"I hope that everyone will pass on and carry forward the story of and the bond with Kuliang(Guling) , so that the friendship between the Chinese and American people will thrive and live like the Millennium Chinese Cedar King in Kuliang." President Xi stressed in his congratulatory letter to the "Bond with Kuliang: 2023 China-U.S. People-to-People Friendship Forum" held in Fuzhou on June 28th. 

Amity between peoples holds the key to the relationship between countries. Kuliang stories, which span a hundred years and opens a new chapter, have become a good example of President Xi’s promotion of the friendly exchanges between Chinese and American people, helping the friendship to be passed down from generation to generation. 

 

 

  

 

On June 28th, Jasmine Youth Chorus sang "Kuliang, a Long-Cherished Dream Came True" at the "Bond with Kuliang: 2023 China-U.S. People-to-People Friendship Forum". 

 

The touching story of Kuliang 

"In 1992, I invited Mrs. Gardner to visit Kuliang to help her fulfill her husband's dream of returning to his native land. After more than 30 years, the 'Friends of Kuliang' and friendly people from all walks of life in the two countries have deeply explored the history of Kuliang, actively spread Kuliang culture, and made unremitting efforts to deepen mutual understanding and friendly exchanges between the Chinese and American people." President Xi recalled this "bond with Kuliang" in his congratulatory letter. 

  

 

 

This is a photo of the scenery of Kuliang in Jin'an District, Fuzhou City,

Fujian Province taken by the drone on June 28th. 

 

 

Kuliang is a well-known summer resort in the north of Gushan in Fuzhou. It used to be a summer destination for a large number of foreign nationals in China, but this history was barely known in the past for a long time. In 1992, Xi Jinping, then Secretary of the CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee , read the newspaper article “Ah, Kuliang!”and was deeply moved. The widow of Milton Gardner, a professor of physics at the University of California, was invited to visit Kuliang to help her fulfill her husband's last wish. After that, Kuliang stories became widely known.

In 1901, Gardner, who was still in his infancy, came to Fuzhou with his parents and lived here for ten years. His family lived in Kuliang every summer. In the decades after returning to the United States, Gardner's greatest wish was to visit China again, but it is regrettable that he failed to do so until his death in 1986. On his deathbed, Gardner kept murmuring "Kuliang" in his mouth, and was full of nostalgia for his childhood hometown. 

Elyn MacInnis, a member of "Kuliang Friends" and a researcher of Kuliang history and culture, said that President Xi’s decision to invite Mrs. Gardner to visit China more than 30 years ago was "wise and far-sighted", and the telling of Kuliang stories was of great significance to promote cultural exchanges between the United States and China. 

In 2012, Xi Jinping, then Vice President of China, visited the United States and told this Kuliang story at a welcome luncheon hosted by friendly organizations in the U.S. "I believe that there are many touching stories like this among the Chinese and American people. We should further strengthen the exchanges between the Chinese and American people and build the most solid foundation for people-to-people exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the United States." These sincere words were well-echoed by all walks of life in both countries, and thus Kuliang stories went to the international stage. 

In 2016, President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan wrote a letter to the delegation of Lincoln Middle School students visiting China, and mentioned Kuliang stories again. "As the Kuliang stories you heard in Fuzhou tell, the friendship between the Chinese and American people is long-standing and will continue". 

"I am very touched." Luca Berrone, an“Old Friend” of President Xi and Strategic Advisor to the U.S. Heartland China Association, said at the forum that President Xi's concern and personal efforts to promote people-to-people friendship will greatly enhance the friendship, understanding and cooperation between the Chinese and American people. 

 

People-to-people friendship across mountains and seas 

 

In his congratulatory letter, President Xi mentioned many "friends of Kuliang" - Mr. Lyn, 103 years old, who took many photos of Kuliang, Dr. Edward Bliss, who left his last words of "I love the Chinese people", and Mr. Donald E. MacInnis, whose ashes were partly scattered at Minjiang River.  

With more and more unknown Kuliang stories are unveiled, the protagonists of Kuliang stories have increased from the original Gardner family to the Billing family, MacInnis family, Caldwell family and Brewster family.  

Before coming to China for the Forum, Elyn MacInnis once again went to a town in the southern Connecticut with journalists to visit Mr. Lyn and brought him dumplings stuffed with pork and cabbage. This centenarian with clean cheeks and white hair recalled his childhood life in Kuliang and naturally switched to fluent Fuzhou dialect, with vivid light in his eyes.  

