With elegant office and neatly stacked books, the Italian teacher Le Xiaoyue gently took out a book with a white cover, which was impressively printed with the title Why Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Works? in Italian and Chinese. The translator of the book is Le Xiaoyue herself.
With the book in hand, it is not difficult to imagine her joy: The whole book contains 300,000 words, which took one year to translate. After publication, the first batch of books sold out in Italy. The online promotion conference aroused enthusiastic responses overseas. The official website of the Italian Communist Party specially introduced the book …
More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Silk Road linked China and ancient Rome, which were thousands of miles apart. After that, the Travels of Marco Polo set off the first “China craze” in history in the West. Now, a book entitled Why Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Works? makes the “Voice of China” spread from the Haihe River to Italy, providing a new window for overseas people to explore socialism with Chinese characteristics. Travelling through time and space, the dreamland in the Travels of Marco Polo has changed dramatically in Le Xiaoyue’s eyes.
“When I was a child, I thought all the Chinese knew kung fu.”
As a project supported by Tianjin Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning, this book objectively sorts out the great achievements made by contemporary China in economy, politics, culture, society, ecology and diplomacy, and vividly interprets and explains the advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. It is conceivable how difficult it is to translate such a theoretical and professional book.
“My major is Italian and Chinese. I want to help Italian readers open a window to understand today’s China by translating works written by Chinese people, so that they can understand China's system and road, feel China’s openness and tolerance and people’s happy life.” Le Xiaoyue speaks her heart out.
Before coming to Nankai University, Le Xiaoyue’s impression of China remained in the school’s books and a few words of the media. “Not only me, but also many foreigners who have not been to China can only understand China through Western media and film and television dramas. Most Italian books about China are not written by the Chinese. I remember when I was a child, Chinese kung fu films were very popular in Italy, and we even thought that Chinese people could ‘fly over walls’.” Le Xiaoyue shrugged.
The longer she lives in China, the more she feels that the Westerners has quite limited access to the real China.
By chance, Le Xiaoyue met Zhang Boying, editor-in-chief of the Chinese edition of the book Why Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Works? and the then full-time vice-chairman of Tianjin Federation of Social Sciences. After a long talk, Le Xiaoyue has a strong desire for translating this book. “The contents of the book on economy, history and many other fields can help Italians better understand today’s China.”
At that time, Zhang Boying learned that many foreign experts and scholars were very concerned about China’s development and achievements. However, in foreign countries, the publications of theoretical works on socialism with Chinese characteristics written by the Chinese are rarely translated into Italian. If the Italian version can be published, it would be very valuable. Zhang Boying’s recognition and encouragement gave Le Xiaoyue a “reassurance”.
Translation is like climbing a mountain. In order to reflect the ideas of the original authors, Le Xiaoyue bought dozens of books for reference. She took the trouble to consult the original authors and industry experts for translating a number, a character, and a noun.
Yang Lin, Director of the Italian Department of the College of Foreign Languages of Nankai University, is Le Xiaoyue’s good partner at work. “Whenever in doubt, she will send me the original Chinese text and ask me for China’s national conditions and policies. She will not give up until she has a thorough understanding of the issues at hand.” Yang Lin said.
Le Xiaoyue enjoys the hard work in the eyes of others. Her husband, Li Bohai from Argentina, said: “Once on a vacation, we went home to visit the elderly. She took all kinds of translation materials with her. While accompanying the elderly, she also insisted on completing the translation task and wanted readers to see the translation as soon as possible.”
Sweat waters the fruit. In October 2019, Le Xiaoyue’s translation was published with the 21st Century Marx Publishing House in Italy, arousing enthusiastic attention. Some Italian experts and scholars in philosophy, history, law and other fields affirmed the book. Not long ago, relevant Italian experts and scholars also specially organized online conferences, setting up topics such as “Taking the Road of Peaceful Development - China and the World” and “Important Factors for Why Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Works”, and discussed China’s development.
“This book is one of the few works on socialism with Chinese characteristics written by Chinese scholars published by Italian publishing houses. The translation is accurate and objective, which helps Italian readers understand how China establishes the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics and how to adhere to and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Andrea Catone, editor-in-chief of the 21st Century Marx Publishing House, said.
Seeing that the book was recognized, Le Xiaoyue finally breathed a sigh of relief: “Translation is like building a bridge to let more people go on the bridge to see the real China.”
“In recent years, I have witnessed the miracle of China’s development”
Le Xiaoyue especially likes the word “fate”. Her fate with China began as a child. At the beginning of the 21st century, in a small city near Bologna, Italy, Le Xiaoyue, a teenager, always hoped that her father, who was engaged in foreign trade business in China, would take more videos and photos about China, and bring back some small gifts from China. “I still cherish the cheongsam my father bought for me from China more than ten years ago.”
The opportunity finally came. In 2013, Le Xiaoyue, who majored in foreign languages and literature at the University of Bologna, applied for a scholarship from the Confucius Institute and came to Nankai University to pursue her postgraduate study at the School of Chinese Language and Culture.
Le Xiaoyue, who set foot on the land of China, found that this country with a long history was so modern, open, inclusive, and full of vitality, which was different from what was described by the Western media before. Especially when she walked into Nankai University with deep culture, she was amazed. “The campus is very beautiful and large, and it will take a long time to walk to an end. The apartment facilities are complete, the tutors are knowledgeable, and it is full of history and humanities everywhere.” Le Xiaoyue enjoys the high-quality education of Chinese universities here.
