Ksawery Burski, “Kong Fan”, former Ambassador of Poland in China and alumnus of Peking University (PKU), retuned to PKU on September 16, sixty years after his first time at the University. Professor Chen Yuehong, Dean of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, and several professors held delightful conversation with Ambassador Ksawery at Linhuxuan.
Ambassador Ksawery came to China in 1955 and studied Chinese at PKU for one year. This one-year study influenced his life greatly, as he was destined to become the Polish Ambassador to China and has been studying Sinology for many decades. During the conversation, Ambassador Ksawery introduced the development of Sinology in Poland. He said that some Confucius Institutes have been launched in recent years and that several Polish universities have set up Chinese department, which he believes, demonstrates the growing popularity of Chinese studies and Sinology in Poland. Furthermore, Ambassador Ksawery explained that cooperation in education between China and Poland is going well and that the number of exchange students between the two countries grows every year.
Ambassador Ksawery recollected campus life with linguistic Professor Lu Jianming and Professor Sun Qinshan, who also attended PKU in 1955. Ambassador Ksawery noticed that there were great changes since he studied at PKU. For example, there are overall far more students than sixty years ago and the ratio of foreign students has grown greatly. Ambassador Ksawery shared his memories in China as well as his experience on Sinology studies with the other attendants during the conversation.
Translated by: Zhong Xue
