Traditions of Russian language learning in Chongqing in the context of China's language policy

Abstract

This article is based on the translations from Chinese of unpublished family archives of the renowned professor Cheng Xianguang (程贤光) and his wife, Associate Professor He Genghui (何根惠). It describes the origin and development of the Russian language world in Chongqing in the 50s of the XX century, as well as the major scientific and methodological achievements of Chongqing teachers, who enriched Russian studies in China. Significant attention is paid to the personality of Professor Cheng Xianguang, who devoted his life to the study and spread of the Russian language in China, to strengthening friendship between the nations, to the establishment of international cooperation and exchanges between the PRC and the USSR and Russia. In addition, there is a story about the rise of the Southwestern Institute of the Russian Language in Chongqing's Beibei district (now the SUIA), specializing in teaching the most demanded profession at the time; about the university's policy to invite Russian specialists to work from the early years, and about the great pedagogical, methodological, practical, scientific and ethical contribution of Soviet scientists to the promotion of the Russian language in Chongqing. Besides, the article also focuses on the two-volume “Academic Dictionary of the Russian Language”, a long-term work of Chongqing Russian scholars, which has won several prizes and is still relevant and in demand. The author concludes on the current state of the Russian language in Chongqing and the potential for work in this area.