Esperanto A Happy EndingAuthor: David Poulson Introductory note for new visitors to the Esperanto Topic. If you have only just begun to take an interest in Esperanto and wish to know some basic information about this fascinating subject, please start your reading at the first article of this series. Having already completed 66 articles, I am now at the stage of writing articles for those readers who have learned quite a lot about the Esperanto language and movement already, and who are now wanting to find out more than just the basic introductory information. To get to the beginning of this series ________________________________________________________ A Happy Ending I should probably have mentioned in the previous article that I have now returned from my short stay in Thailand and can once again respond to messages either sent to me personally or via the Discussion Forum. The evolution of the Esperanto movement in Asian countries (which I will continue to discuss for several weeks) has always seemed to me to be a fascinating subject and I hope that some of my readers will be able to add to my own articles on the subject from their own knowledge. On the 12th of June, 1978, Guo Moruo died in Peking after a long and richly productive life which secured him a reputation as one of modern China's outstanding cultural personalities. He was a firm supporter of Esperanto and helped to establish the Chinese Esperanto League and its journal El Popola Cinio As I mentioned in my last article, he was also responsible for obtaining permission for Verda Majo and Liu Ren to return to mainland China from their exile in Hong Kong and for providing them with jobs. And had he lived for just a few months longer, he would have learned of - and possibly even taken part in - an event which would surely have brought him pleasure. I refer to the emotional meeting which took place on the 18th of August in Peking at which Verda Majo's children met their mother's elder sister, Juki Ozawa, for the first time. Tears flowed on that occasion as they did later when Juki went to Shanghai. This was the first China city in which Verda Majo resided and it brought back memories of the day when the two sisters parted in 1937. Juki had gone to the port of Yokohama to say goodbye and, remembering how much her sister liked oranges, had slipped away to buy her one as a final farewell gift. Sadly, when she returned to the dockside, the ship had already cast off and was under way and she was just able to make out Verda Majo waving her arms at the ship's rail. According to Hisae Sawachi, Juki's friend who accompanied her on this trip to China, Juki felt as though Verda Majo would materialise at any time among the crowds who filled the streets of Shanghai. The whole experienced was obviously very important to Juki Ozawa and it appears that Verda Majo's children were also very delighted to meet their aunt. These are Juki's words of farewell to the Chinese Esperantists who had been responsible for making the meeting possible. "Your warm-hearted assistance has made it possible for me to meet my nephew and niece and I thank you with all of my heart. For decades we have looked for each other and now they long to visit the birthplace of their mother. Please help them. I feel as though they are my own children. I also think that the intimacy which exists between them and their Japanese relatives is like the friendship which is developing between China and Japan, don't you agree? I was so moved by the sight of two such charming young people waiting to welcome me that I had to cry. Let there be true friendship between our two lands. And may our families be a bridge to help that friendship to take place." How Verda Majo and Liu Ren would have loved those last two sentences ! Hisae Sawachi, by the way, who was born in 1930, has become a well-known writer and, although not an Esperantist herself, on her return to Japan I believe that she wrote several articles about Verda Majo. I don't know,and would like to find out, whether it was something she wrote which motivated a Japanese film director to make a TV movie about Verda Majo but this seems to have happened. The front cover of the March 1980 issue of El Popola Cxinio shows a photograph of a Chinese actor, Gao Fei, and a Japanese actress, Komaki Kurihara, who played the parts of Liu Ren and Verda Majo in a movie. The title of the movie was translated into Esperanto as Hejmosopira Stelo, which, in English, is "Home-sick Star.". A check of the Internet Movie Database - http://uk.imdb.com/Name?Kurihara,+Komaki In my next article I will provide more information about Esperanto in China and, as usual, my approach will be to do it by introducing you to more exceptional individuals who have made a special contribution to the development of the Esperanto language and movement. |