With China being the guest of honour at the World Book Fair, the international pavilion at the Pragati Maidan hall No. 7 is abuzz with everything Chinese — except food. The hall houses a plethora of literature from China ranging from technical to children’s literature to adult fiction and history. A pictorial exhibition of India-China relations over the years, featuring personalities associated who upheld mutual interaction — Indologists and specialists on Chinese culture — has been installed in a separate corridor. Dwarakanath Kotnis occupies pride of place.
Another interesting move is the India-China Translation Programme. This is a programme under the ministry of external affairs to translate 25 classics each from India and China into Chinese and Hindi respectively. The list from India includes writers from the Bhakti period, such as Kabir, to Hindi stalwarts, such as Premchand, playwright Mohan Rakesh, Partition novelist Bhisham Sahni and Kannada literary doyen U.R. Ananthamurthy, to contemporaries such as Gulzar. The list of Chinese authors begins with the philosopher Confucius to 20th century writer Ba Jin and contemporary novelist Jia Pingwa, among others.
The Chinese pavilion holds talks every day for enthusiasts on issues related to publishing and writing in China. An exhibition on China’s printing history presents early manuscripts on paper, silk and even bamboo. A manuscript on bamboo from the 7th century features the martial treatise of military strategist Sun Tzu. The exhibition also includes specimens of bronze printing plates dating back to the 11th century and wooden movable type characters from the Uighur language from between the 12th and 15th centuries.
An interesting attraction is the calligrapher who sits at this exhibit writing people’s names for them in the Chinese script. Enthusiasts can sift through an overwhelming body of literature in Chinese, testimony to their mastery of most domains of knowledge today.