Lyn, the youngest son of Arthur W. Billing, was born in Fuzhou. When he was young, he used Kodak camera to take photos of Kuliang Old Street, shops and children who were playing. There are several thick albums of photo in the elderly.  

 

 

  

In a small town in southern Connecticut, USA, Lyn showed journalists photos of Kuliang he took when he was young. 

 

 

Mr. Donald E. MacInnis, Elyn MacInnis's father-in-law, once taught in Fuzhou, and later supported the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression as a member of the American Flying Tigers. After the war, he stayed in Fukien Christian University to teach English for more than ten years. His youngest son Peter MacInnis was born in Fuzhou. In 2015, Peter MacInnis and his wife Elyn MacInnis came to Fuzhou and scattered some of his ashes into Minjiang River according to their father's late wishes.  

It was after that trip to Kuliang that they ran around and started to explore the history and culture of Kuliang. Building a website, consulting archives and cooperating with Chinese scholars in depth, the couple have done a lot of work, explored and collected more than 1,000 pieces (sets) of written materials, pictures and objects related to Kuliang. More Kuliang friends were found and more stories of Kuliang were unveiled.  

  

  

 

In October 2018, Elyn MacInnis, one of the“friends of Kuliang”, remembered her father-in-law Mr. Donald E. MacInnis in front of the memorial wall of Volunteers in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Sanshan Cemetery, Fuzhou.

 

 

Harold N·Brewster used to be the president of Fuzhou Union Hospital, and all of his four children lived in Fuzhou. The video of Marybelle Brewster Hollister, the second daughter, reciting ballads in fluent Fuzhou dialect in 2017 was popular among netizens. Dr. Edward Bliss worked in Shaowu, Fujian for 40 years, and trained many pharmacists for the local area. 

The Kuliang stories are different, but they all bears the profound friendship between these American friends and the Chinese people. Gail Harris, granddaughter of Harry R. Caldwell, said emotionally at the forum that China is the beloved home of her grandparents and the place where her parents grew up. Now she has come here and fallen in love with China and its people. 

 

A Thriving Tree of Friendship 

 

"The experience of 'friends of Kuliang' proves once again that the Chinese and American people can completely cross the differences in system, culture and language and establish a profound friendship." President Xi emphasized in his congratulatory letter.  

Guliang Stories have vitality spanning times and regions. It is of great significance to continue to explore and study this historical and cultural heritage and tell the stories of Kuliang to Chinese and foreign people.  

"We are all inheritors of this legacy." Elyn MacInnis said that the Kuliang stories prove to people that people from different countries and cultures can seek common ground while reserving differences, and friendship can be passed down from generation to generation.  

The "Millennium Chinese Cedar King" mentioned by President Xi in his congratulatory letter is the witness of “the bond with Kuliang”.  

Lee Gardner is Mr. Gardner's grandnephew. Returning to Kuliang this time, he told three "stories about the tree": at the beginning of the last century, Mr. Gardner often climbed the Millennium "Chinese Cedar King" in Kuliang with his friends to play; In 1992, when Mrs. Gardner’ visit to Kuliang ended, she specially took away a piece of the bark; In 2018, when Li and his brother came to Kuliang, they specially hugged this old tree and recalled the family's "root of Kuliang".  

  

 

 

On June 27th, some members of "Kuliang Friends" and people from all walks of life in China and the United States visited the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, Nanhou Street, Fuzhou.

 

 

The Kuliang story of the Brewster family also continued to write a new chapter. This is the first time for Katy Barber, a younger generation of the family, to come to China. She was deeply attracted by many Kuliang stories along the way and moved by the enthusiasm and friendship of the Chinese people. "I used to listen to my elders telling their stories. I personally came to Kuliang to have my own stories. I will remember these stories in my heart and tell them to my next generation." Barber said. 

"Peace, friendship and love" are the Kuliang spirit proposed and refined by “Friends of Kuliang”. Amiable people and moving stories set up the bridge of mind, and narrowed the distance between the Chinese and American people. As Luca Berrone said, the friendship between the Chinese and American people is real and tangible, and it is also solid and profound. 

The foundation of the development of state-to-state relations lies in the two peoples. The Kuliang stories personally told and continued by President Xi have connected people’s hearts and laid a solid foundation for the friendly exchanges between China and the United States. May the tree of friendship between Chinese and American people flourish and live forever!  

 

 

Source: XINHUA

 

Translation: 21CMCC