recognized contributing to generate prosperous old times

(6) & (7) ‘The walker bird’ ( Le promeneur d’oiseau ) is a recent French-Chinese movie (2014) in which both the grandfather, ’the walker bird’ and his young granddaughter engage a vibrant dialogue combining wisdom, tradition and modernity

(8) I would like to pay tribute to Li Yu et Ji Cheng whose writings are pillars of the Art of gardening; Li Yu wrote ‘ One school’s opinion’ where takes place lengthy discussion on theory of architecture and on Chinese gardening art. Ji Cheng provided ‘Craftmanship of Gardening’, a precious monograph about garden construction as Architech Lenôtre did at Versailles

(9) The ‘silk Road’- I would call it ‘The dialogue Road’- between East and West remains an exceptional cradle all along years for all travelers and visitors involved

(10) The 5 magnificent Imperial Gardens around Beijing comprising altogether the Jing Yi Garden in the flagrant Hill, the Jing Ming Garden in the Jade Spring Hall, the Garden of Clear Ripples of the Longevity Hill, the Chang Chun Garden and the Garden of Perfect Splendor.

(11)The ‘Sea of Happiness’ is a vast expense of water covering 30 hectares located in the beautiful Garden of Perfect splendor

(12) Acoustic and visual effects amplify intrinsic beauty of the garden’s landscape through holistic approach

(13)That lunar calendar, so called the ‘ Xia calendar’ had an enormous influence on Chinese people around and it is still used to date to guide agricultural production and mark traditional Chinese festivals as dragon boat festivals, spring festival and mid-autumn festivals

(14) & (15) & (16) So many species of bamboos, hibiscus (rosa sinensis), camellias grow and inspire many features, poems, decorative painting, jewellery…

(17) Jia Sinie, prominent agricultural scientist devoted his life to study agricultural production and published his masterpiece ’important arts for people’s welfare’ after gathering lots of documents and peasant proverbs, paying visits to experienced cultivators and conducting valuable field experiments. In a Resolution 4/75 dated 26 November 1975, the FAO underlined the importance of the strengthening of national and international agricultural research. http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5589e/x5589e05.htm

(18) The Geo Glam initiative launched by G20 summit is an ongoing important international initiative on securing food security at global level in which China is a very active partner https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/default/files/20110928-givone.pdf

(19)’Tsingtao’, excellent beer produced in China

(20) Placed in a historical long term perspective, ‘Pao’ and ‘Zhongkui’ actors are the main innovators of Chinese culinary art

(21) Chinese fine art of cooking and European ones offer a large range of combination of tasty dishes

(22) I would pay tribute to Institutions and Citizens altogether whose long term commitment has emphasized our relationship all along these 40 years.