In order to better integrate into China, Le Xiaoyue chose not to live in the international student apartment but rented a flat in a traditional community near the school. Ms. Zhao, the landlord, likes this optimistic and cheerful girl very much. “She worked very hard to learn Chinese. Sometimes I sent her some delicious food, and she didn't forget to ask about the meaning of certain words.”
The enthusiasm of the neighbors makes Le Xiaoyue “being in the hometown despite being in a foreign land”. “In the community, the Chinese people are very friendly. They often share Chinese delicacies such as dumplings and noodles with me and treat me as a family.”
Her life experience in China made her feel like a fish in water when translating this book. “China has strong cohesion. During the epidemic, China’s concerns of epidemic prevention extended to every corner. The Chinese government's attention and response to epidemic prevention and control filled me with a sense of security.”
The College of Foreign Languages of Nankai University undertook the multilingual translation work of the “Cartoon Guide of Prevention and Control of COVID-19”, and Le Xiaoyue took the initiative to participate. She wants to share China’s anti-epidemic experience with more foreigners in this way.
Because of the epidemic, Le Xiaoyue has not returned to Italy for more than two years. Every Christmas, she can buy Italian cakes and various home cuisines in China. “China is becoming more and more open and has become one of the most mature consumer markets in the world. Whether it is a physical mall or an e-commerce platform, one can buy products from many countries.”
Le Xiaoyue loves traveling, and she spends her free time exploring the mountains and rivers of China. In her eyes, China is drawing pictures of green waters and green mountains on its soil. “When I first came to China, there was smog from time to time. In recent years, with rapid economic development, China has paid more attention to ecological protection, prevention and control of pollution, and returning farmland to forests, etc. Now the blue sky and white clouds and the green river banks are commonly seen, and sharing bicycles has become a flowing scenery on China’s streets. China’s emphasis on environmental protection is admirable.”
Recently, Le Xiaoyue is translating a report on the “two-carbon” goal, and she also shares more insights on the chapter on “Building a Socialist Ecological Civilization” from the book Why Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Works? “I learned from the report that China announced that it will strive to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Now various actions have been carried out rapidly. From some data, I can see the determination and strength China has in the field of energy conservation and environmental protection.”
Le Xiaoyue also witnessed many Chinese miracles. China has achieved the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, won the battle against poverty, and contributed China’s plan to the governance of world poverty... “Many people wonder why socialism with Chinese characteristics works. These miracles of development I have experienced in China are the best answers and interpretations.” Le Xiaoyue said bluntly.
“In the future, I want to raise more young Marco Polo”
As a forerunner of cultural exchanges between the East and the West, Marco Polo has been followed by generations of friendly messengers. Le Xiaoyue also hopes to be one like Marco Polo.
In 2017, the College of Foreign Languages of Nankai University established the Italian major, which is among the first in Chinese key comprehensive universities to provide an Italian undergraduate degree. From the College of Chinese Language and Culture to the College of Foreign Languages, Le Xiaoyue completed the transition from student to teacher, which also brought her closer to her dream.
Referring to this Italian girl, Yan Guodong, Dean of the College of Foreign Languages of Nankai University, is full of praise. “When the Department was first established, Le Xiaoyue had to shoulder 16 class hours a week—twice the usual workload—but she never complained and worked hard for the construction of the Department.”
The love of language, the affection for Nankai and the nostalgia for China make Le Xiaoyue cherish this job opportunity. As one of the first group of teachers in the Italian Department, she poured infinite enthusiasm into teaching.
Le Xiaoyue carefully studied books about China. Many Chinese theoretical books were translated into Italian and became her common teaching materials.
Le Xiaoyue also actively participates in the ideological and political construction of foreign language courses. Apart from conducting research herself, she asks students not only be able to introduce pandas, intangible cultural heritage, historical buildings and other Chinese features and culture to foreigners, but also to have a clear understanding of China’s system, road and development concept. She often tells students that to tell a good Chinese story to the world, you need to deeply understand all aspects of China.
“She always communicates with us about China’s system and culture, and our professional level has been improved imperceptibly.” said Zhang tongkai, a student of Le Xiaoyue.
During the epidemic, the College of Foreign Languages of Nankai University and the University of Rome in Italy launched a special activity online—students of the two countries told the culture and stories of their own countries in each other’s native language, which received enthusiastic response.
Le Xiaoyue also instructed the students to complete the performance of the classic Chinese drama Thunderstorm (Leiyu) in Italian, which attracted the admiration of Italian teachers and students.
From proofreading the scripts and getting familiar with the lines, to role playing and rehearsing performances, Le Xiaoyue is meticulous. “Thunderstorm is not only a classic Chinese story, but also has worldwide communication value. Every performance is an exchange and collision of Chinese and foreign cultures. This approach not only spreads Chinese culture, but also stimulates more students’ motivation to learn Italian well.”
Due to her contribution to Sino-Italian friendly exchanges, Le Xiaoyue won the nomination of Tianjin Haihe Friendship Award on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy in 2020.
After eight years in China, Le Xiaoyue has found a job she loves and met a beautiful love. China has already become her second hometown. “I hope to raise more young Marco Polo, spread China’s voice, and share China’s experience and wisdom.” Le Xiaoyue said.
